Barr Beacon Sky Watch 2019

On the evening of Saturday 22nd June 2019 BUFOG headed out to a location we had never chosen before for a sky watch – Barr Beacon in Walsall. Only 3 miles out of Walsall town centre, Barr Beacon is one of the highest points in the Midlands with a superb panoramic view of the sky. It is also the first urban nature reserve to be awarded the "Dark Sky Discovery Site" status by national astronomy and environmental organisations. On the summit is a stone war memorial, which made it a very picturesque choice for a watch (as well as providing a form of shelter should we have needed it – which luckily we didn’t)

We initially met up at Farmer Johns Streetly pub. It is a very popular bar but luckily we managed to grab a table in one of the corners. After a while we headed outside and relaxed in the beer garden. We stayed there for about 90 minutes, discussing everything from the recently leaked Vice Admiral Thomas Wilson document to the Mandela Effect.

It was then time to head for the Beacon, which was only 5 minutes drive away. The official car park is locked after 7.30pm and by now it was about 8.45pm. Luckily we had previously managed to secure the keys for the gate, so were granted access. Working out how to actually open the gate was a bit of a mission but we got there in the end and made our way up to the top. There were a few other visitors up there who were no doubt confused as to how we’d managed to get past the locked gate!