Cumbria's dark skies allow us to see the natural wonder of the stars, but are also critical for the health wildlife and our own natural well-being. Sadly light pollution in Cumbria is increasing each year, threatening to obscure our view of the stars and blinding and confusing animals so they can’t feed or find a mate. We need urgent action now to stop light pollution. Stargazers, photographers, wildlife lovers and local communities… please help.
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The Lake District and Cumbria offers some of the most spectacular and precious skyscapes in England and we want you to join us on an interstellar adventure. Download our Dark Sky Discovery Pack and get started today!
Twenty-two new environmentally and dark sky friendly lights are benefitting nature and people in the town of Sedbergh. Read more
Friends of the Lake District's Dark Skies project is coordinating another Big Lighting Switch Off, in Keswick, Ambleside and Grasmere next week to see what a difference it makes to our view of the stars. Read more
We've created a new 2024 'Dark Skies room brochure' for hotel and B&B guests to encourage them to step outside, look up and be wowed by how many stars they can see. Read more
To celebrate our starry skies and help protect and improve our view of the stars, we're inviting residents and visitors in Cumbria to be ‘citizen scientists’ and take part in a Cumbria Star Count 2024 – a cosmic census that will help map our view of the stars and the impact of light pollution. Read more
Our good lighting guide produced jointly with a lighting designer launches and has already won two national awards! Providing technical lighting guidance to planners, it will also help anyone installing or replacing lighting to make good lighting choices. Read more
A talk to the Institution for Lighting Professionals' Annual Summit. Our Dark Skies Officer shares fresh approaches to tackling light pollution, planning guidance, monitoring, and inspiring communities to take action. Read more
A magical Dark Skies Night Walk in Holme Wood with talk, poetry, sounds and silence, light and darkness, and songs. Read more
Cumberland Council in partnership with lighting company DW Windsor has installed dark skies and wildlife sensitive lighting across the busiest road crossing the river Eden in Carlisle. Read more
Rookhow, an 18th Century Grade II listed Quaker Meeting House in the Rusland valley, contacted the Dark Skies Cumbria Project seeking help to choose sympathetic external lighting. Read more
More Kendal residents, inspired by the growing awareness of the impacts of light pollution, have replaced their outdoor lighting with dark skies friendly lighting. Read more
The results of this year’s Star Count, released today by CPRE, reveals light pollution blocks three-quarters of UK residents view of the night sky, with only five percent of people enjoying the wonder of a truly dark starry sky. Read more
A dark skies and wildlife friendly heritage lighting scheme has won a design award from Kendal Civic Society. Read more
A short film of our Big Switch Off event in Ambleside and Grasmere - to save energy and see more stars. Residents and businesses took part by turning off their own lights, along with over 200 street lights switched off by Cumbria County Council on the night. Read more
We welcome the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee looking into the effects of artificial light on human health. We look forward to the Committee’s forthcoming report, which will inform our future joint working with Defra on tackling light pollution. Read more
Friends of the Lake District has written a joint letter to the Defra Minister Rebecca Pow, asking for a meeting to see how all the Dark Sky interests can work together with Defra on the urgent and growing problem of light pollution. Read more
The third Ambleside and Grasmere Big Switch Off took place on Thursday evening. Although cloud cover spoilt views of the stars, many businesses, organisations and residents turned off their lights, and over 200 street lights were switched off by Cumbria County Council. Read more
Our Big Switch Off of lights across Ambleside and Grasmere is on Thursday 23rd February, from 7pm. Street lights will be turned off and businesses and residents can take part by turning their own lights off, to save energy and see more stars. Read more
Cumbria’s Dark Skies Festival gave 1,500 Cumbria residents and visitors experiences including stargazing and astrophotography, night trail running, canoeing, swimming, wildlife walks and forest bathing. Read more
Light met dark at the Christmas lights switch on in Kendal, with a 30 minute lighting switch off in the Market Place, when our Dark Skies Officer talked about reducing light pollution, energy consumption and seeing more stars. Read more
Twenty people attended our ‘Dark Skies Ambassador’ training last week, including members of staff from the National Trust, Forestry England, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and keen amateur astronomers from all over Cumbria. Read more
Share your love of the night sky with the public while helping us protect our fragile nocturnal environment from light pollution. The Cumbrian Dark Skies Ambassador programme aims to train and mentor enthusiastic people to become stargazing guides at public events. Read more
Working with five different sized communities across Cumbria, we commissioned lighting designers Cundalls to carry out town and village lighting audits to assess light pollution levels and identify the most significant sources of light pollution. Read more
We are working with the County Council and Thorn Lighting to install new Dark Skies and wildlife friendly road lighting across Cumbria. A short film featuring some of the work so far. Read more
When lighting is switched off after midnight the streets are likely to be in near darkness, which means that any would-be offenders may find it challenging to see if there are any valuable goods left unsecured in vehicles. Read more
Nearly 200 street lights belonging the County, District and Parish Councils were switched off from 8pm through to midnight on Saturday night in Ambleside in Grasmere to reveal a star-laden sky. Read more
Street lights on roads in Ambleside and Grasmere go out to mark The Big Switch Off – an evening to highlight the stars and raise awareness about saving electricity. Read more
Cumbria’s fourth Dark Skies Festival runs between 12 - 26 February 2022, with a diverse range of online and outdoor events to experience and be wowed at the wonders of the night sky environment. Read more
Five Dark Skies and wildlife friendly road lights have been installed in Lorton, in the north west of the Lake District National Park as part of a new pilot scheme. Read more
‘Craftivist’ Danielle helped inspire an outdoor art trail to raise awareness about light pollution during Chorlton Arts Festival in September. She produced a beautifully illustrated and fact-packed light pollution awareness handbook ‘Blinded by the Light’ Read more
The success of Cumbria’s third Dark Skies Festival, shows that people want to get outside and experience nature and wildlife in the dark. Several hundred people attended activities and events spread all across the county, and in the Lake District National Park. Read more
An exciting selection of in-person night time events in the wilds of Cumbria, from rock pooling in the dark on the west coast, to night woodland walks at Arnside and Staveley, night time canoeing, listening to wildlife and studying the moon through a telescope. Read more
Greater understanding of the needs of the European Hedgehog, an urban adaptor species in serious decline, will help to inform and establish effective conservation measures for the protection of this nocturnal insectivore. Read more
Companies producing some Dark Skies compliant domestic and commercial fittings, and road and footway lighting (NB. This list is not exhaustive, and will be continuously updated): Read more
Light polluting footway luminaires along Cliff Terrace, Low Fellside in Kendal have been replaced with the Town’s first Dark Skies and Wildlife friendly heritage-style light fittings. Read more
A pilot of five Dark Skies and wildlife friendly new road lights have been installed in the village of Lorton, in the north west part of the Lake District National Park. Read more
Evolving Cumbria County Council’s road lighting replacement programme in sensitive landscape locations installing a new lighting product to the UK, called NightTune. Read more
Examples of 'good practice' Read more
There's just a few days left to enter our Lake District Photo Competition. Here's some fabulous photos from the Dark Skies category of our 2020 photo comp, to get you in the mood. Read more
The latest organisation to lend their support to the Dark Skies Cumbria Project is the Cumbria Amphibian and Reptile Group, who highlighted recent studies assessing the impacts of light pollution on common toads (Bufo Bufo). Read more
Light polluting footway lights along Cliff Terrace on Low Fellside, Kendal have been replaced with the Town’s first Dark Skies and Wildlife friendly heritage-style lights. Read more
Most of the world's land species are nocturnal. In this short film Bob Mizon of the Commission for Dark Skies talks about why we need to protect the night. Read more
"Listening to a webinar on Dark Skies recently, the presenters passionate talks about their love of the night sky and why it is so important to preserve it got me thinking…How can do my bit?" Read more
The Quiet Site, established in 1963, is pitched high above Watermillock in the beautiful Lake District’s Ullswater valley. Read more
Astronomers have designed an online tool which for the first time allows members of the public to look up what steps their local Member of Parliament is taking to combat light pollution. Read more
We were so lucky to have a beautiful still, clear night for the Big Switch Off on Saturday. Jack Ellerby and AAFAF members Steve and Clare, were totally blown away by the thousands of stars that revealed themselves after the lights went off. Read more
A nationwide Star Count conducted in February has revealed a significant drop in light pollution levels across the UK. Read more
Community groups, residents, businesses and Cumbria Highways are taking part in the first lighting ‘Big Switch Off’ in Ambleside on Saturday 10 April, from 9.30pm onwards overnight. Read more
Work is nearing completion on Cumbria County Council’s exciting street light replacement and improvement programme, a major countywide project to replace over 45,000 street lights with more efficient and cost effective LED technology. Read more
A landscape pastel artist living in Egremont, with an incurable and painful disability. The beautiful dark skies in our county helped me to discover the benefit of creativity when coping with chronic pain and improving mental health. It forged a career and many charitable ventures in 18 short months. Read more
Board Policy on the Application of Lighting Principles Adopted January 28, 2021 Read more