Ten carloads of SIS members enjoyed a remarkable experience not normally available to the general public when visiting the Mullard Observatory on the site of a former Second World War airfield, south of Cambridge. Looking out for big radio telescopes is almost as exciting as seeking lions and tigers and you can also keep your windows open!

The extensive site also incorporates a former railway line and the lecture hall is in the old station whilst some of the telescopes make use of the old rails, though at a different gauge from public transport days. Green woodpeckers may be heard and rare orchids have been spotted in the past. What an interesting scientific landscape the wildlife inhabits! It was all mobile phones switched off as we enjoyed privileged access to vast areas of the site. The instruments are so sensitive that when the Americans flew a military plane way out over the North Sea the Mullard observers picked up its receiver's local oscillator. The USAF was both very surprised and impressed by that! It is true that during the war mustard gas was bottled on-site... just in case. We are reassured that the allies would not have used it first. Nowadays, however, only peaceful activities take place here. Did you know that although land based telescopes lose a lot of the information (because of atmospheric interference) that a space-based telescope such as the Hubble will gather, they can obtain a better resolution? Another telescope on site belongs to the University of Manchester and forms part of the MERLIN network with Jodrell Bank. SIS members also saw the optical interferometer in a grass-covered bunker that resembled a wartime building but was actually purpose built (in order to ensure a constant temperature), unlike other telescopes which were housed in former bomb dumps such as the site, now denuded of its three masts, where the energy from the 'Big Bang' was first observed. For nearly two hours we drove around, making stops at each vantage point to admire the landscape and go inside some of the buildings including the one housing the control board for the intended student-training telescope...never in fact used because the observatory is too busy on important work to waste time on students. Driving back to the entrance we reckoned that the folks from 'Top Gear' are missing a trick by not filming here!

The visit was the culmination of a splendid AGM and day of lectures held at Churchill College, Members are encouraged to attend next year's event as we always aim to lay on an interesting and memorable programme. But there won't be any lions...