An uncrossed echelle spectrograph has been constructed in a collaboration between the Queen's University of Belfast and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias for a series of joint investigations requiring very high spectral resolution observations (up to λ/Δλ ˜ 1O5). It is being used to observe stellar and interstellar lines over the wavelength range λλ3100 Å to 1.1 μm at the Cassegrain focus of the 2.5 m Nordic Optical Telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary island of La Palma. In this paper we present the design and laboratory performance of the spectrograph, as well as the first results obtained after a commissioning run devoted to the measurement of Be and Li abundances in metal-deficient stars, of K and Na lines in the interstellar medium, and of the emission line spectrum in planetary nebulae.