Jim

The problem is indoor toilets – not having to trot down the garden at 2 o’clock on a cold January morning has bred a nation of wimps (using a chamber pot was cheating, by the way).

May I suggest that it may not be aviation-related at all? A long time ago (pre-HP) there was a short lived railway connection between the St.Pancras to Midlands main line and the Watford Junction – St.Albans Abbey branch line. This chord was closed long before Sir Frederic came on the scene but certainly there was the stub of a curve heading off across the airfield, and other railway infrastructure locally, extant well into the 70/s – if not later. The old line was certainly in that general area – could it therefore be old rail infrastructure?
Does anyone subscribe to a railway forum?

The picture below was taken by a friend of mine while on an ‘enthusiasts’ tour in the U.S.A. I have no firm idea when it was taken, but was probably late 90’s or early 00’s. The Avenger may help to identify the location – it looks more Washington State than Florida to me.

Edit: As Sandiego points out below, the aircraft behind the Avenger is a Skyraider and not a Guardian – I’m thinking of changing my user name to ‘Imustpaymoreattention’…

John and Geoffrey Jnr. are both commemorated in the churchyard of the village of Tewin, just outside Welwyn Garden City – the boys both lodged in the village for a while during the war, and had friends there.
The hospital referred to was probably Hill End rather than St. Barts – never heard that name applied to any hospital in the area. Hill End was one of a large cluster of Victorian/Edwardian asylums in the St. Albans area, used for convalescing injured during the war, amongst them Sir Archibald McIndoe’s ‘guinea pigs’.

Trumper – I shot the video on my Hi-8 camcorder about 10 years ago at a display in the Midlands, and retain possession of the original tape – so I guess I own the copyright.
It has to be said it’s a typical hand-held camcorder effort, with the autofocus struggling to lock on what was a greyish day. So, whilst appreciating the comments from Bmused, John and Moggy, I don’t think I’ll be needing an agent ! I just want to be aware of any legal pratfalls about possible sale of copyright, but I’m half-inclined to retain control, let them use the bits they want (on the proviso it’s for the purpose stated) and request a by-line and a free copy of any DVD.

Afterthought – why did we all bother to reply, he won’t be reading any of this ?