Just been up to oxenhope and the site has been cleared. Looks like I missed my chance by a few days! Nothing left apart from 1 secure building and a mobile phone mast.
As for history I know the site was used as part of a GEE navigation system and was built during the Second World War. In 1993 a team from Bradford University designed and built a robotic telescope and deployed it up here. In December 1993 this was the first robot on the web (a world first). Users could submit requests from a web page and the robot would then schedule and take the required pictures. The system was in use until 1998 when a close lightning strike destroyed all the equipment and de-railed the project. In 2001 the project was re-started but this time in Tenerife. The project in Tenerife continues to be a huge success and is currently used by many schools as a valuable teaching aid. At time of writing the system is still free to use and anyone with a web connection can use the telescope.
Bit more history about the Telescope project at oxenhope (more pictures)
http://www.telescope.org/infopage.php?title=Oxenhope_Observatory
More information on the Telescope project in Tenerife
http://www.telescope.org/infopage.php?title=Tenerife_Observatory
Now for the pics (sorry for the poor quality it was freezing cold, Both of us didn’t have gloves and the light was going fast)
As for history I know the site was used as part of a GEE navigation system and was built during the Second World War. In 1993 a team from Bradford University designed and built a robotic telescope and deployed it up here. In December 1993 this was the first robot on the web (a world first). Users could submit requests from a web page and the robot would then schedule and take the required pictures. The system was in use until 1998 when a close lightning strike destroyed all the equipment and de-railed the project. In 2001 the project was re-started but this time in Tenerife. The project in Tenerife continues to be a huge success and is currently used by many schools as a valuable teaching aid. At time of writing the system is still free to use and anyone with a web connection can use the telescope.
Bit more history about the Telescope project at oxenhope (more pictures)
http://www.telescope.org/infopage.php?title=Oxenhope_Observatory
More information on the Telescope project in Tenerife
http://www.telescope.org/infopage.php?title=Tenerife_Observatory
Now for the pics (sorry for the poor quality it was freezing cold, Both of us didn’t have gloves and the light was going fast)
