In October 2011 I abandoned the previous observatory and moved to a new site about a mile away - what had seemed like a good idea in the beginning proved to be a very bad idea in the end. Every time it rained water poured off the roof of the bin and the ground turned into a bog. In bad weather the sheep camped in front of it and shit and pissed everywhere, the ground stank but worst of all the building acted like a huge heat sink, during the day it soaked up the heat and emitted it at night. The air currents and turbulence created inversion layers and made photography difficult.

The new site has none of these problems - it is on top of a ridge, it is open and exposed - at the first sign of bad weather the sheep disappear into the gullies.