Yesterday I attended my sons school assembly where a hymn was sung that took me back 30+ years to when I was at primary school. The hymn was my favourite back then and I hadn’t heard it since leaving my primary school in 1983 – we certainly didn’t sing it at my secondary school.
OK – what’s this got to do with historic aviation I hear you ask? Well the hymn – Autumn Days – has a very special line in the first verse:
Autumn days, when the grass is jewelled
And the silk inside a chestnut shell
Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled
All these things I love so well
I always wondered what aircraft the writer of this hymn had seen to inspire such lyrics? I have in my head visions of KB-50’s & Voodoos/Super Sabres, but have no rational reason to explain this!
There is an interesting article here about the hymn which suggests it was only written in the late 70’s, but the author (Estelle White) refers to the 1960’s, so perhaps I’m not too far off with Voodoos & Super Sabres!
Sorry for waffling on – I’m not a religious person, but there is something about this song which to me fosters the spirit of life & enjoyment.
Perhaps other forumites have similar recollections of ‘Autumn Days’ being belted out with the school piano being played in the background?
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November 10, 2011 at 9:45 am