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Report by Jan Young A large group of WAS and their family members met a Patrick’s on the evening of Saturday 15th March 2008. The intention was to observe Saturn amongst other things, but unfortunately the weather, true to form when any astronomical event is planned in advance, decided otherwise and provided us with torrents of rain!  Graham, who arranged this visit, started the evening off by presenting Patrick with a framed photograph that he and Keith Peters had taken on a former visit (left). All members present signed the back and Patrick was absolutely delighted with the gesture. Everyone attending had brought along some liquid refreshment as a thank you to Patrick for opening up his home to us all and I am sure that he will be enjoying his gifts for quite some time to come!
We were shown the observatory housing the 15th inch reflector with which Patrick had done so much of his observing, a simple Newtonian, as modern as the day when it was first put in place. In these days when computerised equipment is the norm, it was a pleasure to see a dome housing just a good basic telescope, some steps and nothing else! We were all made welcome with the provision of drinks and biscuits and Patrick was more than happy for us all to walk around his home. For myself, the highlight of the evening was being able to hold one of his famed observation books. It was wonderful seeing for real that famous study, so often seen on TV, crammed from floor to ceiling with such wonderful books, also Patrick’s famous 5 inch Cooke refractor that was on view in the house and there were several members who wanted to take it home! My thanks go to Graham for arranging the visit, to Trevor and Ed for acting as guides and most of all to Patrick and his two cats (Jeannie and Ptolemy) who opened up their home to us all. |
