http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110131/tsc-sark-named-first-dark-sky-island-4b158bc.html Looks like the place to go
Well yes, Ziggy, the absence of built up areas, street lighting and all the other light pollution makes a fantastic difference to what can be seen in the night sky. A few years ago we rented a cottage in the sticks in Brittany for 3 months - no street lights or towns anywhere near. The night skies were fabulous. Every night we went out for a walk just to admire the stars. They just looked as if you could have put a hand up and touched them. We have a friend( from Uni days) who is an astronomer - whatever it is he does that someone pays him to do but nice work if you can get it. He lives on - well maybe I better not say as it's a very small population, but it's an island in Scotland and well away from sources of light pollution. For myself, any clear night when the sky is good, I wander outside for a little gazing.
Some of the beachfishing spots I use are good because of the cliffs behind, they shut out the background light. On a clear night down the chesil, when the sea is flat, you can see light reflected off Venus in a line across the sea. Pity my camera isn't good enough to photograph it.
