4. Observatory Dome Structure

In the autumn of 1964 John Vetterlein was engaged by Commander Hugh Malleson (Royal Navy retired), then owner of the observatory, to assess its viability. The following is an abstract from a mongraph written by Vetterlein and published by Spring Ast LIX, Springfield, Rousay, Orkney, 2001.

"...The observatory was close to the highest piece of ground (620 feet OD marked by an obelisk) for many miles and was ideally suited (or was in the days of its inception, Eastbourne now posing a light pollution hazard) for astronomical work.
I found the dome (approximately 8 feet in diameter) had been surmounted by a Negretti and Zambra cup anemometer, the control panel being read in the main room of the house on the ground floor. The narrow shutters were hinged but immovable, as was the dome itself, the large iron wheels on which it stood having seized.
We undertook to remove the shutters and to replace them with a single lateral sliding stainless steel shutter. In addition we agreed to free the wheels and to conduct experiments to see if it might be possible to attach a motor drive for rotating the dome."



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John Fuller Follies