The empty lair

The Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) was a major British astronomical instrument housed at the Royal Greenwich Observatory’s site in Herstmonceux, Sussex. Completed in 1967, it featured a 98-inch (2.54 m) primary mirror, making it one of the largest optical telescopes in Western Europe at the time. It was intended to serve as the UK’s flagship research telescope, but its location—subject to poor seeing conditions due to low altitude and frequent cloud cover—limited its performance. In 1979, the telescope was dismantled and relocated to the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands, where the clearer skies allowed it to reach its full potential. On my visit it was just an empty, echoing shell. Now secured with fencing and cameras.