The society had its beginnings
back in 1968, when a young Norfolk lad, Michael Poxon, with a thirst
for knowledge about the night sky started his own group of
enthusiastic young astronomers. Although it started in 1968, it
wasn't an official society until the year 1970, when a constitution
was put into practice. The society was based in Yarmouth and was
called the Yarmouth Astronomical Society (YAS), which was changed to the Lowestoft & Yarmouth Regional Astronomers (LYRA)
when it moved to Lowestoft in 1981.
During the course of its
existence, its membership has fluctuated between just half a dozen
to 40 in its time, and its current standing is 27 members.
One of the group's dreams
from the very beginning was to own a society observatory, which didn't
come to fruition until the late 1990's when the Kirkley High School
offered their neglected school-made telescope and observatory
to LYRA. The observatory was lovingly restored to its former glory,
which was then re-opened by Patrick Moore for use by members and the
community.
The society's first
newsletter, the 'Albireo' was published in
February 1971, which lasted until 1981, when the group moved to
Lowestoft. During its early days in Lowestoft it published a small
circular called the LYRA Circular, but was superseded by the LYRA
newsletter in the year 2000. The newsletter is still going strong to
this day and is available free to all members.
