Blyth Valley Aviation Collection

I think the TT18 was the minter, the previous owner told me it had been completely rewired and refurbished then scrapped via Hanningfields. When I looked in it, the condition was as described, one of the best I have seen

http://www.demobbed.org.uk/locations.php?location=2431

Four Canberra cockpits

Well said Gary, he certainly sounds like a decent chap.

VULCANS END, HALESWORTH SUFFOLK

She went to Doncaster years ago!

Yes, ‘388 to AeroVenture as formerly helped by the late Steve hague and ‘445 Vulcan K2 is at Flixton, the NF11 is at Norwich Av Museum, Sea Vixen nose XN696 as at Vulcan’s End from end of service was latterly at Flixton also, but is now at NEAM, the all-black Bullpup missile test scheme I had on it is now being changed back to the standard grey of Ark Royal days. The complete Sea Vixen that Cliff Aldred allowed on his land was never worked on by its private owner, and when Cliff sold off part of his land and house it mysteriously disappeared behind his back while on holiday, to be scrapped in a yard in Ipswich he learned, on his return.

Lots of other items were ‘stolen’ following the part sale of the land at Vulcan’s End (a boat and trailer taken) or damaged (including windows smashed with air rifles), despite the new part-owner having guard dogs and kennels on-site… A Lancaster gun turret (front I believe) was also stolen from a secure locked store which is still being sought after, along with a BoB Hurricane grip that also never re-surfaced, that Cliff intended to donate to a local museum in memory of his 2 pre-deceased sons, Tony and Ivan, as taken from a small collection of artifacts in one of the buildings. Whole caravans used for storage were shredded, their contents strewn across the land, to be a health hazard and clearly calculated to drive Cliff out (by this time Clive his son, for Cliff was too frail).

I dealt with the local council after Cliff’s wife called me four years ago to say they had been threatened with a £30k fine, and a number of letters and phone calls were made on their behalf along with my meeting 2 council officers on-site, to make them completely aware of the facts of the unexplained events that had been occurring there. Some contents were also set on fire, all on land supposedly kept safe by the new house owner’s fencing and dogs, who claimed that he and his family had never seen who had carried out such regular acts of vandalism. Cliff also donated a rare HP Heyford wheel cover to another museum.

Sadly Cliff passed away at 85 after a number of year’s in a Sherringham home last November, 2015. I drove to the funeral on 10th Nov which was well attended and his surviving son Clive intends to retain the 4 Canberras `(inc a mint B2 i think and the test ‘Raspberry Ripple’ example from Hanningfields) with better display facilities at a later date, along with a farming collection he is also putting together. The Lightning moved to a collector in Yorkshire around 10 years ago and the Shackleton galley section is now restored and on display at Flixton, with perspex to seal her from the elements.

Without Cliff Victor K2 nose XL160 would never have been saved and stored for so many years for eventual display at Flixton, after he readily agreed to look after her. Across over 10 years of travelling to do what I could on the cockpit and ensure its proof against the elements I had many occasions to see Cliff at work in his local community besides doing stuff amongst his many cockpits and other charges. He was a clever man, with much of what he learned taught by the lessons of life; he was an honest and honourable man, with a wonderful sense of humour. He was courteous, obliging, thoughtful and happy, and would not suffer fools after giving them a fair chance.

Most of all though, he was a kind man, and many local people who he did his ‘rounds’ for about Halesworth to check that they were safe and well, will testify that he was much respected and admired for the regular checks he made on old people of the area. Thanks Cliff for all those special memories, and for your great service to us and many others over so many years.

She went to Doncaster years ago!

Did they not have 388 as well as 445?

From what I can track down, everything they had was a bit thrashed. Their Vulcan cockpit, that of XL445, is now in Flixton and much tidied up, and most of the other stuff

I remember oil drums propping bits up, I didn’t go too close

It seems that the Sea Vixen is now extinct. From Thunder and Lightnings:

XP919 was on display at Thorpe Park, Surrey until summer 1981 when it was obtained by the Eastern Counties Aircraft Association, the forerunners of the City of Norwich Aviation Museum. At Thorpe Park, XP919 was displayed on its own island in the middle of a large lake, so getting the aircraft to the ‘mainland’ where it could be loaded onto a lorry for the journey to Norwich would be difficult. Enter the USAF with a CH-53 who picked up the Vixen from its island and carried it to an area where it was loaded to a lorry.

After arrival at Norwich Airport, the Vixen was assembled and over the next few years repainted. In 1994, XP919 was sold to raise funds for the purchase of a Hunter and Meteor to the private collector who, as your history says, took it to Walpole.

The booms and an undercarriage leg where cut by the new owner as he had some great difficulty in passing through a set of traffic lights on the Norwich ringroad near a McDonalds. He had, despite warnings, not loaded the aircraft correctly and this meant the the load was too wide to go between the traffic lights. Rather than adjust the angle of the fuselage on the trailer, new owner just hacked the aircaft to bits. – See more at: http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/seavixen/survivor.php?id=80#sthash.xV30Ywfz.dpuf

A single seat Meteor cockpit, that was pretty rough, but all the inside bits were stored inside, a wholeish Sea Vixen, seem to think two Vulcans ? might be wrong, a Galley section from a Shackleton, complete Lightning spring to mind

From memory, there was 4 Canberras I think, Hunter, a Vulcan cockpit, lightning I believe too, possibly more.

It was an interesting place, I went there a few years ago to move the Hunter WN907 cockpit to Robertsbridge when I was a member there

What else was/is in the stored collection ?

Many thanks for the info David.

Richy.

It doesn’t still exist. Cliff Aldred died a few years ago sadly. His son owns the aircraft -he has a particular interest in Canberra’s . Unfortunately they are stored.

I have a phone number of 0198-684366 for the Bomber County Aviation Museum, would this be connected?

Alternatively, try 01986-784436 which is supposed to be the BVAC!