An Awesome Aviation Adventure 30th July 2022

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds, - and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of............

so wrote John Gillespie Magee in 1940. This is the start of his sonnet which has been adopted by several Air Forces around the world. Apparently it was hypoxia that influenced his hyperbole that finally had him touching the face of God. He was an Anglo-American who flew in the Royal Canadian Air Force and sadly died in a mid-air collision over Ruskington aged 19. He is buried at Scopwick. I have subsequently photographed his grave which you can see below. 

All this I learnt at the excellent "We'll meet again" Museum at Freiston near Boston Lincolnshire. The main reason to visit was to experience flying a WW2 Lancaster Bomber whilst I say "experience" that was exactly what I did. Out of over 7,000 built there are only two of these iconic aeroplanes left in air-worthy condition and flying regularly. One in Canada and one (the City of Lincoln) based in RAF Coningsby with the rest of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Clearly I wasn't going to get my hands on either of those so my experience was to be virtual.

Now all this was thanks to an invitation from David and Janet Smith who had already taken a party to the museum and realised that there was the possibility to fly, indeed David had booked in, so I agreed to join him and caught the next plane, as it were.

Just a few more words about the museum before I go on to talk about the flying. I most highly recommend that you make the effort to visit yourself. It thoroughly repays the £6 entrance fee (£40 more if you want half an hours flying). We spent an effortless four hours there. The owners Paul and Linda are supported by a number of very knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers who not only keep the place spotlessly clean, provide excellent catering and spout information like geysers.

This is what the others see of me when I'm flying, not too impressive I hear you say, but it's not at all what I see, hear, or feel. First of all this is an original Lancaster cockpit that I am sitting in. Secondly you can see Paul behind me who is looking at the screen to his left and will be talking me through the flight. There is also a screen on the side of the plane which the audience (Helen, Jan and David) can also see. They can see exactly what I see when I look straight ahead into my headset which is giving me my reality.

I offer you this shot next because although I am already flying, it shows the cockpit off well. All the dials are functioning and relate to exactly what I do as well as where I am, speed, elevation etc. As you look out of the window the ground below is how it is . You can see the cars travelling on the roads but you can't quite see the people waving up to you!

Shortly after take off from RAF Coningsby, we are flying over Boston, passing south of the Stump but quite close to it. There might be some complaints about that! The River Witham is visible as it makes its final journey to the Wash. What you can see in the distance is the Lincolnshire coastline so we are flying east and turning north to follow that coastline up as far as the Humber Estuary.

Banking over the fertile land of Lincolnshire. There is some low cloud head ahead and I was warned by Paul to keep below it as it is very disorientating if I attempt to fly amongst it.

A good view of the coast. Here we are north of Skegness flying steadily at about 5,000 feet and 220 miles per hour.

Now flying west into the sun and straight up the Humber Estuary. Both the north and south banks can be seen in this shot.

We are now turning to loop back over the estuary, the Humber Bridge and Hull before lining up for our landing at Humberside Airport. Of course I was keen to fly under the bridge, but Paul said this was a definite No No. Not only could I wreck this beautiful plane, but we might bring the bridge down and Paul would definitely lose his precious pilot's licence. Hey ho, we'll just have to be boring!

Kind of a spooky double image at work here. It's a bit like breaking the fourth wall in the theatre. Miles away, Helen, Jan and David are looking at the screen on the side of the fuselage back at the museum. All these images were taken by Helen on her camera phone. That screen has picked up the reflection of that audience with the result that we have ghostly beings looking down on the Humber Bridge, or are we in the plane looking through a curtain to reality? What is the real reality? Is anything real? Help!

Just to show how you can turn your head and look along the wing to check that the engines are all running smoothly and not on fire. In a short time I will have to look and check that the undercarriage has deployed successfully. You can actually see the wheels coming down and locking in place.

Dead centre of the screen you can see some water, which is I think the River Trent and just to the left of this is a white strip pointing to about ten o'clock. This is the main runway at Humberside Airport and where, I hope I am going to land this aeroplane. Watch the sequence of shots as I close in on it.

I'm not quite lined up and more worryingly rather low. When landing this plane it is important to make light feathery movements and try not to do anything sudden or substantial. I now do feel really nervous and in my head I know I am going to be responsible for the success of this safe landing.

OK, This is a little better, I've managed to gain some height and we are a little squarer. Maybe this is going to be alright after all.

Nearly down and great relief all round.

Although it doesn't look it, we are down on the runaway and stopped. The lights in the distance are the end of the runway.

This is what I need to show to the Wing Commander of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight when I try to convince him that I am a fit and proper person to take the controls of the City of Lincoln at the next fly past.

Some thanks; to Helen for taking the pictures (you will get to fly next time), to David and Jan for the invite and subsequent hospitality, to all the staff at the "We'll meet again" museum and finally to Paul whose safe hands and eyes allowed me to "slip the surly bonds of Earth". 

A First Class Dining Experience. Friday 14th June.

 This blog is about a train journey with a difference, so to get you in the mood, I would like to quote from the few first few stanzas of the best railway poem that I know, 

This is the night mail crossing the Border, 

Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, 

The shop at the corner, the girl next door. 

Pulling up Beattock, the steady climb:

The gradient's against her, but she's on time. 

Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder 

Shovelling white steam over her shoulder, 

W H Auden's Night Mail, of course. I love the relentless rhythm and the image in the final line I quote. But why, you ask am I going on about trains? Well, on Friday night Helen and I were lucky enough to enjoy a fine dining experience aboard the Great Central Railway which travels between Loughborough and North Leicester, return. The reason that I am writing this blog is to say a big thank you to Catherine, Sally and Leanne, my erstwhile colleagues at Penman Watch and Jewellery. After spending 35 years teaching at Spalding Grammar School, I worked, part time at the jewelers shop for 20 years. When the time came to finally hang up my eyeglass, one of my departure gifts was this experience. At my age, gifts that are experiences, rather than stuff are so much more memorable particularly so, when I can share them with Helen. 

So we got dressed up for the occasion;

The beast that was going to shovel white steam over its shoulder. Number 78019 is a standard class 2 2-6-0, built in Doncaster in 1954. The history of this engine is fully documented if you google up the number. My electric Hornby 0 0 gauge engine on my model railway was a copy of the same engine. 

Loughborough G C Station is dressed in period for the 1960s, so here are a couple of shots of the platform and waiting/refreshments room. 

Helen ensconced, waiting for grace.

A word or two about our meal. It was a most enjoyable experience. The standard of cooking and presentation was truly first class. The serving staff were friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. Helen started with the leek and potato soup with garlicky croutons whilst I enjoyed a Parma ham pesto parcel. We both chose the belly pork, new potatoes and vegetables. The pork was one of the tenderest and tasty I have had. A chocolate torte, cheese and biscuits followed by coffee completed an excellent dining experience. We steamed out at 7.30 and arrived back at 10.00 pm.

Leaving Loughborough Central we are riding on the only double track preserved main line in the UK. Shortly after departure we pass the site of the Shepshed Lacemaking factory, now industrial units but reminding us of that once important industry that finally closed its doors in 1980s. A little later on the left was the Ladybird printing factory where books for children all over the world were produced. It closed in 1991 and is now a wallpaper factory. Oh Maggie what did you do?

The first station down the line is Quorn and Woodhouse. A classic island design and now dressed for the 1940s with its "Dig for Victory" plots and NAAFI tearooms. We don't stop because we are all still eating the starter, but noticed the newly built turntable which allows the steam giants to be turned around. 

Above you can see our table light and the Swithland reservoir which has been designated a SSSI. We pause with this view whilst we are served our main course and get stuck in. 

The next station we steam into is Rothley which is decked out in the period of 1918. We don't stop here on the way out, but progress on to Leicester North. This station is entirely new and built as part of the restoration. Here the engine is moved to the back of the train to pull us backwards on our return journey. This maneuver allows me to get a few more pictures of the engine. 

Re-coupling for the return journey. 

Finally, as the light fades, the gas lighting at the Edwardian period Rothley shows us the way home. 

Thanks once again to Penman Watch and Jewellery, and especially Catherine, Sally and Leanne for our very memorable experience. 

'Opping over Offa's Dyke, Sunday 3rd June. Four Dams and a Dark Park

 
The market town of Rhayader is both isolated and almost smack in the middle of Wales. It is a significant centre for outdoor pursuits which attracts visitors throughout the year. The town's name means waterfall and in Welsh translates as Waterfall on the Wye. Its raison d' etre is the major cross roads going to the four points of the compass and that is exactly at the clock tower. As well as being the gateway to the Elan valley reservoirs, there are several things of note about the town. The coldest temperature recorded in Wales was minus 23.3° C. here in 1940. The world "rock paper scissors" championships takes place here annually as does the world wheelbarrow championships. With 173 people per pub, Rhayader has the highest ratio of drinking establishments per person in the UK. When red kites were virtually extinct throughout Europe, they hung on here to spearhead their revival.

An Act of Parliament was passed in 1892 for the Birmingham Corporation to compulsory purchase the water catchment area of the Elan and Claerwen valleys. After the land was cleared of the existing residents including 3 manor houses, 18 farms, a school and a church, the building work commenced in 1893. In addition to the dams and reservoirs a 75 mile long aqueduct was constructed the allow the water supply to flow into the Frankley reservoir near Birmingham. 

This first stage was opened by King Edward Vll and Queen Alexandra in 1904. A very impressive performance given the relatively primitive level of mechanisation. One can't help pondering how many years it would take to build today and how huge the budget overrun would be. 

Phase two of the plan was delayed by WWl, the 1930's depression and WWll. However work restarted in 1946 and the Claerwen Valley system was eventually opened by Queen Elizabeth ll, six months after she came to the throne. 

Caban Coch dam and reservoir, the lowest of the series of dams. The reservoir that the dam supports contains 8 billion gallons of water 

Looking back down the Caban Coch reservoir. At this point there is a bridge across the reservoir with the Foel water outlet tower just "up steam" of it. Submerged at this point is our second dam called Carreg Ddu. It acts like a step on the reservoir floor and is built directly underneath the bridge. Its purpose is to ensure there is always water available to drain out at the Foel tower. Across the bridge there's a Baptist Chapel, built to replace the one that lies drowned at the bottom of the water. 

Pen y Garreg dam with a fine run off of water. Known as the middle dam. The reservoir behind the dam contains 1.3 billion gallons of water. There is a tunnel through the dam giving access to the central tower. It is illuminated by apertures on the down stream side (of course) and must be like looking through a waterfall. 

A small break from all things aquatic and please join me in looking at this chainsaw wildlife gallery. Paul Edwards and Michael Crabb working with local school children, who provided the ideas, created this wonderful set of sculptures from a redundant Douglas Fir plantation. Google them up for more details, and have a look at their YouTube film. 

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So how many creatures did you recognise?

The Craig Goch dam which is the forth or top dam of the Elan Valley system. It is aesthetically the most pleasing,  with its gentle curve and arches along the top. In my photo water appears to be flowing down the front, but this is just the result of staining from previous flows. The reservoir contains 2 billion gallons...... and all this so my brother can have a drink of water in Birmingham. 

The upper Elan Valley has been designated a Dark Sky Park. A body called the International Dark Sky Places oversees and ratifies these places around the world. There are over 200 of them in 22 countries. They are in one of three categories. 

Sanctuaries; the most remote and darkest conservation areas, also the most fragile. There are 20 of them around the world. Bardsey island (Ynys Enlli) is the only one in the UK.

Parks; Conservation areas that provide dark sky programmes. There are 7 in the UK, Elan Valley being the only one in Wales. 

Reserves; Surrounded by population at its periphery  however policy controls the darkness of its core.Two in Wales, both are also National Parks. Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia (now reverted to its original name Eryri.

Nought baa sheep for miles and miles. 

A photograph of sky at night in the Elan Valley. This was not taken by me, but downloaded from the Dark Park website, but I am pretty sure that you will agree it's very impressive. 

After that photograph it must be time for bed. 

'Oppoing Over Offa's Dyke. Friday 31st May.

Knighton is about a 4 hour drive from Spalding. The route that you would expect the satnav to suggest is A14, M6, M54 and then A5, A49, finally the A4113 to Knighton. I think Helen, about halfway there, pressed the button on the satnav which obeys the command "avoid motorways and big roads at any cost". Besides confusing the driver, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we enjoyed an idyllic rural drive through pastures green and still waters by. It gave us great pleasure and only cost us a little time. And what is time? An abstract concept dreamed up by man that only benefits those in charge.

Why, you might ask, are we driving to Knighton? The answer can be seen in the picture below. 

We have hired a lodge with a hot tub and sauna for a week's worth of R and R. It's in a beautiful rural location, surrounded by farm land, hills and woods. A real feature of the district is the abundance of wild flowers which reminds of how things were 60 years ago.

The lodge is kitted out to a very high specification. Let me show you round. 

 The view through the patio doors in our bedroom. The lodge has a kitchen/living room which looks out onto a large balcony, a bedroom and bathroom. In the bathroom is a large standalone bath, shower and sauna. 

And, of course let's not forget the eponymous hot tub. The working title for the holiday was "Hot Tub Holiday".

Whilst lying in the hot tub in the early evening we could see Red Kites soaring in the sky above and roe deer feeding in the field and hillside behind us.

However the best thing of all here is that it is really...........quiet. 

Chamba 1944, revisited 1998 and rewritten as a blog 2024.

You can see above a panoramic view of the town of Chamba. This was the capital of the erstwhile State of Chamba. This state became subsumed into the State of Himachal Pradesh in 1948. This blog should really be read after reading "An Indian Summer", especially the Chamba section. You are looking at pencil sketches by my Father (Edinburgh College of Art) drawn in 1944 while on leave from the 10th Baloch Regiment of the Indian Army. My brother Jonty and I undertook the journey to try to recapture the views 55 years later. Father had the drawings bound into an album, one of many others. He starts by describing the place and his journey there. Much of that journey hasn't changed much and was pretty well what we experienced. I realise that the text is not easy to read but please persevere as there is some excellent primary source history. 

For each illustration we have both written contemporaneous comments. In each case the text immediately precedes the illustration. 

Now we move on to the pictures and their individual commentaries. 

I can't find my original comments on this picture but a couple of observations on the drawing. You will notice that it's signed and dated. This happened after Father returned to Edinburgh after the war during the Independence of India in 1947. He took it out of the album and had it framed. Apart from a portrait of Abdul, his bearer, this was the only one of all his Indian work that was framed. He gave it to me over 50 years ago. I have subsequently returned it to the album. 

Looking at the photo you can recognise a number of surviving buildings from 1944. We bought some souvenirs from the shop on the immediate left.