Laurence Anslow is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Honorary Member of the British Astronomical Association and Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. He has been a space enthusiast for 60 years and a teacher of Astronomy at The Winston Churchill School since 1973, during which time he prepared students for O-Level and then GCSE Astronomy examinations. He was Science subject leader for 10 years.
His early interest in the subject was encouraged by correspondence with the late TV astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore. He was able to visit him in Selsey, use his telescopes and accompany him on 2 astronomical adventures overseas.
Laurence wrote a best-selling book for young people; “The Official Halley’s Comet Project Book”, which was translated into several languages. In 2012 he was the recipient of the BBC Sky at Night Magazine Award for Achievement in Amateur Astronomy.
In recent times, he has concentrated on encouraging an interest in Astronomy amongst students and the general public, including researching the idea of the planetarium at The Winston Churchill School, which led to the establishment you see today.
Currently, Laurence leads a University of the Third Age (U3A) Astronomy group in Farnham and delivers talks to schools and other groups. He has an observatory at his home and makes extensive use of a large personal library of books on the subject.