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Abingdon Astronomical Society presently uses three sites in southern Oxfordshire/ West Berkshire for its monthly observing evenings. Two are rural sites offering darker skies than are available in the county's towns, while the third is on the southern fringes of Abingdon and is accessible by public transport. Each is reasonably accessible by car and has space for parking and for setting up equipment. Two new sites (at Marcham and Frilford) have been proposed but not yet used.
The sites are listed below. Using each of the links on the left will open a new window containing a large scale map showing the site from multimap.com.
| Britwell Hill, Britwell Salome | The site is at the intersection of the lane from the village to Britwell Hill with the Ridgeway. The lane is clearly signposted as a right turn from the Benson to Watlington road (the B4009) near the village centre. |
| Bury Down | Paved public car parks are on either side of the West Ilsley road at Bury Down above the A34 trunk road. The Society uses the northern car park. While not as dark as the other sites, the car park surface enables the site to be used even after recent rain. The site also offers the greatest parking area. |
| Abbey Meadow Recreation Ground, Abingdon | This is part of Abingdon's river frontage, situated at the end of Abbey Close, a turning off the Vineyard as you head north from the town centre. There is a public car park, and the site is reached by crossing a footbridge to the area abreast of the open air swimming pool. There is a hard standing area available. |
| Cow Lane, Marcham | Turn north at the crossroads on the A415 in Marcham into North Street. About 200 m after leaving the 30 mph zone take the right turning, marked 'Bridleway'. After about 200 m (but before a wood on the left) there is a small turning marked 'Marcham Jubilee Trail' - meet by this turning. |
| The Golf Course, Frilford Heath | Coming from Abingdon, take the Marcham Road from the interchange with the A34. Take the first right and just follow the road. After passing the Dog house pub on your right look for a turning on your left just before the cross roads. It's between the telephone box and the road sign. Coming from Oxford, take the A420 out of Oxford towards Swindon. Turn left for the A338. Follow this road, turning left onto Faringdon Road some time later (not sure how far down it is). If you go pass the golf club entrance you've gone to far. The entrance will be on your right between the telephone box and the road sign. |
Suggestions for further sites would be welcomed by the Society and can be
sent using the Webmaster link below.
| Comments to Webmaster@abingdonastro.org.uk | Last revision: 20 February 2005 |