A Summer of Dark Skies, Seen from the Bath

One of the unexpected but real pleasures of being in deep Herefordshire countryside is looking heavenwards.  This is a county of big skies, very little light pollution and, hence, uninterrupted views of a myriad stars and constellations. 

Barton Court sits on the edge of the Malvern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where the nights are pitch dark and clear - except for the twinkling of stars .  And on a clear night the sky here displays sights that you may well not notice when you live in a town.  Take June's Strawberry Moon for example.  This is a full moon the colour of warm honey hanging in the sky the whole night long.

Then, in late July the Delta Aquariid meteors drift past, best in the dark mornings around the 20th to the 26th, with the odd bright fireball for luck. On the 29th the Buck Moon rises, the hills black against the sky. Both are celestial events so beautiful that they are moving.

Then from the 12th to the 13th of August the Perseids peak - the best meteor shower of the year, fifty or more an hour - and in 2026 they fall on a new moon, so the sky will be as dark as it ever gets. Fifty falling stars an hour and no town light for miles.

That same evening brings an additional bonus: a deep partial solar eclipse, around nine-tenths of the sun covered, low in the north-west. 

Where better to watch this magnificent beauty than sitting in a warm bath on the Clock Tower deck with a glass of wine?

The Clock Tower is our cottage for two - characterful, the most romantic of the Boltholes, with a double-ended bath on a deck that looks out towards the Malvern Hills. 

If a few unhurried nights under a big dark sky sound like your kind of summer, book direct and come and look up.

www.bartoncourt.co.uk/the-clock-tower