On this page I thought I would indulge in a little astronomical nostalgia.During the early 80s I was a member of the Birmingham Astronomical Society junior section. One of our favourite pastimes was to visit the BAS's observatory in Monument Road Edgbaston, very close to Tolkien's reputed twin towers. Several freezing nights were spent on the wooden floor of the observatory, the shutters open to the sky. The observatory housed a remarkable 12" Calver Newtonian reflector on a Capstan mounting with an interesting history.
George Calver was known as 'The Master Mirror Maker' in the later part of the 19th Century and during the Edwardian era.He produced a large number of mirrors for astronomical use, one of which was mounted in the Edgbaston telescope.The telescope originally came into the hands of a Mr Albright in 1920 but was acquired by the Birmingham Astronomical Group (forerunner of the BAS) in 1950. Initially the observatory was supervised by Mr Hewitt, Observatory Curator, assistant Curator Mr Johnson and Mr Kelley of the Meteorological Observatory housed in Perrott's Folly.
By the 1980s the mirror had deteriorated considerably but I still remember some wonderful views of the planets and a number of deep sky objects such as the Ring Nebula (M57) and the globular cluster M13.
The observatory was built on land owned by the Severn Trent Water Authority.The Authority had previously given notice in 1977 with regards to change the reservoirlayout.One consequence of this plan was the necessity of relocating the telescope and observatory On 26th April 1981 the dome and telescope were dismantled, passing into the ownership of BAS members.Parts of the observatory including the floor joists were later recycled for use in the subsequently validalized Wast Hills Observatory.
Information presented on this page is partly drawn from an article by Colin Anderton, BAS Journal Vol24, No.2, 2000 March.