A pipe and armchair in retirement

George’s own firm

The 1969 moon landings saw the BBC back at Patcham, in an effort to catch the moment the space craft landed – there was nothing to be detected.  By 1970, George had his own firm in the Middle Road property, G. Hole & Son. He was considered to be a very fine manufacturer of optics, producing extremely high quality products, including a copy of Isaac Newton’s telescope, for HM the Queen. The huge telescope had been sold to Edinburgh University in 1974.  

An intelligent and modest man

It is unclear when George’s interest in astronomy became so strong, but he made his first telescope, a 6 inch reflector, at the age of 18. He was almost entirely self taught, only going to night school for a mathematics course. George was a very intelligent and modest man. However, in later years he preferred his pipe and a warm armchair by the fire, to sitting outside on cold nights with a telescope; he died in 1986. 

A well deserved accolade

The armchair won in the end, but  the story does not quite end there. The staff of Foredown Tower lobbied Brighton and Hove buses for George Hole to be commemorated on the front of one of their vehicles, and this singular honour happened in 2003. 

Read Part I here