Herne Mill and Reculver Towers by night - take 1

Tonight offering the first clear sky in a long time I decided to get outside after dark and try to capture some local landmarks surrounded by stars.

First stop was Herne Mill which is very close to home. I took a few shots here and was relatively pleased with the results but even on the review screen noticed interference from the numerous street lamps. So I swiftly jumped in the car and headed to Reculver to try and shoot the iconic towers there.

I did a few test shots looking over the water to try and get the stars in focus. Can anyone tell me what the dotted lines are across the sky? I couldn't take a shot in this direction without them appearing in various positions in the shot. You can also see them in the windmill shot above...

Unfortunately, the towers were lit from this angle. I tried taking the same shot with two different exposures in the hope of stitching them together once home. I have found that without further research and perhaps better software (I only currently have Apple's 'Photos' and 'Gimp') that this is beyond my capabilities.

I spent some time on the other side of the towers and composed some truly beautiful shots. I am gutted that once on the screen at home they all turned out to be useless due to tripod wobble. The wind was strong and bitterly cold so I tucked myself round the back of a ruined wall and tried some shots looking almost directly up at the sky with the ISO whacked up to 3200. These are perhaps the most successful of the evening, if not a little noisy.

I would welcome any comments, constructive criticism or helpful hints!