A trip to Jodrell Bank C&C welcome

[davidedric]

Some background. Jodrell Bank in Cheshire UK is the site of a large fully steerable radio telescope, named after Bernard Lovell who conceived it in the years after WWII and oversaw its construction. Commissioned in 1957 it is still the largest single steerable disk in the world. One of its first tasks was to track the signal from Sputnik 1, and indeed its launch rocket (it was an ICBM rocket, and Jodrell Bank was the only instrument in the world able to track it.) Owned by Manchester University, it still operates as a scientific instrument, both in its own right and as a part of various interferometry experiments.





It is hard to appreciate its scale, the arrow points a a chap doing a bit of weeding (you may need Lytebox!)





The main dish has a magic all of its own:










And for any engineers out there, the gearing at the top of each tower was recycled from the 15" gun turrets on the British battleships Royal Sovereign and Revenge!





And now I'm over to Nik to see what they look like in B&W.

Cheers,

Dave

[Geoff F]

Plenty of clean crisp details taken in what must have been tricky conditions.

[DEAN01]

Nice series, Dave. Thanks for giving a scale to determine size.

[Mike Buckley]

These are wonderful photos, Dave. How is Jodrell Bank named after Bernard Lovell?

[davidedric]

How is Jodrell Bank named after Bernard Lovell

Ah. The telescope is called the "Bernard Lovell telescope". The site is Jodrell Bank, originally purchased by the University of Manchester botany department. According to Wikipedia:

The name of the site came from a nearby ground rise called Jodrell Bank, which was named after William Jauderell and whose descendants, the Leighs, lived at the mansion that is now Terra Nova school nearby.

Thanks,

Dave

[James G]

Dave, nice series... No 4 is startling and for me the one I wish I could have got!

It's a long time since I was at Jodrell Bank (70's) You have given me a push to go back... James

[marlunn]

looks better than me for the same age

Nice shots Dave, love a good bit of engineering

[Barbara Ponder]

Nice series!

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Thanks for sharing. I've worked with some big antenna's, but, they aren't on the ground.

[JohnRostron]

Striking pictures. I used to live not too far from there. I was taken on a tour when at school. Nowadays I only see it occasionally from the train.

John

[dje]

A very impressive structure Dave, and well photographed. How do you get access to the site, by guided tour ?

Dave

[John 2]

Nice set of images Dave. I particularly like the side view. Its original. The one fact about the telescope that has always stuck in my mind was that the main bearings were being seen to be a problem (cost?) until someone hit on the idea of re-using the bearings from HMS Vanguards main armament. HMS Vanguard was the last battleship to be built in the UK before that class of vessel was phased out from the RN. Must be one of the first examples of re-cycling.

[mammarazzi]

Amazing images.....love them..........who's Nik I love B&W

[FootLoose]

I love the composition of the 4th shot, David, with the hard lines of the structure contrasted against the softness of the cloud. I think that captures the nature of the telescope - penetrating the heavens.

[IzzieK]

Very impressive Dave...I would like to hear Texas Dave says "I wonder how it feels to be mm tall?" Your #2 shot is the answer...

[deetheturk]

Great series Dave, well captured mate!

[davidedric]

Thanks everyone for you comments.

How do you get access to the site, by guided tour ?

You pay to go onto the site (£7), but you can then get quite close to the telescope. Probably more importantly, it is surrounded by an "Exploration Centre" for young people with some great interactive exhibits for youngsters to understand the solar system and the universe. A popular venue for school trips.

Amazing images.....love them..........who's Nik I love B&W

Thanks, Joanne. Nik is a Lightroom plug-in - it's the one Donald uses to work his magic

Dave

[bnnrcn]

Nice series