Jodrell Bank (From Warrington Guardian)

Jodrell Bank

10:14am Wednesday 9th April 2008 in Iconic Cheshire By Frances Kindon

JODRELL Bank has loomed over the rich and leafy pastures of Cheshire for more than 50 years. And now the 250ft dish - known to everyone who has driven around the outskirts of Knutsford - might become recognised the world over.

Professor Ian Morison hopes the observatory will one day be added to the list of World Heritage Sites alongside the Egyptian pyramids, Taj Mahal and Great Wall of China.

"At the moment the list tends not to include sites of modern technology or science but I believe that at a recent meeting they were asked to open up the description of what can make the list and Jodrell Bank was cited," he said.

"Alas, it hasn't happened yet but let's just say it's being discussed very seriously."

Standing steadfast against the picturesque backdrop, the telescopes of Jodrell Bank Observatory have dominated the skyline for more than 50 years.

Visible from as far away as the hills of Wales and Derbyshire, the biggest telescope - the Lovell - is the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world.

"Lovell was used to track both Soviet and American probes aimed at the moon in the late 1950s and early 1960s."

The observatory was established in 1945 by Sir Bernard Lovell, who, having worked on radar in the Second World War, wanted to continue his research into cosmic rays.

He needed a quiet observing site to track radar echoes of tiny particles travelling from space, so Manchester University pointed him in the direction of a patch of land it owned near Holmes Chapel.

Jodrell Bank went on to play an important role in the research of meteors, quasars, pulsars, masers and gravitational lenses, and the Lovell was used to track both Soviet and American probes aimed at the moon in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Last year the observatory won the BBC's online competition to find the country's most Unsung Landmark'.

Professor Morison added: "We were extremely pleased to win, we were up against a lot of really strong competition.

"One thing we hope is that we will now have the scope to inspire the next generation of astronomers and scientists."