ORGANISERS of the highly-successful Sedbergh Dark Skies Festival have plans to hold a second event in the future.

Sedbergh and District Chamber of Trade and Business, in collaboration with Sedbergh School, put on the first festival last month as part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park's Darks Skies Festival and it was enthusiastically received by all who took part.

It opened at the People's Hall with ‘A Voyage Around the Universe’ by Richard Darn which was attended by 62 people.

“The turnout from the people of Sedbergh for the Dark Sky Festival was fabulous and we had partially clear skies before and after the talk," said Mr Darn.

"People were able to gaze in wonder at Venus and Mars through telescopes and binoculars and more distant wonders such as the Pleiades star cluster.

"There is obviously a real enthusiasm locally for enjoying our starry skies, which have been lost across much of Britain due to light pollution.

"In fact, nine out of ten people have never seen the Milky Way. Harnessing pubic enthusiasm in places like Sedbergh and the surrounding countryside is an important step in securing support to protect the night sky and keep it dark.”

Pete Collins also gave a presentation to a group of people keen to learn the basics of astrophotography, covering choice of equipment, camera settings, the difficulties of focusing in the dark, planning shots, and shooting a variety of night sky subjects - like the Milky Way, the Northern Lights and the International Space Station.

"I hope they learnt something and look forward to bumping into them again out in the countryside one dark night!” said Mr Collins.