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THE WEBMASTER, WHO HE?
In short, I'm the one who is responsible for this Website. This is the first of what has turned out to be several personal pages on this Website. Considering that I have been maintaining this Website for several years it took me almost two to produce something entirely self-centred.

Okay, here we go... My name is Derek Haselden and I have just completed my 49th lap of the Sun. In keeping with the astronomical theme I could be termed as being a little over 600 Moon's old, or if you like 1/434780th of a cosmic year! I was born only a few miles away from Southampton, in Hythe, on the edge of the New Forest. I've lived and worked in and around the Southampton area all my life, except for a year in Luton (well, someone has to) when I first started work after leaving school.

WORK AND CAREER
I currently work for a local company as an electronics technician building short range infra-red communications equipment. Briefly, I worked for a local electro-ceramics company but was laid-off in early 2008.

For several years I have taught some adult education classes (Astronomy) as well as being an occasional voluntary teaching assistant at secondary schools (Astronomy, Earth Science). In addition I have expanded my hobby of stone polishing to accepting commissions for polished stone work.

Until 2005 I worked as a railway signalling Senior Engineering Technician and was based at Eastleigh from where I had worked on the railways since 1983. I was one of many people who maintain and repair the signalling equipment on the railways, sometimes referred to as 'Linemen'. Health issues shunted my railway career into a siding in 2005.

Previously I had worked on light aircraft at the aerodrome that was at Hamble (The College of Air Training) for 4 years. (The locals among you might well remember that airfield, formerly known as AST, Air Service Training.) I worked on the light aircraft based there, specialising in instrument and electrical systems. Up until 1982 the College Of Air Training taught basic flying skills for British Airways (BA) pilots but when BA cut funding to Hamble that year cutbacks had to be made and I was made redundant soon after.

Sadly, little of the airfield remains today and flying at Hamble Aerodrome ceased in 1986, ending an activity at that site that went back to 1912. Aircraft have fascinated me for many years and I still take an interest in aviation. A page that I have written about this defunct airfield can be found at the Aviation at Hamble page.

OTHER INTERESTS AND HOBBIES
Although astronomy is a primary interest several other things absorb me from time to time...

My other life long interest is music. I listen to and enjoy a wide variety of music although my first musical love was classical. It is only over the last twenty odd years that classical music has become a more consuming interest of mine and over those years I've steadily built up a collection of different works, especially symphonies, and have large collections of some composer's work. Among them are; J.S. Bach, Bartok, Beethoven, Boccherini, Borodin, Brahms, Bruckner, Debussy, Hindemith, Janacek, Mahler, Mozart, Neilsen, Part, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Vaughan-Williams and Walton. Many of these composers are, well, decomposing but bucking this trend is recent arrival on the orchestral musical scene, Karl Jenkins, whose works occupy a fair part of my musical collection.

In recent years film music has held a certain fascination for me, in particular the works of Bernard Herrmann (he wrote many scores for Alfred Hitchcock films), but also the film music of John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Ennio Morricone, and John Williams to name but a few. Other musical interests include, Jazz, contemporary Rock and Pop, Heavy Rock, Reggae/Ska... the list goes on and there is very little music I don't enjoy, my interest in music is somewhat eclectic. At this point artists are too numerous to mention, as numerous as they are varied.

Almost anything scientific interests me (well it would wouldn't it) especially the natural world. Photography occasionally takes up some of my time, and movies (oddly enough).

A more recent thief of time is Lapidary (stone polishing) and flat spaces in my house are slowly becoming occupied with odd collections of glass jars and dishes full of highly polished stones. A page detailing this curious hobby can the found by following the above link. In the years since taking up this craft I have learned how to cut, shape and polish stones and occasionally accept commissions for making bespoke stone jewellery pieces.

A near life-long interest in the disused aerodromes and railway lines of Hampshire and the surrounding area occasionally makes me venture out into the countryside, especially into the New Forest and Meon Valley area. In amongst other occasional interests like reading, poetry, model making, and watching the Sun rise, I manage to cram in inconvenient things like work, eating and sleeping.

I've always had an on/off interest in football although I don't follow or support any team as such. (I do however admit to liking to see the enigma that is Southampton Football Club do well, England as well!) I used to play football at school and in my early twenties but it was not until 2000 that a ex-workmate asked me to play for a team that was made up of some of the other blokes I worked with. I did warn them to have a resusitation team on standby since I was twice their age and hadn't played football for nearly 15 years! Quite frankly the pace of six-a-side football left me exhausted, but as it happens they wanted a goalkeeper... I collected a 'Player Of The Week' award and winners medals for when the team was promoted to the Premier Division, and when we later went on to win the Premiership Title. Sadly, the team disbanded in early 2005 but the records of the team can be found on the SONY Athletic page.

ASTRONOMY
My interest in astronomy goes back to about age 6 or 7 and I was given my first telescope when I was 8. Despite nearly 40 years of star-gazing I have no formal qualifications in the science - except a near lifetime's experience of the subject which I guess must count for something. One early memory is the first constellation I identified (Delphinus) and since then the heavens have always been a topic of personal fascination.

On and off I have always enjoyed talking about astronomy and I got off to a good start in this respect, being asked to give a talk to my class at school when I was just 8. It wasn't until my late twenties however that this interest enjoyed a resurgence and an occasional curiosity became the time-consuming interest that it now is. In the autumn I teach an adult education class and currently do voluntary work teaching the subject at schools and have written a small book of astronomical notes to accompany those classes. Some of the contents of that book have started to appear on this Website and there's probably more to come.

As I've already mentioned, I have never lost the fascination with that curious (and free) spectacle of watching the Sun rise or set. I don't have any really specific interests within astronomy although the planets are always close to the top of the list, along with stars, the Moon... Hell, its all interesting!

Oh yes, some pictures of those sunrises I was on about... and a few sunsets thrown in as well!
Click on the pictures to see them full size, use the BACK button on your browser to come back to this page.
Photos: Derek Haselden

THE SOCIETY
I first joined Solent Amateur Astronomers in 1975 for a few years but my membership lapsed about a year before I left school in 1978. I rejoined in 1990 but did not get heavily involved with the Society until I started working on the telescope at Itchen Observatory in mid 1992. In mid 1993 I was invited to join the committee and the post of Curator of Itchen Observatory was created the same year.

At the 1993 Annual General Meeting the post of Vice-Chairman was created and I was elected to that position before filling the then vacant Chairman's position in 1994. I held the Chairman's position until 1999 before letting another committee member have a go at it. At the 2000 A.G.M. I retook 'The Chair' but for personal reasons decided to stand down as Chairman early in 2004. At the 2004 A.G.M. I was elected President after the retirement of Bill Dawson who had been in that position for many years. In 2009 I relinquished the position of President and now only hold the position of Webmaster.

Although I have managed the Society's Website since 1999 a Committee post for that was created at the 2000 A.G.M. in recognition of my work on the Website. I have also been heavily involved in the production of the Society's newsletter since 1996 and have written articles for the newsletter since 1993.

For the last 9 or 10 years I've delivered at least one lecture a year to the Society and since 1995 I have been actively engaged in the Society's programme of talk to schools and children's (and a few adult) groups. As well as this I have attended and/or organised many of the Society's openings of the observatories since 1992. In the years since then I must have met and spoken to several thousand people in the process!

FINALLY...
Well, that's about it really. A potted history of me and my interests. So, for the time being at least, enough trumpet blowing from me. If and when time permits I might even start to expand on some of the interests I mentioned earlier. Hope the photo of me gave you a fright! Oh yes, do make the effort to see the occasional sunrise or sunset - they are free of charge, no two are the same, and maybe you'll see my fascination with them...

© Derek Haselden 2011