The Jim Savage-Lowden Observatory

A Potted History by Pauline Macrae & Arthur Milnes

At the end of 2000, I received a telephone call about a telescope for sale, together with a small observatory, from the estate of a Mr. Don Smith who had been a keen amateur astronomer and astrophotographer.

Richard Green, Secretary of the club at the time, and I went to have a look and, after consultation with the members, it was agreed that we should buy both telescope and observatory. Numerous astronomical slides, a few books and a Sky Sensor Go-To controller for the telescope were also included in the transaction.

In January 2001, Richard, Maarten de Vries and I collected the ten inch reflecting telescope and smaller items. Then, in early February, a team of enthusiastic members gathered at the house to dismantle the observatory. Easier said than done; its roof came off without difficulty, but the wooden structure had a high quality, hard wood frame, held together with 4 inch wood screws. These proved impossible to remove and work had to be abandoned for the day. Two weeks later, Arthur Milnes and David Garrard, with power drills, petrol generator and hacksaw blades, laboriously drilled past, and then cut through, each screw. At last, the building could be completely dismantled.

From left to right: John Palmer, Andy Ferguson, Rob Nuttall, Sheena Munro, Pauline Macrae, Willie McGilvery, Jim Savage-Lowden, Arthur Milnes, Maarten 'The Shining' de Vries (quite gentle really).

Another expedition was arranged at the beginning of March, this time in the snow, to collect the sections and load them onto a lorry for transportation to Jim Savage-Lowden’s house (our former Chairman). There they remained for a year while we looked for, and eventually found, an observing site, courtesy of the National Trust for Scotland. Permission was kindly given for us to site the observatory on their land at Culloden Battlefield, for which temporary planning permission was granted.

Inspecting our site at Culloden Battlefield.

In February 2002, another work party of members, armed with a couple of trailers and banana loaf, went back to Jim’s house to move the pieces of the observatory to a large Dutch barn on the farm, near Culloden, of Ian Alexander, a friend of Arthur’s.

Once the weather was warmer and drier, a small work party organised by Arthur set about renovating the observatory. Some parts of the wooden walls had to be renewed and Simon Riggs, a joiner and member of the club, was instrumental in getting this done – with a little help from his friends. The tar and felt on the roof took a long time to remove but it gave us a chance to make friends with the cows. When finished panels had been undercoated, a trial assembly proved everything still fitted and it seemed rather a shame to have to dismantle it yet again.

Ian, Pauline, Arthur, Kenneth Cormack and David Hughes, battling to remove the tar from the roof then checking it all fitted together.

In October of that year, we began to prepare the site for the observatory. Jim, the Groundsman at Culloden Battlefield offered to dig the foundations with his little digger and saved us a lot of work. We were given wood for the formwork by Ian Grant, a builder friend of Arthur’s, and Morrisons Contractors very kindly supplied us with, and laid, the concrete for the base.

Jim the Groundsman at Culloden Battlefield and his trusty digger, and the men from Morrisons Construction who laid the concrete.

By November, the site was ready and the observatory 'kit' and ourselves were transported to Culloden, in some style, in Ian Alexander`s huge tractor and trailer. Thanks, especially to Arthur and Bill Jappy, the observatory began to take shape. Over the next few months, during days of good weather, the building was reassembled. The original, and very heavy, sliding roof section was in poor condition and, once again, friends came to our aid! S.G.L. Carbon Fibres Ltd., made us a steel sliding roof which solved the problem. The pillar for the telescope was fixed in place and the observatory was given its final coats of paint; green on the outside and black on the inside. The roof was covered with heavy ‘torch-on’ felt and even I was trusted with the blowtorch. Despite not having used one before, the observatory (and members) managed to survive my ministrations.

Bill Jappy (in orange) supervising, Simon Riggs peering around the door, Arthur checking, Willie putting some of the pieces together and numerous members helping to assemble the observatory.

The Jim Savage-Lowden Observatory was opened on the 25th April, 2003 by Melony Savage-Lowden, Jim’s widow, and their three children. It was very windy and nearly all the balloons were blown away but an enormous number of Society members came to the opening, proving all our efforts had been worthwhile, particularly as an observatory had always been one of Jim’s most treasured dreams for the Club.

Yes, there really is a telescope inside. Pauline and Melony Savage-Lowden.

However, following the opening ceremony, there was still much work to be done to complete a working observatory.

On installing the 10 inch telescope, it was found to have a damaged mount and whilst this was under repair, it was decided to replace the faulty, (and millennium outmoded), Sky Sensor computer and motors with up to date models, which we were fortunate to obtain in ‘as new’ condition and at a reduced price. Further work on the mount by Arthur was required to accommodate the new motor but the work and investment meant that we had a fully operational scope ready for the dark nights. In the meantime, much effort went into installing a 12v power system, complete with solar panels, to provide low-level and general lighting and power for the telescope’s computer and drive.

In addition, shelves, a small writing table attached to the wall, and boxes to store the Sky Sensor and battery have been made and fitted to the interior of the Observatory. An Electronic Eyepiece was donated by Andy Ferguson and five new eyepieces were supplied by Rob Nuttall at a much reduced price. We bought a five inch, 12 volt TV monitor to allow ‘group viewing’ during observing sessions, an ‘atomic standard’ radio controlled clock and, not least, a useful outside storage container to help keep down ‘equipment clutter’ in the small confines of the observatory.

Observing sessions now take place on a regular basis on four days each month and we were able to open the observatory to the public for the first time during the closest approach of Mars and then again during the Venus Transit.

Many members and friends helped in the removal, renovation and reassembly of our observatory, led and guided by Arthur and Bill, and sincere thanks are extended to them all for helping to provide such an invaluable asset to the Club.