23/04/2026
Simon Thorp's Dark Skies event goes from strength to strength.
In this monthโsย Lighting Journalย magazine, Simon Thorp, Director at LAPD, reflects on the success of another switchโoff event in his local town of Hertford.
Visitors enjoyed a rich programme of activities, alongside a guided tour of the night sky led by Bayfordbury Observatory. While celebrating darkness, carefully considered artificial light was still essential; ensuring guests could move around safely and read information at activity stations.
Simon once again chose to collaborate with Stoane Lighting, explaining: โ๐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ต๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด.โ
We were also pleased to support the event with PC Amber light sources to minimise impact on local wildlife, alongside battery packs that removed the need for long cable runs across large areas.
With enthusiasm for the event growing year on year, congratulations to everyone involved in delivering another outstanding success.