Discover: Northumberland’s Dark skies
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Date posted: 30/11/2023
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Time to read: 10 minutes
Duncan Wise
I’m Duncan Wise and I’m the Visitor Development and Tourism Officer for Northumberland National Park Authority. I’m also the Dark Sky lead and I have been working for the Park for 23 years. The best bit about my job is that no day is ever the same. There is always something to be exploring, or developing based on the Park’s special qualities, whether that be walking, cycling, and more latterly around dark skies.
When I first started working for the Authority, I visited Cawfields on Hadrian’s Wall. Most people visit Cawfields to see Hadrian’s Wall, in particular Milecastle 42, a well-preserved part of Hadrian’s Wall. Like Walltown, Cawfields is a small quarry site that has been landscaped and filled with water so there’s quite a large lake in the foreground, with the crags behind it. It has a striking geology and visitors can see a cross-section of the famed Whin Sill, a section of igneous rock that rises and falls across the landscape in Northumberland.
One night in December, 13 years ago, I went to Cawfields with a group of amateur astrologers from the Newcastle Astronomy Society. It was the first time I had been out to Cawfields at night. The dark sky was pristine. It was so dark that you could barely see your hand in front of your face, and I saw more than 2000 stars that night so close, I felt I could pluck them out of the sky. The milky way was well defined and there was absolutely no light pollution.
That night served as an epiphany for me. It wasn’t just places like Kielder Forest that had truly dark skies to star gaze, we too had them in Northumberland National Park, in a location that was easier to get to for many more people.
It was not just the unexpected sight of seeing so many stars in the night sky that took my breath away that night, it was the tranquillity of the experience. The only sounds around were natural, such as owls hooting in the distance.
That one visit on a very cold winters night back in 2010 opened my eyes to the full potential of Cawfields and it inspired me to work more closely with Kielder Forest to seek a protected status, not just for Kielder Forest but the whole of Northumberland National Park.
As a result of our efforts, we were awarded ‘International Dark Sky Park (Gold Tier)’ status in 2013 by Dark Sky International. Since then, an entire industry has developed around stargazing which is worth more than £25million a year for the local visitor economy. And I’m delighted that there are now many more opportunities for people to come to Northumberland National Park and experience dark skies for themselves.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Northumberland International Dark Sky Park, and we are launching Dark Skies Matter, a new series of exhibitions and events which includes an exhibition commissioned by Northumberland National Park and supported by the Sir James Knott Trust, by artist Bethan Maddocks called Noctalgia, meaning ‘sky grief’. A term invented by astronomers when they lose access to dark skies.
Light spreading from towns and cities near the International Dark Sky Park can affect the darkness of the park’s sky. We are working with our partners to ensure that Northumberland International Dark Sky Park is kept as dark as possible and excess light from residential areas is reduced.
Every effort should be made to look after our majestic night skies and conserve them for nocturnal wildlife and our own wellbeing, now and for future generations.
