What if … we could see the stars over Brill?
What does Snowdonia national park, Greater Big Bend in the US and Mexico, and the NamibRand nature reserve in Namibia have in common? They are all dark sky reserves. Brill is maybe not quite in that league but we do have one advantage; relative isolation from other built-up areas.
A Dark Sky doesn’t mean no outdoor lights - the Parish Council is well aware of the security afforded by decent public lighting - what it means is creative management of that lighting, using techniques such as these promoted by Dark Sky Lighting (website opens in new tab) such as -
lighting only those areas we need to
shielding lights so the glare is directed downwards
using timers and sensors
Hornby, a village in North Yorkshire (Guardian website opens in new tab), has become the first village in England to to swap its streetlights and more than a hundred other outdoor lights for dark skies-friendly lighting, allowing locals to see the Milky Way, planets and meteors at any time of year. Perhaps Brill could be the second?
(The wonderful photo illustrating this piece was taken by Patrick Galka in August 2020.)
