Clearing up a Varsity mystery

All this recent talk of Varsities recently got me thinking about a vivid childhood memory, when I was about eight or nine (1988-90 ish), I remember watching from the field of my school one lunch break as two large aircraft flew over at low level, in line abreast formation.

Reporting this to my Dad later that day, I described seeing what looked like a BAC 1-11 jet and a ‘Wellington’.

Dad, being knowledgable in such matters instantly told me I was talking complete rubbish as no Wellingtons had flown for decades.

This memory has come back to me as I realise it might have been a Varsity. As a young boy I would have had no idea what a Varsity was but I had an encyclopedic knowledge of WWII aircraft profiles (bizarre mis-spent youth 🙂 ) and probably recognised the similar shape of wing and big, bulbous radial engines (as I remember, the sound was like no turboprop as well…).

Can anybody shed any light as to what I might have seen? Vivid memories are odd in that I can recall the silhouettes against the grey sky but cannot recall which aircraft was leading, just that they were very close, followng one another.

How many Varsities were still flying at that time, off hand I can only think of the RAE one now preserved at Cosford, and what might one have been doing in formation with a jet at low level over Kidderminster?

Over to you….
PS Any pics of Varsities in their prime would make a good addition to the thread too 🙂