The recent cold and wintry weather has brought many unwelcome challenges to the Lake District, including disrupted travel, traffic accidents and incidents on the fell tops.

But one benefit of plunging temperatures is that, on several occasions in recent days, there have been some amazingly starry nights and even the opportunity to make out the Milky Way.

It is a sobering thought to realise that, astronomically speaking, Earth orbits a fairly insignificantly-sized star, which is just one of up to 400 billion stars in our galaxy,

And, of course, our galaxy is just one of around 100 to 200 billion galaxies in the universe.

Contemplating those numbers should perhaps help us to put into perspective some of our individual gripes, petty arguments and concerns – things that can bring us down and lead to stress and anxiety in an ever-changing and fast-moving world. Perhaps we all need to spend more time considering the bigger picture.

One group with a keen interest in the stars is North Pennines AONB Partnership – which covers parts of Eden - which is measuring night sky brightness in the hope of having the area recognised as a Dark Sky Reserve.

It believes that achieving the status – already awarded to Mont Megantic in Quebec and Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales - will benefit stargazers and also help wildlife, since animals’ behaviour can be badly affected by artificial lights.

There could also be economic spin-offs. Cumbria already capitalises on its natural beauty and opportunities for adventure to attract visitors. Why shouldn’t we also cash in on some of our remote rural areas to draw in stargazers from this country and further afield?

The AONB’s efforts are welcome. There are undoubtedly too many artificial lights blighting parts of our country and Dark Sky Reserve status would help to counter this.

And if their efforts mean there are more chances for people to take time out from their busy lives, relax and gaze up on to a magnificent night sky once in a while, then all the better.