THE entire universe has been brought a little bit closer to the region – with the uncapping of a huge half-tonne telescope.

The enormous star-gazer is scanning the heavens from Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, as the curtain is about to go up on the second Dark Sky Festival in the Dales and North York Moors.

The huge instrument housed in the new purpose-built Lime Tree Farm Observatory is the result of five years’ hard work by members of York Astronomical Society.

But it’s also been made possible by retired farmers Peter and Irene Foster, who have turned their 40-acre former dairy holding into a wonderland of publicly-accessible nature reserves and trails, round house, stone circles and now a centre for watching the stars.

The story began in 2012 when the telescope was threatened with being scapped in its original home observatory on the edge of London. It was built by a renowned engineer called John Wall - one of the legends of British amateur astronomy - he was so distraught that he contacted friends in York to see if they could help rescue his pride and joy.

“It would have been a terrible waste to see the telescope broken up for scrap,” said Martin Whipp, chairman of the society.

“It’s a really powerful instrument which really needs a dark sky location. That’s where Peter and Irene stepped in to provide a home on their farm. “Dismantling and transporting the telescope 200 miles north was a huge task. Then we had to get planning permission for an observatory, create the building from scratch and restore the telescope, not to mention lay down two tonnes of concrete just to provide a solid base.

“At times I thought we’d bitten off more than we could chew But now that people have looked through the scope it has given us all a massive kick.”

York-born Mr Foster added: “I’ve always had an interest in the stars so this has been a wonderful project.

“The farm is not really viable anymore so we’ve used the land to create a place where people can come wildlife spotting, pond dipping or meditating. “When folk come here from towns and cities and look up they all say ‘wow’. They’ve never seen so many stars. It really is spectacular and we can even see the Northern Lights on rare occasions.”

Light pollution maps published last year revealed Yorkshire’s national parks and areas like Nidderdale are among the nation’s darkest areas.

Glance skywards from a town or city and you will glimpse more than 20 stars on a clear night - but from rural locations like Lime Tree Farm you can multiple that by 100 and also see the Milky Way.

  • The observatory is currently running monthly events and is taking part in the Dark Sky Festival with a special viewing opportunity on February 22.
  • To book places call Nidderdale AONB on 01423-712950 and for more information visit facebook.com/LimeTreeObservatory
  • The Dark Sky Festival runs from February 18 to 26 with over 100 events across 21 different locations. Visit darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk/