NWGAS. BAA NETWORK Report
5th March 1995

Since my last report, the North West Group of Astronomical Societies has held two more meetings; in Scarisbrick, at the invitation of the Southport AS and at the Pexhill Observatory run by the Liverpool AS. The next one, on April 29th, 1995 will be held at the Godlee Observatory, UMIST, Manchester.

The following societies are ( * or about to become ) NWGAS members:

* Altrincham & District AS       * Gwynedd AS
Blackpool & District AS          Macclesfield AS
Bolton AS                        Manchester AS
Chester AS                       Preston & District AS
Furness AS                       Salford AS
Liverpool AS                     Southport & District AS

Liverpool, Manchester and the five-year old Macclesfield AS are the biggest societies with between 75 and 120 members. There are several societies with 30-50 and some smaller ones, too. In future NETWORK reports I hope to describe all of the NWGAS societies and their activities, but here I will say a bit about the big three.

Liverpool's Pexhill Observatory

Liverpool's Pexhill Observatory was opened by Patrick Moore about a year ago and houses a 16" Newtonian, on a really massive German equatorial mounting, given to the LAS by an amateur astronomer and engineer living on the Isle of Man. He threatened to scrap the instrument unless the LAS took it under their wing, which of course they did, for the cost of shipping it over to the mainland. The observatory is a co-operative venture between the LAS and the North-West Water company who owns the site and who had an obligation to develop it as a public amenity and give access to a small country park and nature reserve in the semi-rural community of Croxton, near Warrington. The observatory is located on the upper floor of a substantial and attractive wooden building, housing the offices of full-time park wardens, built by the water company at their expense. The Liverpool AS provided the observatory dome and the telescope and lease the facilities, which include a meeting room, for a peppercorn rent. The observatory commands fine views to the south and west across the Mersey estuary and has good skies in spite of being only a mile from the busy M62 motorway.

Macclesfield AS New Observatory

Another new observatory, under construction by the Macclesfield AS, will be the highest in England and is situated in the picturesque Staffordshire moorlands some ten miles south-east of Macclesfield. The first sod was cut last summer by the Macclesfield AS President, Sir Francis Graham Smith. It is within the grounds of the Gradbach Youth Hostel and when finished will house a 10" Newtonian being built by members of the society. The observatory will combine a dark sky facility with the comfortable hospitality of a well equipped Youth Hostel; ideal for astro-weekends.

Dark Skies

Dark skies are the passionate aim of one active NWGAS rep., Gerard Gilligan (Liverpool AS), the NWG Regional Co-ordinator for the BAA Campaign for Dark Skies. He is in constant communication with lighting engineers in the Merseyside region and is waging a one-man war (with increasing support from the rest of us) against Light Pollution.

The North West Group of Astronomical Societies

The North West Group of Astronomical Societies ( or NWGAS for short ) was formed in October 1993 to strengthen communication between astronomical societies in the north-west and to identify ways in which expertise within the local societies could be shared. Very few of the north-west societies are members of the BAA and co-ordinated observational work, for which the BAA is still recognised, has declined. Considering that the Liverpool AS was the forerunner to the British Astronomical Association and that the Manchester AS was formed originally as the North Western Branch of the BAA it is sad that connections with London are now so tenuous. However, the years have taken their toll and there are now about 25 local societies in the area bounded by the Lake District to the north, Stoke-on-Trent to the south, the Pennines to the east and North Wales. A recent survey of NWGAS members showed why fragmentation has occurred and, in particular, why so few members are in the BAA. The findings are discussed at the end of this report.

Liverpool and Manchester

Liverpool and Manchester are, by far, the oldest societies in the region and it is debatable which of the two has the longest history. Liverpool was formed in 1881, Manchester in 1892, but both experienced periods of semi-dormancy after the 1914-18 war and whilst Liverpool might be the oldest, Manchester probably has a longer history of continuous activity. It would be interesting to know if any other astronomical society in the UK can claim an even longer history. I believe the Leeds AS was formed in the 1850s but I don't know if they have been active continuously since then.

One thing is certain, Liverpool are the undisputed masters when it comes to raising public awareness and support for the science. They hold regular, well attended open air observing meetings that attract hundreds of visitors. Manchester's forte in recent years has been the annual astronomical convention, organised almost single-handed by their President, Tony Cross. These are held in the summer and attract delegates from astronomical societies nation-wide who pay only a nominal entrance fee to hear lectures of the calibre of Prof. Sir Arnold Wolfendale, Dr Patrick Moore and Salford's own, Dr Allan Chapman. Like Liverpool, Manchester is fortunate in having well equipped facilities and meetings room for informal weekly lectures at the Godlee Observatory, UMIST. Since 1964, the MAS have enjoyed unrestricted use of the Grubb 8" Refractor and 12" reflector (equipped with CCTV camera). There are also free public lectures by well known guest speakers during the winter season. The 1994/5 season has included talks by Dr David Malin (AAO), Prof. Alec Boksenberg (RGO), Prof. John Meaburn (Manchester U.) and Dr David Hughes (Sheffield U.)

Macclesfield AS

Meeting the public is also the strong point of Macclesfield AS. Since they formed in 1990, following the inspiration of their Hon.Chairman, Chris Rose, they have held regular astro-days in co-operation with the Jodrell Bank Science Centre. These are usually held on bank holiday weekends and enable visitors to Jodrell to meet members of the society and use their telescopes to view the Sun (under strict supervision) and, last summer, to see the impact scars when Comet SL9 hit Jupiter. Oddly enough, these facilities are not normally available at the Science Centre and the Macc. AS is providing a very important service in exchange for the use of the Jodrell Bank planetarium as their monthly meeting place.

NWGAS/BAA Survey

The NWGAS/BAA survey took the form of two questionnaires complied by Gerard Gilligan and myself. Mine aimed to obtain statistics from groups of members and tried to ascertain what attracted them to join astronomical societies generally. Gerard asked individuals why they were not members of the BAA. The combined results are appended, but can be summarised by saying that our members joined local societies primarily for social rather than scientific reasons. This was almost certainly not the case a century ago when the LAS, BAA and MAS were formed. Indeed the opposite was more likely in the late Victorian times. The cost of membership is also a factor with our average subscription being about ten pounds compared with three times that in the BAA.

Lectures are popular and the paucity of BAA Section meetings in the northwest has probably contributed to a fall off in BAA membership. Less than 8% of NWGAS members are in the BAA and few have attended BAA meetings either in London or in the provinces, nor are likely to unless they are held closer to home. Both Manchester AS and Liverpool AS would be willing to organise BAA Section meetings. However, we have found that the cheapest way of doing this is to book a conference room at a hotel in Manchester for the MAS conventions rather than use the facilities of the University. By doing so, costs are minimised and catering is immediately available on-site with little pre-organisation being necessary. We extend an open invitation to the BAA to join in.

Lastly, our members are well informed. Whilst not reading the JBAA or Handbook, they do read popular astronomical magazines and increasingly obtain up to the minute information and observations via e-mail, Internet and the World Wide Web. (E-mail addresses can be found on the list of NWGAS societies.)

I would be interested to learn what other Regional Reps, have to say. The strength of amateur astronomy in the UK and abroad is all to do with communication.

Kevin J Kilburn
NWGAS Event/Contacts List Co-ordinator: NWGAS/BAA representative.
Tel:(+44) 01625 572453

North West Group of Astronomical Societies
BAA Questionnaire. Feb. 1995.

Contributing Astronomical Societies:
Altrincham, Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester, Salford,
Preston, also the NWGAS reps of eight societies.

Estimated number of members in (11) NWGAS societies             500
Total number of interviewees                                    223
Number of members of the BAA                                     17

Why not in BAA    Cost ( £31.00 )?                               43
                  Can't attend London meetings?                  68
                  Too few local BAA Section meetings?            34
                  Don't want to, BAA doesn't meet needs?         27

How many read the BAA Journal ?                                  31

What is opinion of its content (few answered this part):-

                  Too / Insufficiently technical?           3  /  2
                  Too many / few observational reports?     2  /  4
                  Too much / little practical advice?       0  /  7
                                Well balanced                     9

If none-member, how many buy/consult the HBAA                    21
 
                  Is it too technical?  Y/N             Y 3  /  N 3
                  Enough explanatory info?  Y/N         Y 5  /  N 1
                  Useful?  Y/N                          Y 8  /  N 2

Astronomical publications read (not all were asked about this)

       Sky & Tel  34     Astronomy Now  59     Astronomy  24
       Pract.Astr 34     Pop. Ast       10

Have/willing to attend BAA meetings held within 50 miles?        77
(Of main cities: Manchester and Liverpool.)                      17

What are the perceived benefits of joining a society (incl.BAA)?
(Not all were asked these questions.)

              Regular astronomical lectures?                     87
              Social meetings with astronomers?                  83
              Encouragement for beginners?                       77
              Shared observations/practical projects             68
              Organised astrodays/conventions                    44
              Astrophotography?                                  39
              Astro-computing, CCD, e-mail communication?        28
              Telescope making?                                  17

If the BAA could provide these locally, how many would join
the BAA and/or their local society? (Not all asked this question)

        BAA  3           Both  21            Local  75

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NWGAS. BAA NETWORK Report 5th March 1995