Another lovely weekend spent with stargazing enthusiasts at Ninebanks Youth Hostel, eating cake, cooked breakfasts, 3 course dinners - all to fuel Dr Freds lectures on the cosmos and as the weather permitted some serious stargazing late into the night.
It was cold though - astronomy is not for the fainthearted, under dressed, or a cosy fire comfort lover, so if I'm honest I didn't do a lot of actual stargazing.... I did step outside for a look at the milky way as it was pretty spectacular but then I put myself in charge of keeping the wood burner burning and the kettle on!!!
Nine banks Youth Hostel is a very nice place to stay, it has some private en-suite rooms and a couple of 'chalets' which are self catering if you want total privacy. It sits in the Mohope valley of West Allendale and has spectacular views out the front while being snuggled into the side of the hill. the owners are helpful and friendly and the communal bits of the building are comfortable and practical.
Dr Fred and I run these star weekends twice a year and they are always great fun but also very informative on many different levels. I think Dr Fred is quite clever at getting the balance of information right and seems to appeal to a wide variety participants who have a vast differing range of interest and knowledge from curious novices to those who have relevant qualifications in the subject!!
On the Saturday afternoon we had a group outing to Allendale(k) to visit Neil Cole's Adventures in Science fiction - the Museum of Sci Fi. This is a long awaited adventure for me as I first came across Neil and his crazy but wonderful idea on NETFLIX of all places. Purely by chance I happened upon a programme showcasing unusual places, houses, spaces etc and out of boredom more then anything I noticed there was potential strange space in Northumberland so I investigated further. Neil with the ongoing support of his (possibly long suffering) family was converting the basement of his lovely Georgian house in Allendale into a really rather splendid Sci Fi museum. NETFLIX showcased it and led me to look at his facebook page which I have followed ever since.
Now strangely I'm not really a sci fi enthusiast, I watched Dr Who and was terrified of the daleks and I don't mind the odd sci fi film, but other than that I;m not mad about the genre - what sparked my interest was the idea of such an interesting place and idea in a wee village in the middle of nowhere and the tenacity of the family to realise a dream. On show is Neils private collection of amazing Sci Fi artefacts, mostly film props, just about all used and some are as they were and some Neil has lovingly restored to their former glory - being from old TV shows and considered almost disposable quite a lot never had a former glory and that makes them very special!!
Back to following on FB... What transpired really captured my attention and tested the the tenacity of the whole venture! To cut a long drawn out saga to a manageable tale - what happened was Neil received a complaint from a local resident /Councillor about a shed he had positioned outside his museum which by day had two sides removed to house a Dalek and at night the Dalek was shut in safe - no chance of extermination... it was felt it didn't comply with planning rules....
This complaint escalated beyond all reasonable belief and ended up after a lot of tooing and froing and seemingly massive amounts of paperwork for all involved and finally ended up at a planning committee meeting for recommendations. I imagine, and in fact Neil confirmed this when we spoke this weekend that this was extremely stressful for the museum, it was time consuming and potentially a real threat to the future of the venture. As I followed these exploits on FB it became very evident there was overwhelming support for Neil and his family from the rest of the village, local surrounding area, Northumberland residents, the North of England, generally across the UK and eventually internationally!!! New Zealand TV, Irish News, 'Have I Got News For You', BBC ....... everywhere!!!!
Somehow Allandale became Allandalek on all the signs and many letters were written to the powers that be in support of the really very unassuming shed... and please note it was NOT about the Dalek but the shed contravening planning regulations on a listed building site.
So the outcome... the council wouldn't back down in spite of being named and shamed publicly for ridiculous time wasting even within their own field - the shed has to go!!! There is a time allowance to enable other potential plans to be discussed.... but ultimately the Dalek shed will be removed, I'm sure an alternative (acceptable to most) plan will evolve in the meantime this museum is really worth a visit.
I wanted to go because like many I had got caught up in the Dalek shed saga and wanted to see what the whole story was. When we visited I was really surprised at how interesting to a 'non believer' the actual museum is and well presented it is and how good the exhibits are. Its full of information and Neil is there to answer any questions - he is a funny interesting chap with obvious talent and unstinting enthusiasm for his wonderful collection. If you want more information just google Neil Coles Sci Fi Museum - there so much amazing publicity - the silver lining in a very dark cloud!! So really in a way its a huge THANK YOU to Councillor Dunn for bringing the worlds attention to a really exciting innovative independent venture which in turn is bringing much needed revenue to all the local services as well as making a family dream come true.
It so good to have some positive vibes in this day and age!
It was cold though - astronomy is not for the fainthearted, under dressed, or a cosy fire comfort lover, so if I'm honest I didn't do a lot of actual stargazing.... I did step outside for a look at the milky way as it was pretty spectacular but then I put myself in charge of keeping the wood burner burning and the kettle on!!!
Nine banks Youth Hostel is a very nice place to stay, it has some private en-suite rooms and a couple of 'chalets' which are self catering if you want total privacy. It sits in the Mohope valley of West Allendale and has spectacular views out the front while being snuggled into the side of the hill. the owners are helpful and friendly and the communal bits of the building are comfortable and practical.
Dr Fred and I run these star weekends twice a year and they are always great fun but also very informative on many different levels. I think Dr Fred is quite clever at getting the balance of information right and seems to appeal to a wide variety participants who have a vast differing range of interest and knowledge from curious novices to those who have relevant qualifications in the subject!!On the Saturday afternoon we had a group outing to Allendale(k) to visit Neil Cole's Adventures in Science fiction - the Museum of Sci Fi. This is a long awaited adventure for me as I first came across Neil and his crazy but wonderful idea on NETFLIX of all places. Purely by chance I happened upon a programme showcasing unusual places, houses, spaces etc and out of boredom more then anything I noticed there was potential strange space in Northumberland so I investigated further. Neil with the ongoing support of his (possibly long suffering) family was converting the basement of his lovely Georgian house in Allendale into a really rather splendid Sci Fi museum. NETFLIX showcased it and led me to look at his facebook page which I have followed ever since.
Now strangely I'm not really a sci fi enthusiast, I watched Dr Who and was terrified of the daleks and I don't mind the odd sci fi film, but other than that I;m not mad about the genre - what sparked my interest was the idea of such an interesting place and idea in a wee village in the middle of nowhere and the tenacity of the family to realise a dream. On show is Neils private collection of amazing Sci Fi artefacts, mostly film props, just about all used and some are as they were and some Neil has lovingly restored to their former glory - being from old TV shows and considered almost disposable quite a lot never had a former glory and that makes them very special!!
Back to following on FB... What transpired really captured my attention and tested the the tenacity of the whole venture! To cut a long drawn out saga to a manageable tale - what happened was Neil received a complaint from a local resident /Councillor about a shed he had positioned outside his museum which by day had two sides removed to house a Dalek and at night the Dalek was shut in safe - no chance of extermination... it was felt it didn't comply with planning rules....
Somehow Allandale became Allandalek on all the signs and many letters were written to the powers that be in support of the really very unassuming shed... and please note it was NOT about the Dalek but the shed contravening planning regulations on a listed building site.
 |
| I am worried about extermination |
So the outcome... the council wouldn't back down in spite of being named and shamed publicly for ridiculous time wasting even within their own field - the shed has to go!!! There is a time allowance to enable other potential plans to be discussed.... but ultimately the Dalek shed will be removed, I'm sure an alternative (acceptable to most) plan will evolve in the meantime this museum is really worth a visit.
I wanted to go because like many I had got caught up in the Dalek shed saga and wanted to see what the whole story was. When we visited I was really surprised at how interesting to a 'non believer' the actual museum is and well presented it is and how good the exhibits are. Its full of information and Neil is there to answer any questions - he is a funny interesting chap with obvious talent and unstinting enthusiasm for his wonderful collection. If you want more information just google Neil Coles Sci Fi Museum - there so much amazing publicity - the silver lining in a very dark cloud!! So really in a way its a huge THANK YOU to Councillor Dunn for bringing the worlds attention to a really exciting innovative independent venture which in turn is bringing much needed revenue to all the local services as well as making a family dream come true.
It so good to have some positive vibes in this day and age!
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