The Biggles Companion
Lots and lots of time consuming hobbies!
Over the years I have had many different hobbies. Each had their own distinct mixture of cost, job satisfaction and time required but it is fair to say that even with hindsight I don't have many regrets about following any of them.
ASTRONOMY - Very expensive and even more time-consuming. This brought me into regular contact with UK and overseas astronomers, both amateur and professional, some of whom took themselves and the hobby far too seriously.
BIGGLES - The Biggles Companion was one of those projects that lots of people said needed to be done but that nobody got round to doing until I came along. I remember spending almost the whole of a summer holiday doing the research - basically reading all 100+ Biggles' books taking copious notes as I ploughed through them.
CEMETERY PROJECT - Quite time consuming and of course there is the cost of the petrol but it is nice to have a hobby that Claire and I can do together.
RAILWAYS - I have been interested in both model railways and in railway history for years. It has never taken up much money or time but it is always in the background "waiting for the day."
SCHOOL GOVERNOR - I started doing this in the early 1980's and I have hardly stopped doing it since then. My three years as Chairman at Danetre School were one of the highlights of my professional career.
SOUTH AFRICAN POSTCARDS - This was a fairly cheap hobby because so few people seem to collect this material. I enjoyed compiling the South African Picture Postcard Archive and the 2012 illustrated catalogue is very much on my "to do" list".
STAMPS and POSTAL HISTORY - At different times I have collected Great Britain overprints, Nigeria and Transvaal. I made a good profit by selling up my collections at the right time. My thematic/topical collection on "Stamps from design to printed sheet" is still work in progress.
17 years in amateur astronomy (1995 - 2012)
I lived in Daventry, a small town in Northamptonshire, from 1990 until 2010. For some years all my practical astronomy was done using a 12" Meade LX200 with an SBIG CCD sited in a roll-off roof observatory in my garden. However increasing light pollution, especially from nearby domestic security lights, meant that for the last few years all my observing was done over the internet using telescopes based in the USA and Australia.
In the days when the Meade was in use I concentrated on neglected double stars. In all I observed 2,249 of these systems which put me, at one time, in 7th place in the all-time list. Since 2005 I have spent a fair bit of time studying variable stars. I had my share of success and failure - as is always the case with amateur science - but overall had a lot of fun.
Although I was a paid up member of a number of national and indeed international groups I was never a regular on the conference circuit either as a speaker or as a delegate. One thing that made me smile about the circuit was the same (very) few names giving essentially the same talk at multiple events over many years.
My enthusiasm for the hobby seems to have waned a bit over the last couple of years. I have searched long and hard for a new astronomical challenge: - hoping to recapture the excitement - but with no success. Clearly I need a sabbatical.
Discoveries
My only asteroid discovery 2009 SP18 - as reported by the Minor Planet Center.
30 previously unreported double stars.
1452 previously unreported variable stars.
Selected Projects
Pottering around in the astronomical garden
The Emission Nebula - the Tarantula Nebula
The Cemetery Project
Double Stars
Postcards of South Africa
Trans Neptunian Objects
Variable Stars