The Devil’s Dyke is a huge Anglo-Saxon ditch, up to four metres deep (relative to modern ground surface) and the associated bank up to 6 metres high by the same standard. I’m not sure what the heights/depths are on the approach/departure to the old Newmarket runway, but a mile or so away it[‘s big enough to be breathtaking. The article is right – you hit that, you die, it’s that simple.

Apart from being a bloody awful obstacle to have nearby, when you have heavily-laden aircraft staggering into the sky, one has to wonder how many otherwise survivable accidents turned into carnage against the bank…:( Or how many clipped it, when otherwise they might have bellied-in straight ahead, or made it into the air.

Adrian