When i was a young lad, and a bit obsessed by goings-on at the recently wound-down Strathallan collection, i somehow got in touch with Dick at Popham, and he actually sent me a large parcel containing a couple of his treasured scrapbooks of Strathallan newspaper and magazine cuttings. He trusted me (i was only about 12!) to take care of these and return them (which i gratefully did) and for that he will always be a legend in my book!!

I would love to see Dick collate stories and photos into a book all about Strathallan – people would barely believe what used to lurk there these days, though i reckon it would be hard to sell such a thing to the casual buyer. The stories he could tell though! I have seen some of his photos on Flickr (search ‘Strathallan collection’) – he seemingly ‘donated’ some very special photos of early Strathallan goings-on to a fellow enthusiast, and they are WELL worth looking at. Such as the Hurricane arriving by road, a line of Ansons in open storage on the far side of the field, Lysander in various stages of restoration and much more – a treasure trove, and undoubtedly the tip of the iceberg. Would love to see shots of the Comet landing on the grass strip before it’s gear collapsed.

Anyway, this is more just so say a big cheers to Dick Richardson and congrats on his retirement from Popham. I’m not suggesting we all suddenly start writing to him to ask him about Strathallan mind you, just saying THANKS! 🙂