Key Information
Dates: Afternoon Friday 6th - Morning Monday 9th September 2024
Location: Knighton, Wales
Campsite: Panpwnton Farm
Transport: Members sort travel themselves, there is a 2-hour train from Birmingham New Street or you can drive
Food: BBQ one night, dinner out another, members source other food themselves Accommodation: members who own tents will need to bring them
Cost: £46 + food + transport
Location
The trip to be held in the village of Knighton, on the England-Wales Border. This is a picturesque and historic market town well in the countryside, with dark skies, good facilities, and plenty of things to do (see below). It has it’s own rail station and is within a relatively easy travel distance from Birmingham at only 2 hours via car or train. We will organise a group who are taking the train on the Friday and the Monday so people don’t have to travel alone if they don’t want to.
Accommodation
We will be staying in Panpwnton Farm campsite, which is just a 10 min walk from the train station and town. It has no onsite lighting so the skies will be dark, plenty of facilities, and a decent toilet / shower block. The cost is £12 pppn (£36 each over the trip) which is included in the ticket price; since we are a group there is no additional cost for vehicles. Members will need to bring their own tents, as AstroSoc doesn’t own any. There is a possibility that we might be able to source some from other societies but if you own a tent please do bring it.
Food
Organising food will be mostly down to individuals. AstroSoc will provide a BBQ on the first night, and we will have an optional meal out on the Saturday or Sunday night. There is a co op and a costcutter in Knighton a 15min walk away, as well as several restaurants / fast food
places. The campsite has some limited cooking facilities, with a shared fridge, freezer, kettle, and microwave, however if you want to cook it is recommended you bring your own gas stove.
Observations
We will be bringing some of our telescopes with us to hopefully observe (weather dependant of course) while we are staying in Knighton. What we bring will be very dependent on how many cars we can get (so how much stuff we can transport) but hopefully we will have a large Dobsonian, a motorised SCT, and some binoculars. If you have your own telescope or binoculars that you would like to bring, you are more than welcome to.
Things to do
Spaceguard Centre: A local working observatory and the only organisation in the UK dedicated to addressing the hazard of Near-Earth Objects. The centre is about an hour’s walk from the campsite, and offer tours during the daytime for £10pp (included in your ticket)
Hiking: There are lots of great paths and routes in the area, such as the historic Offa’s Dyke path and the Shropshire hills AONB. We will organise a walk one day for those that want to go out
Meal out: We will organise a meal out in a local pub / restaurant on Sunday nights.