2004: the year of the transit by Valerie & Andrew White

The highlight of 2004 was the transit of far from Much Hoole, as we Venus in June. To prepare ourselves for knew it has a painting of the event, in April we visited Much Horrocks observing the Hoole in Lancashire, to see the church transit, but it was closed where Jeremiah Horrocks was clerk, and that day, so we just took a nearby Carr House where it is assumed photo of their adverts for he was a tutor to the children of the observing the transit on June house, and from where he was the first 8 and their play ‘Much to view a transit of Venus in 1639. The Hoole about Nothing’. east window of the church has a stained Unfortunately the play was glass depiction of Horrocks viewing the already fully booked, so we Roundels in Much Hoole Church to commemorate the Venus transit and also, in another window in were unable to see it. transits. Left, erected in 1874; right, added in 2004. For the transit itself we flew to Egypt (Sinai) with Explorers some interesting photos of the present Tours and had a perfectly clear sky to interior and garden of the cottage. An view the event, although it was very hot. additional point of interest was that the We took a Meade ETX90 and a Coronado nearby road was called Priory Grove but Maxscope 40 H-alpha telescope with us. its road sign said ‘Priory Grove − late Val viewed through the ETX with a solar Crabtree Croft’. We were not quite so filter, and Andrew viewed through the successful in trying to see the painting of Hα. We wanted to view ingress and Crabtree observing the transit, which is in egress rather than photograph them, and the Great Hall in Manchester Town Hall, we recorded the times of ingress and as tours are only during a weekday and egress. It was interesting to note that by prior arrangement, and we had called Andrew saw the ingress in Hα about 45 on a Saturday. secs before Val did in white light, and To round similarly egress was about 45 seconds off the after in Hα. We have put a fuller report transit year, and the timing results on our web site we called at Jeremiah Horrocks observes the transit of www.vanda.eclipse.co.uk. Tahiti in Venus in 1639. Stained glass window in Much We visited Astley Hall the weekend November, Hoole church, Lancashire. after returning from Egypt, to see the on the way painting of Horrocks observing the to a holiday the left hand side, there is a roundel transit and the exhibition on Horrocks in New which was installed to commemorate the and his observations that they had on Zealand. We transit of Venus in 1874. Earlier in 2004 display throughout 2004. Another went up to the local school designed a new roundel, painting of Horrocks is owned by the Venus Point, to commemorate the 2004 transit, which Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, so in where has been installed in a symmetrical July we went there and eventually found Captain position in the same window. This new the painting, but not in the Art Gallery Cook and roundel design was used as the logo for (where the staff didn’t know anything astronomer the many events that Much Hoole about it), but in the Astronomy Gallery Charles Church organised during 2004, especially in the Museum next door. Green around June. The clock on the outside of To further add to our transit experi- observed the the church, dated 1859, was erected in ence, in August we travelled the ten miles transit of memory of Horrocks and has an inscrip- to Salford, to find where Jeremiah Venus in tion to this effect around it. Horrocks’ friend William Crabtree lived 1769. There The weekend before the transit, the and observed the 1639 transit. We found is, of course, Lighthouse and monument church held a flower festival on the theme the blue plaque in the area that he is nothing at Venus Point, Tahiti. of Jeremiah Horrocks and the planets. reputed to have observed from (the remaining of The flower arrangements were superb, plaque is on someone’s garden wall). We the observatory that Cook erected, but we with a number portraying the Sun with also found the house where Crabtree lived knew there should be a monument there. Venus in transit. On the same afternoon (Ivy Cottage), which was actually up for We eventually found a monument which we visited Astley Hall, near Chorley, not sale, and the estate agent’s web site had we assumed was the one commemorating Cook’s observation, but it had no plaque to say what it was. Later we found out from a tour guide that there had been a plaque but it had been stolen a few years ago and never replaced. But we did find a picture on the internet of a close-up of the lost plaque in situ on the monument, which confirmed that we had found the right place. 138 J. Br. Astron. Assoc. 115, 3, 2005