Dark Sky

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As you will be aware, if you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, we are a new business. We decided on the name ‘Steam & Stars’ because of our location - next to the West Somerset Railway and being so close to Exmoor dark sky reserve. Now we have settled into hosting and we continue to strive to give our guests the best Steam & Stars experience that we can. We now feel we should turn our attention to the stars. After all what is Steam & Stars if the stars are not starring?

We contacted Exmoor National Park and asked if they could help us to help our guests get the best from our magnificent dark skies. They told us they would be happy to help. They even run a training programme for hosts such as us and have a plethora of resources for us to share with our guest. So…

We have been attending the training sessions, have been collecting some of the resources and have plans to update our website with electronic resources and links for our guests. We believe that lying in a wood-fired hot tub, stargazing with the owls for company is an experience that is hard to beat, especially on a cold winter night. Although there is so much to see all year round for those who can stay awake until its truly dark during the summer.

We have just learned of a fabulous dark sky walk and are really looking forward to packing a flask and taking a picnic blanket to lie on and following The Exmoor Dark Sky Discovery Trail. This is ‘an easy walk under Exmoor’s dark skies to Larkbarrow Ruins’. Its start is about a 30 minutes’ drive from Steam & Stars. We imagine being immersed in a magical starry sky and trying to identify stars and constellations. Apparently, springtime is the best time to see planets and galaxies. How exciting!

Steam & Stars is now on the way to achieving Exmoor National Park’s Dark Sky accreditation!

Here's a link to a host of starry resources for you to enjoy.

www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/stargazing