Speaking at this meeting:
Doors open at 1pm for 1:30pm start until 4:30 pm,
25-27 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD. Entrance fee £3 refreshments included.
We recommend you arrive early.
For more information contact Hanna on 01244 383 392 or Angela on 01244 629 930
Review of talk at Chester Globetrotters
Our second speaker …
THE AURORA REVISITED (and other stuff) – NIGEL BRADBURY
Nigel gave us his first talk about the Northern Lights previously, and returned for our July meeting to give us some more information. He talked about the Aurora oval, above the 70 degree parallel , the the area in which the Northern Lights are best viewed in Northern Norway, Iceland, Finland, Russia and Alaska. Of these countries Northern Norway is spectacular, especially around March.
This time Nigel visited Northern Norway, starting from Bergen, a journey of 2-3 days by boat, quicker however to fly to Tromso in 3 and a half hours. He flew to Bardufoss airport, (now known as Snowman). On arrival the temperature was -11degrees C ,with the runway covered in one foot of ice.
Northern Lights Flights – Since Britain is one of the worst light polluters, the flights are taken over Shetland , so not only is the aurora borealis to be seen but also magnificent views of stars, including Taurus the Bull, The Northern Cross formation, The Andromeda Galaxy and possibly the planet Jupiter. As you are flying above the clouds there is no light pollution and the human eye is able to pick up more than the camera. When the flight reaches Shetland the aircraft cabin lights are dimmed to a level that is safely, legally possible, thus giving a clearer view of the skies. The plane orbits in a circle and then reverses the orbit so that all passengers get the opportunity to see the Lights and stars,and may be also the setting sun in the west and the rising sun in the east. A couple of tips are to take a clean cloth to remove any interior condensation from the windows, and also if possible to use a tripod to keep the camera steady.
Nigel assured us that from his experience only 5 out of 240 flights had failed to experience the Aurora. The best time to make this trip is between mid October and late March, as during the summer months the Aurora is not visible.
KAZAKHSTAN
Nigel has also visited Kazakhstan, a vast land of rolling steppes stretching from the Caspian Sea to the western mountains along the border of China and north of the Himalayas and on the same latitude as Mongolia. He flew into Almaty and saw “the city sights”, the Zedkof Cathedral and mosque. Kazakh people are not Russian, although they do speak the Russian language.
The main purpose of his visit was that he had been invited to view equipment at the Tien Shen Observatory, built in 1990 by the Soviets which stands at 2800 metres and also the Gamma Ray Observatory at 4000 metres. To reach these places entailed an eight hour journey on a very old bus along dirt roads. Not the most pleasant of journeys. The last part of this trip was to visit the Charyn Canyon – very spectacular, which can be done by helicopter from Almaty at a cost of U.S.$120
Review of talk at Chester Globetrotters
Our first speaker …
ROUTE 66 – with BILL POWELL
Bill began his talk at our January meeting but as he made this such an interesting journey, with much detail, “left us” in AMARILLO singing the song!
Re-capping on the Route, it starts in Chicago, crosses 8 states of the USA, and traverses three time zones, a distance of 2448 miles, which can be driven over two weeks or two months. The route was de-commissioned in 1984, but the “old road” is driveable. Organised tours are still available, but car/motor bike hire is also possible, picking up in Chicago and dropping off in Los Angeles. The best time to make the journey is in the spring or early autumn.
In this talk Bill brought out the points/people of interest connected with each place along the route.
Barrack Obama and Al Capone from CHICAGO and SPRINGFIELD where Abraham Lincoln lived for 17 years. TULSA – 24 hours from… (who sang this song?) In OKLAHAMA CITY there was a terrorist attack in 1995 and now a Memorial Park commemorates this and gives place to the one surviving tree. Next, on to SHAMROCK with its famous U Drop Inn and of course AMARILLO with its Cadillac ranch – the best known art installation on the old road.
After Amarillo we reach half way and call at ADRIAN with its famous mid point café – hardly changed since the 1940s. Next stop on the Texas/New Mexico border was GLENRIO, now a ghost town, with deserted motel, derelict gas station and cars parked, waiting to be filled and. Two famous motels, the BLUE SWALLOW and PALOMINO greeted us in TUCUMCARI New Mexico– the former being Bill’s favourite on the whole of Route 66. On next to GALLUP and its famous El Rancho luxurious hotel, built for film stars, each bedroom bearing the name of the star… Names include Rita Heyworth, Robert Mitchum, Gene Autry, Mae West, and SPENCER TRACY/KATHRYN HEPBURN, .. hush hush, separate bedrooms but with a connecting door inside the wardrobe!
In ARIZONA we saw photos of “The Painted desert”, named because of the constantly changing white light creating spectacular colours. Also the 200 million year old petrified forest. The town of WILLIAMS was the last to be by-passed by the new inter state in 1985 and is a treasury of old motels and diners still open. WINSLOW Arizona has a much visited monument to commemorate the Eagles’ song Take it Easy and its famous line “standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona”.
Further places along the route included spectacular sights, a meteor crater, 2.4 miles in circumference and over 550 feet deep, where space astronauts trained for the moon landing. Just beyond here is HOLBROOK with its unique and very popular Wigwam Motel. Each of the 16 wigwams had an old Cadillac parked outside. Towards the end of Bill’s talk we visited the Grand Canyon and Colorado River, the Mojave desert, famous for its Joshua trees and site of Bill’s favourite diner – Roy’s of Amboy – and ended in L. A. with hand and footprints in concrete of Marilyn Monroe and Donald Duck amongst many others outside the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The old road finished in Santa Monica alongside the Pacific Ocean.
Leave a Reply