The 70’s saw the firm taking on larger commissions such as the 18.25″ newtonian at the Charterhouse Observatory in Somerset. You can see the observatory’s website here.
The economic backdrop of the time was tough, and the country had an energy crisis in 74-75 with 3 day weeks and coal shortages..
At one point a coal lorry shed its load on Farringdon Road, just outside Telescope House. The Telegraph was there to photograph the public spirited Dudley Fuller helping with the clean up operation. In truth he was actually in the process of nicking as much coal as he could fit into the tea chest but somehow he came up smelling of roses..
There was also the 610mm /24″ Newtonian built for an observatory just outside Sarajevo. Dud’s friend Boris Barlow consulted on the design and it was quite an ambitious project. Boris had developed a temperature compensated mirror cell which was quite something for the time – though not entirely revolutionary. Boris spent a lot of time as a consultant for the design and wasn’t overly enthusiastic about Dud’s offer of a small drawing board and a calculator rather than actual payment.
The firm saw out the recession of the 1970’s but the early 80’s were a different story.There were some very quiet periods and the company’s future hung in the balance. The firm did get a grant from the Greater London Enterprise Board after an exhaustive company profiling and marketing report.

Financial Guardian interview 12th April 1985