It’s hard to imagine today, with the adjacent main West Coast railway and the whining jets from nearby Manchester Airport, that Jodrell Bank was chosen as the site for a delicate radio telescope as it was an exceptionally “quiet” area (in radio-wave terms). The gigantic steerable receiver dish, the Lovell Telescope, completed in 1957, is a familiar landmark in Cheshire, visible from the distant hills of the Peak District and the West Pennines. It was voted Britain’s Greatest Unsung Landmark in a 2006 BBC poll.

Woodland wonder

Less-known at this inspirational location is the superb Granada Arboretum, established in 1971 to complement and reflect the scientific endeavour undertaken at the Centre for Astrophysics here. On a solar-system scale, Earth pales into insignificance, and an inventive Planet Path exploration of the arboretum’s collection is designed to show this. With the sun at the foot of the telescope’s dish, Earth, Mars and inner planets are soon reached, but it’s a long tree-lined walk to the newly-reclassified dwarf planet of Pluto, and then some again to distant Eris – no, I’d not heard of it either! Along the way, more than 2,000 species of trees and shrubs dapple the 35-acre site, representing every continent except Antarctica.

Autumn is a great time to visit, with the full glory of the kaleidoscopic death-throes of countless foliages vividly colouring the estate. The arboretum is home to the National Collection of Malus (crab apple) trees taken from across the Northern Hemisphere, and also the brilliantly-coloured Sorbus (rowan and whitebeam) and Acer (maple) families. It’s
from Malus trees that all today’s soft-fruit apples are descended, and the root stock is still used for the grafting of new varieties. Back at base, the fascinating Tree Planet exhibition reveals the vital role trees play in Earth’s ecosystem.

Search the stars

At 250ft (76m) tall, the massive telescope of galvanised steel, one of the world’s most powerful, is used to look at elements of the universe as diverse as the search for new planets to star formations and black holes.

The ever-evolving visitor centre is home to an extremely popular and informative 3D theatre, where a simulated trip on the good (space)ship Elysium 7 takes you to Mars or perhaps unlocks secrets of the sun and solar system. The astonishing colours both of Earth’s autumn and deep space’s unfathomable depths make for a superb experience.