The Heart of England A.S began life in 1972 as the Chelmsley Astronomical Society. Meetings were held during the last Thursday of the month at Chelmsley Library (Solihull), and a small run-off roof observatory was built in the grounds of Coleshill Hall Hospital (about 3 miles NE of Chelmsley Wood) which housed an optically superb 6 inch reflector (see below). Gradually the idea of building a larger meeting room/observatory became a realisation as members donated their time on weekends to the construction of a small meeting room with adjoining 10ft diameter dome. Once the meeting room was completed, meetings began to be held every Thursday evening throughout the year, with formal meetings (invited speakers etc.) continuing at the Library. A 17.5 inch reflector was also being constructed at this time, to complement the societies existing 6 & 8 inch reflectors.