This site is mainly for my own benefit as a log of activities and projects but I have made it available for any others who might find it interesting or, even, useful. If you have any questions I can be contacted using the contact form.
The Secret Still Observatory was constructed in March and April 2022 in a suburban garden in the UK Midlands under Bortle Class 6/7 skies.
The build followed very closely the design and ideas of the Youtuber Astrobloke. The credit for just about every aspect goes to Glenn whose videos appear on his Youtube channel
Why Secret Still?
Many years ago, I stayed in the wonderful garden at Dyffryn Fernant in West Wales. I can still remember the sight of the Milky Way overhead as I first stepped out of the car and looked up, dazzled by the sparkling heavens. During my week there, when I was free to ramble through and explore the garden, I found, tucked away in a shady corner, an old large still, brim-full of clear, motionless water. I took a pinhole photograph of this “secret still” which reflected the sky so beautifully in the day and the twinkling of the celestial body at night. During the weeks and months after my departure, I had time to consider the still and its location and wrote a poem based loosely on the feelings it evoked in me. Over the years I had time to play in my mind with the two words ‘secret’ and ‘still’ which provided me with much entertainment about their meaning, both as individual words and when used together.
Secret can have a negative connotation - such as when describing the activities of a spy or the exercising of some hidden privilege - however it also has the delicious overtone of something discovered, treasured and precious. Something which is secret is not generally known to the wider world but its secrecy is pregnant with an exciting potential for discoverability and so can be accessed by all those who are willing to look for it. The ‘secret’ element therefore came to be symbolic for me of possibility, of wonder, and also of the payback for the effort required to unearth the beauties it hides away from those of a lazy or superficial disposition.
Still can be used as a noun, an adverb or adjectivally. As a noun, it is a device for removing impurities from liquid by means of evaporation and condensation. It is of course possible during this process also to make intoxicating liquor. And liquor is something which power and authority would prefer us not to have lest it give us insights or behaviours deemed to be subversive or unmanageable. In my musings the still became emblematic of the underground eternal truths in a crazy world. As an adjective it describes a state of calm, of peace and of stasis, possibly as the result of meditation, or the brief moment of downtime and stopping following the intensive, if not frantic, activity which modern life seems to force us all to engage in. The peacefulness of Friday evening, perhaps, or the relaxation following effort or stress.
When used together, ‘still’ can be employed adverbially to reinforce that the ‘secret’ persists and has its magic is undiminished. Equally, it is possible to reverse the grammatical status of the two words and say that the ‘still’ - and our forthcoming celebration which it will enable - remains ‘secret’ and will be there whenever we choose to drink from it.
Some time ago I registered the secretstill.uk domain with the intention of using it for another very different project which, as yet, has not come about. When I built the observatory and felt that according to convention it should be named, the name ‘Secret Still Observatory’ presented itself as an obvious label for this amazing, hidden, little shed. It is an acknowledgement that it gives access to the breathtaking headiness of gazing at the night sky, exploring and discovering it, and giving perspectives to help in understanding the vastness of the universe. And, maybe, with luck and application, our place within it.
Mark
