I once played a very brief game of cricket in the Lovell Telescope (after a resurface but before it got properly tuned) because we wanted to recreate a scene from The Dish.
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The telescope was originally designed in the 1950s when nothing quite like it had been built - it was the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world. It was designed by Charles Husband who was a bridge builder from Sheffield. So the structure has some elements of bridges to it.
At the top of the lift you are still in the tower that rotates the dish in altitude (up/down). So you are still on a structure that has a floor that is always parallel to the ground. But you then have to step over onto this gantry that moves with the dish. Obviously you only do this when the dish is "parked" pointing upwards.
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At the top of the lift you are still in the tower that rotates the dish in altitude (up/down). So you are still on a structure that has a floor that is always parallel to the ground. But you then have to step over onto this gantry that moves with the dish. Obviously you only do this when the dish is "parked" pointing upwards.
You might be thinking that the bowl you could see there was the underside of the shiny white surface. But it is actually the underside of the original surface from 1957. When they upgraded the telescope in the 1970s they put a new surface, with a different curvature, above the old surface. The result is a big cavern between the "old" and "new" surfaces. Apologies for the blurry shot - blame my 2002 digital camera.
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You might be thinking that the bowl you could see there was the underside of the shiny white surface. But it is actually the underside of the original surface from 1957. When they upgraded the telescope in the 1970s they put a new surface, with a different curvature, above the old surface. The result is a big cavern between the "old" and "new" surfaces. Apologies for the blurry shot - blame my 2002 digital camera.
From between the old and new surfaces you have to climb up a vertical ladder to the working surface. You get a dramatic view of the focus tower looking straight up. If you look closely you can probably make out some radio astronomy receivers up in the focus tower that are pointing down.
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From between the old and new surfaces you have to climb up a vertical ladder to the working surface. You get a dramatic view of the focus tower looking straight up. If you look closely you can probably make out some radio astronomy receivers up in the focus tower that are pointing down.
Up in the dish it is slightly surreal. It is 76m across. Back in 2002 it was newly painted so was almost like being in a snow field. We were lucky enough to be allowed to climb up to the edge if we wanted. As you heave yourself up the rope the curve is constantly getting steeper. So you find yourself leaning forward. Then, as your head reaches level with the edge, you suddenly see the entire Cheshire plane far below you and you regret leaning forwards!
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Up in the dish it is slightly surreal. It is 76m across. Back in 2002 it was newly painted so was almost like being in a snow field. We were lucky enough to be allowed to climb up to the edge if we wanted. As you heave yourself up the rope the curve is constantly getting steeper. So you find yourself leaning forward. Then, as your head reaches level with the edge, you suddenly see the entire Cheshire plane far below you and you regret leaning forwards!
Another fun thing is that underneath the "old" surface there was the "Swinging Laboratory". AFAIK it hadn't been used for many years and may have been taken away by now.
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Up in the dish it is slightly surreal. It is 76m across. Back in 2002 it was newly painted so was almost like being in a snow field. We were lucky enough to be allowed to climb up to the edge if we wanted. As you heave yourself up the rope the curve is constantly getting steeper. So you find yourself leaning forward. Then, as your head reaches level with the edge, you suddenly see the entire Cheshire plane far below you and you regret leaning forwards!
@slowe wow, thanks so much for sharing those pics. Always wanted to visit when I lived in the UK but never made it.
Love the cricket match!
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Up in the dish it is slightly surreal. It is 76m across. Back in 2002 it was newly painted so was almost like being in a snow field. We were lucky enough to be allowed to climb up to the edge if we wanted. As you heave yourself up the rope the curve is constantly getting steeper. So you find yourself leaning forward. Then, as your head reaches level with the edge, you suddenly see the entire Cheshire plane far below you and you regret leaning forwards!
@slowe Thank you for this great thread and for taking the time to add all the photos!
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Another fun thing is that underneath the "old" surface there was the "Swinging Laboratory". AFAIK it hadn't been used for many years and may have been taken away by now.
Here's a shot next to one of the inner azimuth wheel bogies to provide some sense of scale.
(Yes, that guy is holding the cricket bat from the first shot in this thread). -
Here's a shot next to one of the inner azimuth wheel bogies to provide some sense of scale.
(Yes, that guy is holding the cricket bat from the first shot in this thread).It was very special to spend several years working next to this huge, iconic, working, radio telescope. A telescope featured in HHGTTG ("At Jodrell Bank, someone decided it was time for a nice relaxing cup of tea") and Doctor Who (being the Pharos Project).
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@slowe Thank you for this great thread and for taking the time to add all the photos!
@Hicsumus It still feels like not that long ago but I realise it is 24 years since I took these so they are basically historic photos now
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It was very special to spend several years working next to this huge, iconic, working, radio telescope. A telescope featured in HHGTTG ("At Jodrell Bank, someone decided it was time for a nice relaxing cup of tea") and Doctor Who (being the Pharos Project).
@slowe these are awesome photos !
I seem to recall the hanging lab was removed from the structure but can't recall exactly when.
I think someone said its still about on site some place though -
I once played a very brief game of cricket in the Lovell Telescope (after a resurface but before it got properly tuned) because we wanted to recreate a scene from The Dish. We used a tennis ball to avoid damage. The Chief Engineer was wicket keeper. I'm bowling.
@slowe vale Sam Neill
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I once played a very brief game of cricket in the Lovell Telescope (after a resurface but before it got properly tuned) because we wanted to recreate a scene from The Dish. We used a tennis ball to avoid damage. The Chief Engineer was wicket keeper. I'm bowling.
@slowe Were you using Lovell's old bat?
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I once played a very brief game of cricket in the Lovell Telescope (after a resurface but before it got properly tuned) because we wanted to recreate a scene from The Dish. We used a tennis ball to avoid damage. The Chief Engineer was wicket keeper. I'm bowling.
@slowe Non-euclidean cricket. As if the game wasn't weird enough already.
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I once played a very brief game of cricket in the Lovell Telescope (after a resurface but before it got properly tuned) because we wanted to recreate a scene from The Dish. We used a tennis ball to avoid damage. The Chief Engineer was wicket keeper. I'm bowling.
@slowe Love that movie, one of my top 10. We visited Parkes just a few weeks ago. An astronomer who worked as a consultant on the movie gave us a back scenes tour. A definite highlight of our trip to Australia.
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I once played a very brief game of cricket in the Lovell Telescope (after a resurface but before it got properly tuned) because we wanted to recreate a scene from The Dish. We used a tennis ball to avoid damage. The Chief Engineer was wicket keeper. I'm bowling.
@slowe Amazing to me that I saw "Lovell Telescope" and immediately thought "Jodrell Bank, right?" Radio telescopes were part of my growing up, and Lovell was part of that. I'm about two years older than it, I could use a resurface, too!
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@Hicsumus It still feels like not that long ago but I realise it is 24 years since I took these so they are basically historic photos now
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I once played a very brief game of cricket in the Lovell Telescope (after a resurface but before it got properly tuned) because we wanted to recreate a scene from The Dish. We used a tennis ball to avoid damage. The Chief Engineer was wicket keeper. I'm bowling.
That's such a great photo of what is a singular thing to have experienced.
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@slowe these are awesome photos !
I seem to recall the hanging lab was removed from the structure but can't recall exactly when.
I think someone said its still about on site some place though@mcrmonkey @slowe Really? That’s a shame - I think it got used as an initiation ritual for first-timers on inspections!
Back in July ‘94…
‘$first_timer, go and check the inside!’
Me: *steps on the metal platform of the lab*
*entire platform swivels ten degrees* - it’s on a gimbal and the brake wasn’t on.
Me: *swears, holds onto safety fence, looks at the concrete many metres below*
Light dawns.
I turn and look at the old hands, who are watching the new boy and grinning.
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@slowe Were you using Lovell's old bat?
@khleedril @slowe Lovell was the nicest genius I’ve ever met. When I was (briefly) at Jodrell in ‘94, he’d retired a few years prior, his wife had died the year before, and so he’d come into Jodrell most days and sit in the common room, chat with his former students (now running the lab), drink tea, and listen to Test Match Special.
I still have a newspaper article he cut out and kept for me because he thought I’d like it.
