• Mood: accomplished

Rasfc meet -- Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope

I can't quite remember who suggested Jodrell Bank as a venue for the northern(ish) meet for rasfc members, but it turned out to be an excellent idea. There was everything that an SF writer could want: a nice cafe with decent food at reasonable prices, not too crowded or noisy either, so very conducive to endless nattering about writing, cats, books etc. And when we got tired of sitting, there was a giant radio telescope to wander around and photograph.

The first glimpse of the telescope from the car park...



Here are the rasfcians in front of it...



More of Nick's pictures can be seen here...

The rest of mine are here...

This modicum of exercise worked up an appetite for more tea and coffee. The final touch was a gift shop selling space themed gifts. I succumbed to a nice picture of Hurricane Bonnie, taken from space in 1992 and two squishy stress/RSI relieving rubbery balls in the form of globes of the world.

Examining the squishy globes this morning, G observed that they seemed to show a post-global warming earth as the UK seems rather small and shapeless and there is no sign of the Netherlands at all. I suggested that the Taiwanese manufacturer was future-proofing their product. *g*

The journey was OK. I managed to find Holmes Chapel and from there Jodrell Bank was well signposted. I arrived a mere hour late. Ooops! That's because I a) underestimated the time and b) also set off late. It had been a very tiring week, due to being still Beginning Of Term and the timetable hasn't settled yet so it was really difficult to get myself moving. However everyone else had found one another and had bagged a table in the cafe.

Going home was fine too. I didn't get lost and there was only one roundabout I had to go round more than once. Three times in fact, because the exit I wanted wasn't signed, though I worked it out correctly by a process of elimination. I was back by 8:10 pm, well before the weather broke and the rain poured down.

Next time, we're doing the fantasy venue at Alderley Edge...