Any suggestions on a local aviation related visit today

Pete, the Engine is from a local crash site, the fellow has all the history on it. I did not realise that tower at High Garrett was on a former POW camp. We all get to learn something eh?:)

Denis
Thanks for that,I could see the buildings but I thought they were modern, I thought the tower had gone, it must have been the heat affecting me. I’m only a couple of miles down the road so I’ll have to go back. I was interested to see the remains of the engine, I’m surprised it’s still there, any more info on it.
Just up the road from me are the remains of the German POW camp at High Garrett, the water tower and one are 2 buildings are still left abandoned in a field, that could be my next port of call during my saturday bike ride.
Moggy
Thanks for the info on the MH-53’s, I’m kicking myself for not going to Mildenhall first and videoing them all flying around, I saw them lined up on the apron later on.
Incidentally, the warden at the reserve is a bit of a keen type isn’t he, got so carried away with talking about his feathered charges that I thought they would have all migrated by the time I got out there, actually, I think they had.

Then on to Gosfield, lots of runway left but little else

Have you been in the Control tower at Gosfield Pete? Sometimes the fellows that operate out of there will let you in for a look around. An old wartime mural on the wall by the stairs, a nice view from the roof, a ghost apparently..oh, and the remains of a P+W R2800 out on the airfield.

Well at least you had more luck than we did yesterday, we were in Rutland and decided to pass by Cottesmore on the way back to Lincoln, didn’t have time to stop, but we couldn’t see anything lol:D guess it was just bad timing lol.

Never mind, we did do a rather large de tour to Coningsby, saw the Spitfire and Hurricane go out, as well as the rather impressive show by one of the eurofighters, made the car rattle lol.

Love the fact one of the guys in the car park stood on top of his caravanette to take pics, that was really ingenious. Must get myself one.

The RSPB reserve, cycling distance from my home is great. I guarantee there is nowhere else that you can watch F15s on base leg and hear a Bittern at the same time.
Moggy

My girlfriend’s mother is a retired ecologist and one of the places she used to record regularly was a nature reserve just outside the fence at the end of Upper Heyford’s runway. She said you got used to F111s on final approach coming over your head with everything hanging out fairly quickly, but the day all the alarms went off, every vehicle with a blue light on it on the base came roaring out of its hole up to the runway and an F111 came in trailing flame and a greasy black smoke trail was interesting. It wasn’t so much the ecological damage she was worried by as the fact that it was going to do ecological damage to her if it didn’t make the tarmac!

Adrian

The 21st SOS will be flying their MH-53’s for the very last time on Thursday
13th September. departure at 1200 Local heading for London heli-lanes,
Dover/White Cliffs, Bawdsey (not Woodbridge unfortunately) and then out off
the East coast to change some minigun and .50 cal live rounds into empty
cases, returning to Mildenhall at 1530 Local. This should be a great photo
opportunity for the UK people and a fitting end to 36 years of H-53 service
in the UK. It is sad to think that after Thursday we will no longer see
these glorious machines flying around the UK and in the rest of Europe.

From the local ‘spotters’ site

Moggy

Sure they weren’t MH53s?

If so you were lucky. They are in their final week at Mildenhall.

The RSPB reserve, cycling distance from my home is great. I guarantee there is nowhere else that you can watch F15s on base leg and hear a Bittern at the same time.

George says ‘Howdy Pete’

Moggy

I started off by going to Ridgewell, it was there that I realised that any bomb dumps in woods would be so overgrown at this time of the year that it would be a waste of time looking.
Turning off the Halstead to Haverhill road, just past the memorial, the collection of former airfield buildings on the left seemed to have a sign up advertising military clothing, looked a bit of a strange place to me, so I didn’t go up there, they had a modern looking army vehicle parked outside, but I was astonished to see parked against a barn at the farm opposite, a 6 wheeled, faded Soviet army truck.
I stopped down the road and tried to fight my way through the undergrowth to the repair building and mess, but it was difficult, but at least they are still there.
All traces of the hangar have been erased apart from a pile of masonary in the middle of a ploughed field, the gliders were flying about, quite a lot in their shoe boxes lining the field, but I couldn’t find the steel tracking.
Then I thought sod it, called in at Clare for some snap from the Co-op and went up to Lakenheath, passing Stradishall and noticing that the wierd straight tree with no branches was still there ( ever noticed that) but the intact DF mast had been replaced by one of those mobile phone excrescences.
Shall I go to Lakenheath first or the Hall, when I got to Lakenheath I could clearly see a line of 5 CH-53’s flying round the Hall, sod it.
Some enterprising lady had set up a snack bar next to the viewing area, which was packed and spilling out on to the road, I watched a few landings and bumps with the F-15’s, best one came over the top of us, got bored and went off to my latest discovery, the new RSPB reserve at Lakenheath, first left past the station on the way to Feltwell. Brilliant place, didn’t see much though but good visitor centre and nice walks, plenty of trains passing on the Norwich line next to the reserve and F-15’s coming over in full reheat, how the birds stand it is beyond me, but peaceful it was in between bouts of ultra noise, a reccomended place. You also got a good view of the pre war hangars and Golf Balls at Feltwell from there, I was surprised that so many of the old hangars remain, what do the Yanks keep in them I wonder
Next to the Hall which had 2 rarities, a Galaxy and an EC-135, didn’t hang around long, but 2 tankers were doing circuits and bumps.
While travelling back along the A-11, I decided to carry on and come back via West Wickham. While travelling round Newmarket I could see what I took to be a tanker flying along going the other way, but on closer examination, it looked like it was marked up in US Presidential colours with a blue nose, you can’t afford to stare upwards when you’re on the A-14, so I’m not sure, but fairly certain, Bush wasn’t paying Moggy a visit was he?
I took a wrong turning at Balsham and missed the airfield at Wickham completely, I always have trouble finding it.
Then on to Gosfield, lots of runway left but little else, strangely enough, a little semi on the left just past the village had another frigging great Soviet Army truck parked on the front, this looked like a radio truck, they couldn’t have had much daylight in their living room.
I then got home, tried to see if the ladder would reach the TV aerial but managed to put it through the kitchen window instead, I had to watch the match in disgrace.
Good day though and very hot for a change.
Sorry Bedford boys, sounded tempting, but it’s a bit too far from here, the Lake and the Hall are an easy option for me and a pleasant drive through the countryside.

The Swedes apparently left Lakenheath at 0800 this morning, but the Pave Hawks are fluttering around more these days (If you like eggbeaters)

I’d go spend the morning at Mildenhall, have a cheap and scrummy lunch at the Phillipino restaurant in Lakenheath, then spend the afternoon watching the F15s and Pave Hawks there. (The airfield, not the restaurant)

Moggy

I went to see Cardington last week, and apart from the hangers, HQ building & the ATC compound theres not alot left ( I didnt go near the DSA entrance by the way) Bex

How about Tempsford? and or Twinwood Farm? Cardington or Old Warden?

Actually Cardington is quite good – Obviously there are the airship hangers, but you also have the R101 memorial in the churchyard and inside the church a samll exhibition of R101 memorobilia.

Tempsford of course has the SOE barn, Twinwood farm is where Glen Millar set of from on his fatal flight.

And what can one add about Old Warden…………………

Yes we’ve got a lot of great stuff here in Bedfordshire.

Steve.

Given that there’s a Tiger Moff at Andrewsfield, Pete…

Or you could investigate Earl’s Colne’s bomb dump out in the woods? See whether the Ridgewell sites near the A604 (? – long time since I used it, and I’m fairly sure it’s changed numbers since!) are still there? Investigate Gt Sampford? There used to be rolls of Sommerfeld tracking down a concrete track off one end of Ridgewell, yonks ago now…

Do they help?

Adrian