A few weeks ago, as part of Stargazing Live 2012, a FREE Stargazing event was held at Pembrokeshire College by Dark Sky Wales and Darwin Pembrokeshire.
We went along, as Danny is currently working towards his Astronomy Badge at Cubs and has always been interested in this.
We had a lovely time, building rockets…and setting them off into the night sky and learning about Robotics.. However, the telescope event could not take place because that night happened to be untypically cloudy…the night before had been perfect for Stargazing.
We were most looking forward to the Planetarium as the kids have never been inside one before. But, this event was unexpectedly popular, so they had to turn away thousands of people (unbelievable in a small place like Pembrokeshire). So, we didn’t get to see the Planetarium.
I couldn’t see Danny so disappointed, so I promised him we would have a trip to Cardiff Techniquest. I thought I’d save up my Tesco Clubcard vouchers and cash them in here so we could all finally see the Planetarium…but I didn’t need to!
I was listening to Radio Pembrokeshire, and they were interviewing Martin from Darwin Pembrokeshire about the event, he explained that as so many had been turned away, they were going to repeat the event at my local theatre, The Torch Theatre!
I immediately booked the FREE tickets and today was the day!
So, we arrived at the Torch, and it immediately seemed a more relaxed event than usual. I realised after that I hadn’t even shown my ticket for the event. I saw a couple of past pupils and their mums too, so that made my day! 🙂 It is so lovely to see the children you taught growing up!
We had to take our shoes off before we entered- my immediate thoughts were: Danny’s now in laces, will he manage to undo them? Can I get my boots off without toppling over (as I was carrying Isabelle in the baby carrier)? We managed and proceeded into the studio.
We waited on seats while the previous group were finishing off their session. The Planetarium looks a lot smaller from the outside, and I did think I might feel a bit claustrophobic once I got in there.
But, like the Tardis, it was bigger on the inside!
We enjoyed seeing the stars, planets, constellations…
Danny can’t wait to get a telescope for his birthday, then we can really stargaze for free.
One child there asked, “When can you see a shooting star?” The “expert” answered, “Anytime, but you’ve got to look for them!”
So true. go outside, and look at the stars, it always grounds you and reminds you that we are only a teeny piece of this marvellous universe…
love, Claire xxx
