'Dark Skies' come alive as Yorkshire Dales venues host festival activities

The festival, which was in its second year, was held from February 18 to last Sunday to coincide with half-term.

There were 23 events and children’s activity trails set up at five national park centres, which were open daily.

Grassington was a hub of activity as 101 children visited the Cosmos Planetarium at Grassington Primary School to see an astronomy show within an inflatable dome.

Last Tuesday, Grassington National Park Centre hosted lantern making activities for children, and although a parade along the River Wharfe had been planned, it did not go ahead because of bad weather.

On Wednesday, a national park event event titled “If you go down to the woods tonight” was held at Aysgarth Falls National Park Centre.

Children came together for an evening exploring and learning about Freeholders’ Wood.

Following a constellation trail, they found and whittled sticks, built a fire to sit around, toasted marshmallows and heard stories.

A total of 260 people visited the Reeth Informal Astronomy Group’s astrophotography exhibition and 110 children attended rocket making workshops there.

Bolton Abbey Priory also hosted an activity last Friday, as a painting with light photo walk, as visitors came to the abbey to learn startling lighting effects with the help of a professional photographer.

Other activities in the area included a space trail at Malham and a nocturnal wildlife walk from the Dales Countryside Museum at Hawes.

Tracey Lambert, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s lead officer on the Dark Skies Festival, said: “This year’s event was a great success with more events and more variety than last year. All the events were well supported and we look forward to holding a third festival next year.”

Two other national parks also took part in the Dark Skies Festival, including the North York Moors and the South Downs, which is located in Hampshire and East Sussex.