Daresbury Laboratory

The tower at Daresbury laboratory is a well known landmark and we probably all know a little bit about the work carried out there. But when I was shown a photograph of a line of wooden huts and a football pitch adjacent to the site, I could only wonder at the reason they were built.

We can usually find someone in the village who knows about things, but not this time. There was speculation, but with no real certainty. So, I emailed the labs and was invited to visit to look through their archives.

The authority for the project to build an electron synchrotron in the north west was given in July 1962. Daresbury was chosen because the sandstone bedrock would provide a stable base for the delicate instruments and the canal would provide a source of water for cooling.

Construction began and soon afterwards, scientists were appointed to the project. The wooden huts were built to house them before the laboratory was complete. They were taken down in the mid 1970’s.

The tower was built in the 1970’s to house the second generation synchrotron. There were many objections initially, but most of us now accept this landmark and would be lost without it. The view from the top is stunning!

The laboratory continues to undertake world leading science across many different fields.  My thanks to the Laboratory for allowing us to reproduce their pictures and information.