A local astronomer is keen for Hexham to become England’s first Dark Sky Town. Wil Cheung, who runs stargazing events at The Twice Brewed Inn, said the town was “perfectly placed” in between the Northumberland National Park and North Pennines AONB to become a Dark Sky Town. The UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dark Skies was formed last year and exists to fight light pollution to protect our dark skies for future generations. Their ‘Ten Dark Sky Policies for the Government’ policy plan includes creating a ‘Dark Sky Towns & Cities’ initiative, which would give local government the power to go further to reduce light pollution by creating a voluntary ‘Dark Sky Town/City’ classification.