Lovell Telescope — Attraction in England

What a fantastic place!

My wife and I home educate, so we’re always out and about visiting various places of interest. Given we live fairly locally, we have visited Jodrell Bank many times.

If you buy a ticket, it becomes an annual pass which allows you to visit as many times as you want for the 12 months following your visit. This is great for anyone, but especially families with children who want to keep the cost down and benefit from numerous visits. It also means that you can pop in and out without having to cram everything in.

One thing to note is that mobile phones are not allowed on due to the interference with the radio telescopes in operation. You can use them in airplane mode still and take photos.

Accessibility:

There are 20 disabled parking bays, and we’ve yet to see them all in use. Plus there’s a tonne of standard spaces to park in.

The pathways are easily navigable with a pram, so easily done by people with wheelchairs and/or mobility problems. It’s very accessible friendly and the site is on one flat level regardless of where you visit, even in the planetarium.

Amenities:

Theres a few toilets dotted around the site, including in the (fairly) newly built exhibition space, the lecture theatre, the discovery centre and near the cafe.

There’s also a cafe near the gift shop which has a range of foods, although there was limited veggie and no vegan options on the last few times we have been. As such we have always opted to take our own food (this is allowed) and just bought drinks from the cafe.

Points of Interest:

I won’t spoil the excitement too much, but there’s plenty to see and do for all ages. The First Light Pavilion is a short walk from the main entrance and offers lots to see and interact with. There is also a planetarium which offers an immersive star show and history of the Lovell telescope for £5 a head.

There’s also an arboretum you can walk round which is nicer in the spring and summer months. We haven’t been there for a while, but there used to be a beehive with a talk about bees from their resident beekeeper.

The main attraction is the Lovell telescope which you simply can’t miss. If you’re lucky enough you might even see it turn - it’s surprising how fast it goes given its size.

There are a few outdoor interactive things teaching you about physics. My favourite of the parabolic dishes where you can whisper into them and hear the other person some 20 or so metres away, very interesting!

Next to the telescope is a discovery centre full of interactive exhibits. Plenty to see and do with children...

The Lovell Telescope is a radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire in the north-west of England. When construction was finished in 1957, the telescope was the largest steerable dish radio telescope in the world at 76.2 m (250 ft) in diameter;[1] it is now the third-largest, after the Green Bank telescope in West Virginia, United States, and the Effelsberg telescope in Germany. It was originally known as the "250 ft telescope" or the Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank, before becoming the Mark I telescope around 1961 when future telescopes (the Mark II, III, and IV) were being discussed. It was renamed to the Lovell Telescope in 1987 after Sir Bernard Lovell, and became a Grade I listed building in 1988.The telescope forms part of the MERLIN and European VLBI Network arrays of radio telescopes. Both Bernard Lovell and Charles Husband were knighted for their roles in creating the telescope. In September 2006, the telescope won the BBC's online competition to find the UK's greatest "Unsung Landmark". 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of...

Beautiful and educational at the same time.I paid extra for the dome show.Its animated and perfect for kids between 7-18..I wouldn't suggest to bring toddlers at al!They were very disturbing.Next to me were kids maybe3 and5years old.They were jumping on their seat till the end of it.Two recommendations1.if you see the show and you are gonna queue,BE there on time cos we went for a coffee(meter away only)and were watching door every second if it's our turn. At our time we went in the queue (there were10people) but our slot was already in.which we didn't hear anyone saying to go in.When people in d queue mentioned they are waiting for next slot in 30min,we had no idea when they got in.so we opened door sat down.and the show was over in2min,we missed it..But we stayed seated cos there was another different show.Secondly do not get confused animated movie and this show.But it's beautiful &very well made(narrated) .I was thinking it would have been such a help to me 35 years ago when studying about planets.Kids can understand it better if it's done as a...