Star gazing
Oakdown sits in a rural valley three miles from the nearest town, which is exactly the sort of place a night sky needs. Step away from the amenity block on a clear night then give your eyes ten minutes to adjust.
Autumn plus winter are the seasons for it. Long nights, cold clear air, then far less haze than you get in summer.
Nearby dark skies
Norman Lockyer Observatory
On Salcombe Hill above Sidmouth, about two and a half miles west of the park at EX10 0NY. Open evenings, telescope tours plus planetarium shows through the year. The site is reached by gravel paths.
Exmoor Dark Skies Festival
Exmoor is one of the darkest places in the country. The festival runs from mid October into November with stargazing sessions, astrophotography plus night walks. Forty-five miles, about an hour and a quarter.
The Dorset Downs
Dorset holds designated Dark Sky Reserves, which are worth the drive on a clear autumn night.
Wrap up warmer than you think you need to, pick a night with no cloud, then leave your phone in your pocket — a screen undoes twenty minutes of dark adaptation in seconds.
Stay under dark skies
A rural valley three miles from Sidmouth, with very little light to spoil it.