Northumberland photographer captures shooting star over Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall

You wait years to capture one through the lens and then you can’t stop getting them on camera.

Earlier this year, one of Wil’s photo’s went viral thanks to the one in a million family portrait he snapped during a stargazing session at The Twice Brewed Inn, where he is the resident stargazer.

Last week, Wil decided to brave the freezing temperatures on the Wall to see if he could achieve a years-long ambition to get a shooting star shot over the iconic setting of Sycamore Gap.

Wil, who heads up the busy stargazing programme at the popular pub and restaurant, situated in the heart of the Northumberland Dark Skies Park said: “I have wanted to get a photo of a shooting star above Sycamore Gap for a long, long time.”

When the skies are clear, December 13 and 14 are the best times to see the Geminid Meteor shower.

While under ideal conditions, the Geminids under can produce more than 120 shooting stars an hour, the forecast for last week’s shower was around 25-30.

In addition, the wind chill made the temperature -9°C feel more like -13°C and the walk to Sycamore Gap was no picnic either.

Wil says: “Bearing in mind I often go to Iceland, this was no doubt one of the most challenging conditions I've faced as a photographer. Parts of the path to the tree were solid ice.”

Although the number of shooting stars lived up to the forecast, Wil wasn’t optimistic he had captured any above Sycamore Gap, so he was surprised and delighted when he returned home to find he had some really bright stars shooting across the sky above the tree.

He said: “It was great to get back into the warm and find I had got some great photos after all.

“Sycamore Gap has been photographed from every angle and so it feels special to have captured an image of such an iconic place, which not many other people will have managed to get.

“It took a long time to warm up afterwards, but it was definitely worth it!”