A Clear Night Sky

I was watching a film called Greyhound the other day, about the 2nd World War Battle in the North Atlantic, where convoys carrying troops and vital supplies from America to the UK were being attacked and sunk by Nazi submarines. In one memorable scene, the camera pans slowly away from the human chaos and up through the thick enveloping clouds, and there in all its beauty, above it all shines the ‘Northern Lights’, the shimmering Aurora Borialis. 

For me, this staggering example of extreme contrasts shares the same stage as the millions and millions of stars in the night sky. Our world, our spinning globe with all its life, is in a Universe of other worlds that lie beyond our imagination. Here in Radnor Fforest we are lucky indeed to live in an area of such outstanding beauty, where the skies have very little light pollution. We as a community must not take this granted. For it is a rarity in modern Britain. Take our eye off the ball and who knows who might build what and where! So let’s look up into the star filled night and celebrate, for these are the lights to guide us, to liberate us, to soothe us and connect us, and we should all have a time and opportunity to observe and wonder at the beauty of a clear night sky.

(Photo by Mat Price)