What Happens When Wales Turns Out the Lights?
- Adam (admin)
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
There is something rather lovely happening in Pembrokeshire today. Oriel y Parc in St Davids is holding a Dark Skies Day, exploring the natural world that becomes visible when daylight disappears, from moths and bats to Manx shearwaters and the night sky itself.
It caught my attention because darkness is something most of us rarely appreciate. We celebrate sunshine, blue skies and spectacular views, while darkness tends to be treated as the inconvenient interval between one day and the next. Yet Wales is actually rather remarkable after sunset. Visit Wales reports that we have the highest percentage of land protected by Dark Sky status anywhere in the world, including internationally recognised Dark Sky Reserves in Eryri and Bannau Brycheiniog, the Elan Valley International Dark Sky Park and Ynys Enlli, Europe’s first International Dark Sky Sanctuary.
There is good reason to protect darkness.
Research published in Science Advances found that artificial sky brightness increased globally by an average of 9.6% per year between 2011 and 2022, meaning that for many people the truly dark night sky is gradually disappearing.
The researchers offered a striking illustration: if a child was born somewhere where 250 stars were visible, by their eighteenth birthday fewer than 100 might remain visible under the same conditions if that rate of change continued.
Perhaps this is where darkness and naturism have something interesting in common. Both ask us to remove something in order to experience more.
Modern life places layers between ourselves and almost everything we experience. Screens mediate conversations, cameras mediate beautiful views and artificial lighting allows us largely to ignore the natural transition from day into night. Clothing, of course, provides another physical layer between our bodies and the environment.
When we experience a warm evening naturally, that relationship changes subtly. We notice the temperature falling against our skin, the movement of air and sounds that seemed absent during daylight. Our surroundings have not necessarily changed dramatically; we have simply become more aware of them.
Research into the psychological experience of awe gives this some scientific context. Studies involving hundreds of participants have found that everyday experiences of awe are associated with lower stress and greater wellbeing, while other research suggests that awe can make our individual concerns temporarily feel smaller and increase feelings of connection with other people. A vast night sky is one of nature’s most accessible sources of precisely that experience.
There is also something wonderfully democratic about looking upwards. We do not need expensive equipment, specialist knowledge or a particular level of fitness. The Royal Observatory Greenwich recommends simply allowing around 15 minutes for our eyes to adjust to darkness, ideally without repeatedly looking at a bright phone screen.
For me, this is where today’s Dark Skies Day becomes more than an astronomy event.
Naturism has never simply been about removing clothes; it is about reducing unnecessary barriers between ourselves, other people and the natural world. Sometimes that means sunshine and water against bare skin, while at other times it might simply mean sitting quietly beneath a Welsh night sky and allowing ourselves to be completely present.
We spend plenty of time celebrating how beautiful Wales looks during the day. Perhaps occasionally we should also appreciate what happens when somebody turns the lights off.
When was the last time you sat outside after dark, put your phone away and simply experienced the night?
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