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The Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey and Holmes Chapel, is part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The main Lovell Telescope (pictured) was the largest steerable radio telescope in the world on its completion in 1957; it is now the third largest. The observatory's three other active radio telescopes are the Mark II and the 42 ft and 7 m diameter telescopes. Jodrell Bank is also the base of the Multi–Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN).
Established in 1945 by Sir Bernard Lovell to investigate cosmic rays, the observatory has played an important role in the research of meteors, quasars, pulsars, masers and gravitational lenses, and was also heavily involved with the tracking of space probes at the start of the Space Age. A popular tourist attraction, Jodrell Bank has also been mentioned in Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In 2019, the observatory was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.