Speaker lights up an evening for Rotarians

The Rotary Club of Hamilton enjoyed an illuminating talk last week.

At the conclusion of the evening meal, president Eddie Hawke introduced speaker James Paterson who titled his speech ‘Dark Skies’.

The Hamilton man was employed by Lanarkshire Council in 1958 as a lighting engineer, and he spoke with authority and humour about his many years as a lighting engineer, focusing on his experiences related to The International Dark Sky Association (IDA). The organisation was developed out of UNESCO concerns about the amount of artificial light that is being dispersed into the atmosphere.

Mr Paterson first received recognition from the IDA in 2009, and has since received numerous tributes for his work in a variety of locations both in Scotland and England.

He told Rotarians that the underlying principle related to Dark Sky projects is to achieve effectively illuminated streets and highways, whilst avoiding pointing lighting towards the sky.

This can be achieved by the use of technical innovations in lighting and expertly designed lighting schemes.

The aim of the IDA is to reduce light pollution and enable more people to observe the stars at night, without having to travel to remote unpopulated areas.

Mr Paterson concluded his talk by saying that his ambition is “to grow the darkness” over a wider area of Scotland. At present, the town of Moffat is perhaps the closest ‘Dark Sky Community’ for residents of Hamilton to visit if one wishes to see the wonders of the sky at night.

At the end of the evening, an enthusiastic vote of thanks was proposed by Kenneth Miller.