Shit Happens

 What a terrible year it has been. Hopefully, all my readers have stayed safe from Covid.

 It's almost 3 months since I last rode Ginny. What, no adventures Neill? During that time, I've not even come close to getting out on her. We've either been restricted or the weather has been absolute pants. My plans to go on Ginny to see my grandson James every 2 months came to nought, and the result of all this upheaval we've faced, has meant that I've done less than 1500 miles on her this year. I don't ride in the winter anyway, so for the first time ever, I've SORNed my bike. For those that don't know, that means I've registered Ginny as off road for the next 3 months. It means I can't use her on the road until 1st March and only then once I have taxed her again. It does mean I have got a 3 month refund though. She is now all covered up and being trickle charged. When she emerges from her slumbers, she'll need to go and have her MOT, as she'll be 3 on March 17th. Hopefully by then, things will be somewhere near to what we once called normal and I can look forward to riding her once again.

For now though, I expect that's the last you'll hear of any adventures for a while. 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year 

Stay safe.

Battle of Britain Bunker

Coming up for a month since my Amersham excursion, I thought it about time I did something else. Not just me this time though, wifey too. Ginny would remain in the garage on this occasion.

As we in the UK have been celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and what with all the programmes on TV about it, I was curious about the operations centre that features in the BoB film and all the documentaries. You know the one, where all the WAAFs are pushing little numbered blocks across a map of  southern England, with chaps in the balcony above, on the telephone to the airfields, getting the Spits & Hurris airborne. As the documentary men/women were able to visit the bunker, I wondered if we might too. A quick google and I discovered that the BoB bunker, is indeed open to the public. In these covid-19 times, as with most places, you can't just turn up, least not if you want a tour of the bunker itself, so I had to book us a time slot, midday. There are only 2 bunker tours a day, with the 2nd being later in the afternoon, which would probably mean we'd be caught in the rush hour traffic (I think we still get that, even under covid) coming home, so midday it was. 

The bunker is in Uxbridge, not that far from Heathrow actually, and about 90 minutes from home. We left around 09:30, allowing plenty of time for unexpected eventualities. There weren't any, and we had a straight run through, arriving just about 11am.

In the car park, there is a massive statue of Air Chief Marshall Sir Keith Park, head of 11 Group RAF Fighter Command. I'm sure you know, 11 Group were responsible for defending the South East of England and London, so bore the brunt of the attacks from the Luftwaffe, and 11 Group operations were controlled from the bunker at, the now disappeared, RAF Uxbridge.

Air Chief Marshall Sir Keith Park

The visitor centre has only been open a couple of years and is a very modern looking building. It's not that big, just a cafe and tiny shop as you go in and then a large open space out back, with exhibits downstairs, whilst at eye level and hanging from the ceiling are a Spitfire & Hurricane, both MK 1 example replicas.

Supermarine Spitfire MK1

Hawker Hurricane MK1

The exhibits are made up of the various 'components' from Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding's air defence system, from the radar machines, to air raid sirens, to anti aircraft guns, to pilot's equipment, etc. It's not a massive exhibition but then this is not the main attraction.

A walk outside, past the 11 Group memorial, takes you to some steps that lead into the bunker complex. 76 steps in all lead you to the literal heart of the operation, the plotting room. Just as you will have seen in the movie, in the centre of the room sits the massive table, showing the map of the southern half of England and part of northern France/Belgium. The wall is covered with the light/info boards for each of the airfields under 11 Group command, and is very impressive. There's everything you could wish to know, even what the weather was at each airfield. The room is set as at 11:30 on 15th September 1940, later to be know as Battle of Britain Day. Opposite the Tote Wall, as it's known, are the raised platform and behind that, the rooms where Keith Park and on that particular day, Winston Churchill sat.   

The plotting table with Tote Wall behind

This is a guided tour, and our guide Fiona (incidentally, born in Chatham, at the same hospital as my kids) talks you through the events of that day and explains the markings on the map, and the information blocks that the WAAF operators slid about. It is very interesting and striking just how slick an operation it was. There's no doubt, that had we not had this in place, then today we'd be shopping in German supermarkets and eating bratwurst! 😉 Hmm!

The tour concludes with a visit upstairs to the observation rooms. The view from up there is fantastic, allowing ACM Park and his senior officers, to view everything going on at any particular moment during the battle, though they must have had good eyesight, as it is fairly dark in the ops room. And to think, I have stood, where Winston Churchill himself once stood, 80 years ago.

Back up the 76 steps and outside once more, we grabbed our lunch from the car and made our way to the picnic area, past another Hurricane (representing 303 Squadron) and Spitfire. Again, replicas, these though elevated off the ground with giant metal poles. And that concluded our visit.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our visit. You don't need to be mad keen on WW2 or warplanes, just an interest in British history should be sufficient for you to take something away from a visit here. Now, where's my list of places to visit next?

11 Group Memorial

Amersham, Maidenhead & Runnymede

A mini heatwave gave me the opportunity to get out on Ginny without fear of getting wet. The fact it coincided with Battle of Britain Day, 15th September, was a bonus, as this enabled me to go to Amersham, to try and find the grave of Flying Officer, Peter Cape Beauchamp St John, killed in the Battle of Britain.

I set off about 9:45, arriving in Amersham about 11:10. Amersham is an historic market town, with one of those wide main streets, full of timber framed buildings, coaching inns, etc. It also boasts a market hall, constructed in 1682. 

Amersham Market Hall

I parked Ginny on the main street. A sign said limited to 1 hour. That would be enough time to find Peter, I reckoned. Along from where I parked is the memorial gardens, a beautifully laid out gardens, with a fountain, WW1 soldier memorial, a stainless steel flower bed, in the shape of the Battleship Dreadnought, and most interestingly, 2 stainless steel miniature SE5A WW1 aircraft.

SE5As

The leading aircraft is that of Albert Ball, VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC. He was an English fighter pilot during the First World War. At the time of his death he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories. This is a depiction of his personal SE5a aircraft A8898. He was just 20 when he was killed.

From the memorial gardens, I made my way through the church yard, across the river Misbourne, which is no more than a stream, about 10-15 feet wide, and into the graveyard. I'd done some research on google maps/streetview, so I had a good idea where I was going. A picture of the grave, had also given me a clue, as it showed some trees nearby. My research paid off, as I quickly discovered Peter's grave. It was looking a bit unkempt, with plenty of wild grass growing on and around it, so I set about pulling up all that I could, to make it look presentable. The least I could do for one of our fallen heroes. Tidy up complete, I took some photos.

 

The last resting place of Flying Officer Peter Cape Beauchamp St John

Whilst doing my research, I'd come across something most unexpected, that being, famous people buried in the cemetery. One was a Welsh author, Arthur Machen . Machen was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. I must confess, I'd never heard of him. The second person buried there and the one that really grabbed my attention, was Ruth Ellis. For those that don't know, Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, after being convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely. Originally buried in Holloway prison, she was exhumed and re-buried in Amersham. Apparently, her grave had “Ruth Hornby 1926-1955” inscribed on her marker, but this marker was destroyed in 1982, hence her grave is now unmarked, though photos I saw showed a few stones to mark where the grave was.

Once again, my research came in handy. Next to her burial place, the pictures showed a quite distinctive grave, close to a wall. I had a hunch that they would probably have stuck her somewhere out of the way, so I made my way over to the far corner of the cemetery. My hunch paid off. There was the distinctive grave from the photo. Though no markings remain, I can claim to have stood by the grave of the infamous Ruth Ellis.

In this patch of ground lies Ruth Ellis

I made my way back to the high street. Time was moving on and as I still hadn't walked the high street, I decided to move the bike, rather than risk a ticket. Just around the corner, was a car park with a motorcycle bay, just big enough for about 3 bikes. There was nobody in it. Parked up, I walk the length of the high street. It really is very nice, with several little mews leading off it. Judging by some of the artisan shops, it is a wealthy area, so rather than head in one of the pubs or restaurants/cafes, I walked back to the other end of the high street and went in Tesco to get a meal deal for my lunch.

 

The Kings Arms Hotel

I ate my meal deal in the memorial gardens, a beautifully presented place, with plenty of bench seating around the edge. With the sun blazing down it made a very pleasant place to have lunch.

Amersham Memorial Gardens

Lunch over, I made my way back to the bike. A big Harley had parked up next to me. There wasn't much room left for anything else in the bay now. I set Tomtom for my next destination and off I rode. The Maidenhead Heritage Centre is barely more than a big house. There's a car park right alongside it but no motorcycle bays, so I popped Ginny in a car bay. The sign board by the pay and display didn't even mention motorcycles, just ways to pay by phone, etc, so hopefully, I won't be getting a fine, as I don't expect to have to pay for a bike!

The reason for my visit to the heritage centre, was to visit the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) Museum. I've read Mary Ellis' book, Spitfire Girl and was keen to find out a bit more. The museum consists of one upstairs room. There are photos on the walls as you go up the stairs and in the room itself a cabinet down one side, with uniforms and other paraphernalia, donated by various ATA members' families. It costs £3.50 for a ticket that lasts for one year. To be honest, it probably isn't worth the £3.50 for a few photos and half a wall of 'stuff', so the year long ticket is probably to make you think you are getting you monies worth. I can't see myself ever going back, so it's a bit of a gimmick. 

There was a 2 minute video before I went upstairs and then I had a personal guide. Nice chap, not sure if he does this for all visitors but he talked me through a few bits and pieces, some of the history, etc. He also gave me a demonstration flight on the Spitfire flight simulator they have in the room. He used to fly, so made it look pretty easy. Reminded me of watching Catherine's son on his computer games years ago. It costs £20 for 30 minutes if you fancy ago or £30 for an hour. Not really my thing. Who needs a fake cockpit, when I'm in and out of the real thing each week? 😉 It was an interesting visit but apart from seeing personal items, log books of some of the pilots and the Pilot's Notes books they used to use (1  page/2 sides per aircraft), you probably won't learn anything that you can't find on the internet. I didn't learn anything over what I already knew, still, that's that ticked off my list. 

I was soon back on the bike and making my way to Runnymede and the Air Forces Memorial. This memorial contains the names of over 20,000 air force personnel, who perished during WWII and have no known grave. As always with these places, it's a very sobering place to visit, as you walk around the cloisters with the walls covered in the names of those who died. One of those names being that of Amy Johnson, who was killed in January 1941, whilst on duty for the ATA, when her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary in bad weather.

For those thinking how clever to find Amy in amongst 20,000 names, I must point out that I had a leaflet, that guides you to four names, hers being one. 

By the time I'd walked around, found the four people in the leaflet, taken my pictures, it was 15:45, time to head for home. The memorial closes at 16:00 incidentally, in case you fancy a visit.

 

Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

Back on the bike, it wasn't long before I was on the M25 and on my way home. I arrived back home about 17:10, just short of 7.5 hours after I'd left. It had been a very nice day. The weather was superb, the ride not too bad and I'd accomplished my mission of trying to find the last resting place of my second pilot.

I don't have any other adventures planned as yet, though on my list of To Dos is to pay a visit to the ATA Memorial at Hamble in Hampshire. Maybe I can incorporate that into a visit to the Solent Sky museum, which amongst other exhibits, has a Schneider Trophy winning Supermarine SB6.

That's all for now.

Stay Safe everyone.

 

 

Phew!

What a few weeks this has been, to see out August.

It started with me assisting/riding shotgun, as my brother Paul trailered his Suzuki GT750 up to Telford, for refurbishing. Setting off around 9am from Hythe, the whole task took about 12 hours! With one stop on the way for a coffee/pee, and to tighten the straps, it took us about 5 hours to get to Telford. Bizarrely, Phil the Suzuki 2 stroke guru who is undertaking the restoration, hadn't given Paul his address, only a postcode. As we pulled into the street, wondering how on earth we'd turn round, if it wasn't right, Paul started to send a text message. Just then, a kid on a bicycle (Phil's son) stopped alongside and told us to follow him. 50m down the road, was Phil's house. After some shenanigans with the trailer, Paul can't reverse one, the bike was off the trailer and wheeled through to Phil's workshop. It's a big shed, basically, but he had about 5 different bikes in there, in various stages of repair.   

With a cuppa in hand, they went over what needed to be done and what Paul wanted to be done, not necessary the same things, with Phil giving estimates as to the cost, as they went along. Suffice to say, to get it back running and looking decent, won't come cheap.

With that all sorted, we were back in the car and making our way, slowly, back to Hythe, arriving back, as I said, somewhere in the region of 12 hours after we'd set off. Claire, my sister-in-law had some food for us when we got back, so I scoffed that pretty quick, then rode home. I'm looking forward 😧 to doing it all again when the bike is finished!

Step forward a couple of weeks and the day finally arrived, when Catherine and I tied the Civil Partnership knot. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster since we first announced our intentions in April but in the end, it all worked out fine.

The ceremony, if you can call it that, took place in a small room within Rochester register Office. Present, with us, were Catherine's son and his fiance Jenny, as our witnesses, and the registrar. The registrar went though questions we had been asked when we booked our ceremony, and we signed a piece of paper. All done in about 5 minutes. With a civil partnership, you don't even get a certificate to take away, as that is posted out to you a few days later. Not quite what we had hoped for or originally planned but a sign of these strange times.

Rochester being a lovely historic town, lends itself perfectly to photos, so we had a few taken in front of the castle and cathedral, before heading down the high street, to the restaurant we had booked for our wedding breakfast, Oliver's. Waiting for us there, were Paul & Claire, my daughter Jen, with husband Chris & baby James, my daughter Elly and her partner Ross and Catherine's daughter Natalie, with her partner Mark & baby Emma-Rose. Just 12+2 of us, at socially distanced tables. We had a lovely 3 course lunch and would thoroughly recommend the restaurant, as the food and service were excellent. All in all, we had a very nice day, and both agreed that, though we had never imagined we would, we somehow felt different, having tied the knot after 24 years!

The Happy Couple

A week on and it was Catherine's son Alex and fiance Jenny's turn to get married. Like our wedding, Covid-19 had played merry hell with the plans, and it was an 11th hour deal, to get the wedding on at the local church, in Rottingdean. The rest of the plans, have had to be postponed until 2021, so they will for all intent and purposes, be having two weddings.

We drove down to Rottingdean in the morning, arriving about an hour before the ceremony. The church is only about 150m from Jenny's parent's house, so very handy. Nevertheless, Nigel, Jenny's dad, had his MKII Jaguar ready to ferry her to the gates, with her brother Andrew as chauffeur. In the church, we were all spaced out and wearing white face masks, so it was unusual to say the least. Following the ceremony, there was the usual photo session (the photographer never stopped in about 5-6 hours), then we walked around the corner to the house for the garden party/reception. In the meantime, Andrew took Alex & Jenny for a little drive but not before a slight scare, as the Jag struggled to start. Another lovely afternoon. 

Another Happy Couple

Not sure the weddings count as 'adventures' but certainly worth a mention as they both signify new phases in our lives.

On the Sunday before Bank Holiday, I (we) completed my 2020 Virtual Spitfire 10k. Last year, Helen and I went to the RAF museum in Hendon to run/walk the Spitfire 10k, and having already completed the Virtual Hurricane 80k earlier in the year, it was clear we would both enter this virtual event too. As with last year, we both had a label with the name of a pilot who died in RAF service and even though we were just completing the challenge locally, we both wore the labels. Helen completed her effort on the 29th and bettered her time from last year. I was about 30 minutes slower but then I walked the whole way this year, and I had a slower partner to consider. Helen and I both logged our times on the official timing website and now just await our medals. Mention should go to Catherine, who, although not signed up for the event, walked with me, 11.3k in all. Maybe I'll let her put my medal on when it arrives 😉

A True Hero

My next adventure, weather allowing, will be to find the grave of the pilot, whose label I wore, Flying Officer Peter Cape Beauchamp St John. He is buried in Amersham. My plan is to find his final resting place, then visit the ATA Museum in Maidenhead, before rounding off the trip with a visit to the RAF Memorial at Runnymede. Watch this space for details of that trip and photos. Hopefully it won't be too far in the future.

That's all for now. Sorry there's a lot of text to get through (and I didn't even mention Ginny's gearbox recall) but hope you have enjoyed the update nevertheless. 

Till next time.

South West and back

My youngest daughter had a special birthday in May. Being in lockdown, it wasn't possible to give her her presents, so with the easing of lockdown rules, I hatched a plan to ride Ginny down, as the bearer of gifts. But this was to be a two pronged trip, as I also arranged to visit my friends Helen & Vid, in Shalford, on the way back, and take a ride to St Andrew's Church in Tangmere, to find the grave of Pilot Officer Lake. More of that later.

The plan was, to ride down to Exeter on Wednesday afternoon, right after I'd finished at Spitfire Club and had some lunch. I'd prepped Ginny on Tuesday, tyre pressures, oil level, tomtom, etc, and had done most of my packing, so all I had to do was load the bags into the panniers and set off. Tomtom reckoned on about 4 hours, taking me the usual route, M25, M3, A303, etc. Weather was warm and dry. Ginny was showing a range of about 280 miles, so with only 204 miles to go, I didn't need any fuel, least not until I got to Exeter. There's a Sainsbury's just up the road from Elly's place, so I planned to stop there and fuel up, once I arrived. I left home at 13:15.

I rode without a stop, and without incident. It was quite boring really, except for the 3 car pile up on the road by Stonehenge. Rubbernecking again, I suspect. That was going the other way, so didn't inconvenience me that much. It was almost exactly 4 hours, as I pulled into Sainsbury's petrol station. I'd done 249 miles since I'd filled up in Folkestone. Ginny took just short of 22 litres. Range was still showing 63 miles.

Filled up, I rode round the corner to Elly's and was soon relaxing with her and boyfriend Ross, whilst they prepared dinner. Presents were opened and dinner eaten. We settled down to watch a film, when we were disturbed by the noise of a hedgehog eating the food that Elly puts out for them. She has a hole in the gate and a ramp up the steps for them, so it's a bit like a hedgehog fast food joint. I haven't see a live hedgehog for over 20 years, so I was quite thrilled. A little later, a second joined in the fun.

Hello Hedgehog!

 

Thursday, the plan was to drive into Dartmoor, for a walk around a couple of reservoirs. It was a very warm and sunny day and it was clear to see there hadn't been much rain in these parts. The journey was interesting, with us having to drive down the tiniest of country lanes but we managed to find the car park OK, before setting off on what was, in total, a shade over a 4 mile walk.

Tottiford Reservoir

Back home, we had some lunch and I got ready to leave for Shalford. I messaged my friend Helen to say I'd be about 2h15m but I'd miscalculated and the trip was more like an hour longer. I arrived at Helen's place about 18:15. This trip wasn't as uneventful as the one down though. I was following a couple of cars on the A303 at Newcott. We were bowling along nicely at 50mph, which is the limit there, them about 100 yards ahead. As I approached a place called the Route 303 Diner, a VW Golf pulled out from the car park and turned straight across me. I jammed on the brakes and with ABS in full song, tried to steer away from the VW. Luckily for me, the driver obviously became aware I was there as rather than turning fully into my lane, he straddled the white line, leaving me enough room to squeeze between him and the verge. Had he not done so, I reckon I would have hit him. A lucky escape. Shaken, I just glared at him, as I went by, ignoring his raised hand in apology. The rest of the journey went without incident thankfully, apart from me taking the wrong exit off a roundabout. DOH!

I had a very pleasant evening with Helen & Vid, them providing a nice dinner, bed and breakfast option at no charge. 😃 What are friends for eh?

Friday morning, it was scorching. I was clad in my summer mesh jacket, with a wicking microfibre t-shirt on underneath and my kevlar lined jeans. Warm enough garb when the temperature hits the 30s. Helen though, had a normal cotton t-shirt underneath her 2 piece leather suit! I set Tomtom for a twisty route to Tangmere, our destination, and off we set.

Why Tangmere? Last summer, another friend Helen and I did the RAF Museum's Spitfire 10k run. All runners were given a label, with the name of a pilot on it. Mine was Pilot Officer Donald Millar Lake, who is buried in St Andrew's churchyard in Tangmere, where he was based. I decided last year, that I would go to find the grave of the man whose name I had worn on that run, and so here we were. Being close, a few hundred yards from where the WWII airfield was located, it is unsurprising to find a large number of RAF graves. What I wasn't expecting though, was a number of German pilot's graves. Looking at the dates on them, I reckon they were shot down  in those early days of the Battle of Britain, when the Luftwaffe tried to destroy the RAF airfields.

Pilot Officer Lake, just 20 years old

Lest We Forget

The German Graves

From the churchyard, we rode a few hundred yards to the Tangmere Aeronautical Museum, all that remains to remind one of the airfield which once stood there. Douglas Bader was stationed there, along with, as I found out only on Saturday, the mother of one of the chaps at Spitfire Club. She was, apparently, one of Bader's ground crew.

As we set off from the churchyard, I heard an unmistakable sound, that of a Merlin engine, looking up, I saw what was making the sound, a Spitfire. Looking back down, I was very nearly in the kerb!! Nearly another German machine brought to ground by one of Mitchell's finest!

The museum was closed, due to Covid-19 but we stopped to take a look through the gates at some exhibits, and then, the Spitfire once again. Goodwood aerodrome is just a few miles away and the Boultbee group run 2 seater Spitfire flights from there. I couldn't tell whether it was a single or twin seater but whatever, it was a glorious sight in the clear blue sky. One can never grow tired of the sound of a Merlin engine or the sight of these magnificent aircraft.

View of/through the Tangmere Museum gates

Outdoor collection, Gloster Meteor, Hawker Harrier and McDonnell Douglas Phantom

A quick drink and fuel stop, so Helen could fuel her bike, then we headed back home, going our separate ways at Petworth. I arrived home about 16:30, after a very hot ride back. Another adventure over, I think I need to plan another before the weather takes a turn.

RAF Tour 3

Not really a tour, as I only visited 2 sites, more a run out. Keeping up the theme though.

Through Phil at Spitfire Club, I became aware of a memorial at Dungeness, for 2 Polish pilots from 303 Squadron, killed in that area, on the same day and presumably in the same dogfight, in April 1941. I'm not sure why I hadn't seen this when I planned RAF Tour 2, as this memorial is only a few miles from Greatstones and the Liberator memorial I visited but anyway, it gave me another excuse to get out for another ride.

It was another very warm day and I took a leisurely ride through the Kent countryside. I'd timed the trip so that I could have my picnic when I arrived, so that I did, before going in search of the memorial. It was fairly easy to find, only being a few hundred yards from the old lighthouse. Basically, you just walk straight from the end of the car park and there it is. It's lovely to think that people still care enough to remember these chaps and I take my hat off to anyone involved in the upkeep of these memorials, from this one on the windy exposed shingle of Dungeness, to those tucked away at the roadside down some country lane. We should never forget the sacrifice many made to keep our country free and in this case, chaps whose country had already been overrun by the Nazis. What spirit, what guts, and what great skill those of 303 Squadron in particular showed.

From Dungeness, I decided to pop up the coast to Capel-le-Ferne and pay a visit to the Battle of Britain Memorial. It's only about 2 years since I last visited but I'd seen on a TV programme that they had a new exhibit, a Junkers 87 Stuka dive bomber.

I dropped in on my brother on the way passed and saught his advice on where to get fuel, cheap supermarket fuel, as Ginny was by now showing a range of just 14 miles. Failing to actually take in what he said, I found myself way off course and having to resort to the phone, to try and locate the Tesco stop. I'd been riding around for a good 3 or 4 miles, with range showing zero, before I eventually got to Tesco. Mild panic over and with a full tank, I carried on to Capel. They have a new tarmac motorcycle parking bay, big enough for about 4 bikes, right by the entrance, which is good. Not so good, you have to ride across the gravel driveway to get to it, which is always a nervy thing on a big bike like Ginny. It's not so much the grip of the bike but that of your feet. Lose your footing even slightly and the weight of the bike can have you on your arse in the blink of an eye. I had no problems I should say, just clenched those buttocks a tad.

Sure enough, just behind the display Spitfire & Hurricane, there stands, nose down in the dirt, a gleaming silver Stuka. I don't know if they have any plans to paint it but I must say, it does look mighty good in silver, with the sun glinting off it. 

The ride home was a somewhat less leisurely than the ride down, as I just jumped onto the M20. Another lovely day for riding and another interesting one too. My next RAF related outing will be to Tangmere, near Chichester. The WWII airfield no longer exists but there is an aeronautical museum there. That is still closed due to Covid-19 at the moment but my purpose of visiting, is to visit the grave of  Pilot Officer Donald Millar Lake, whose name I carried on my back when I ran the Spitfire 10k at the RAF museum in Hendon last year. Killed in September 1941, aged just 20, I want to pay my respects. You can read about that visit soon. Till then, cheerio.

RAF Tour 2

I'm calling this an RAF tour, though it's not strictly all RAF related. Another chance to get out on Ginny and visit some memorials, to those who risked and lost their lives in the skies above Britain during WWII.

I started off by making my way down to the airfield at Headcorn. This is quite a busy place. From here you can take a parachute jump or even a flight in a 2 seater Spitfire. In normal times, they have quite a few events/air shows on during the year. There were some aircraft taking off whilst I visited, including a wing walker Boeing Stearman.

I watched for a while, then sought out the memorial, which was my reason for stopping off. 

From Headcorn, I went down to the outskirts of a village called Hamstreet, where there is a memorial, called Johnson's Corner Memorial, in memory of a US Flying Fortress pilot. Limping back from the continent, it became clear that the aircraft wasn't going to make it back to base. The pilot, Lieutenant William "Bill" Johnson, ordered his crew to bale out. Realising that if he did, the aircraft would crash into the village of Hamstreet, he stayed on board to pilot the plane away from the village, paying the ultimate price in doing so. Here I had my picnic, in the small garden in which the memorial stands.

Another, ex WWII airfield, now gone but now with an Aeronautical museum on site, at Brenzett. As with most of these places, there's a memorial.

From Brenzett I made my way to the coast and to a car park just behind Greatstones beach. There, hidden out of the way almost, is a memorial to another USAF aircraft crash. Not far from this site, a Liberator bomber came down, after taking a direct hit on the nose from an 88mm anti-aircraft gun. 2 crew were killed instantly. 2 more were killed when baling out over the sea, having insufficient height for their parachutes to open but 7 of the 11 crew survived the forced landing.

Heading back towards home now, I stopped at a memorial to Pilot Officer Arthur Clarke, who was killed when his Hurricane crashed nearby, having been shot down during the Battle of Britain. He was just 20 years old.

Finally, I made my way back to the other side of Headcorn airfield, where there is a memorial to US and Canadian air crews, who flew from the airfield.

Another lovely day for riding but sobering and thought provoking subject matter. Lest We Forget.

Another Outing on Ginny - RAF Tour 1

Using the Traces of War website, I came up with a route that would take me to memorials around Kent, linked to the RAF, and give me a nice 80 or so mile ride in the sunshine. The website lists war graves/cemeteries and memorials but also more specific sites, where aircraft crashed and if a memorial exists, then where it is located. Using the website, I discovered the site of a crashed Hurricane, apparently in the corner of a field I have driven by numerous times but had no clue. Unfortunately, there is no memorial to the aircraft or pilot. In some cases though, people have taken the trouble to erect a memorial and one such place, is where I started the tour.

Farningham is a little village near Swanley, just south of the M20. Sparepenny Lane links Farningham with Eynsford and just 500m out of the village, on the left hand side, you come across a small stone memorial to a Flight Lieutenant James Paterson, a New Zealand pilot, who sadly lost his life when his Spitfire crashed nearby. One of 'The Few', he was just 20 years old. A rather sobering few minutes were spent here.

 

From Farningham I continued on my journey, to Tunbridge Wells, where I parked up in the Great Hall car park, next door to Calverley Grounds, a landscaped park area dating back to the 1830s. I'd brought a picnic, so this was the ideal spot to eat it. That was not my primary reason for the visit though. Just inside the park, there stands a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. He lived in the Tunbridge Wells area for almost 20 years, before his death in 1970. As Air Chief Marshal and head of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, he was largely responsible for defeating the German Air Force in its attempt to gain control of British skies, in preparation for a German invasion of England. Sir Laurence Olivier played Dowding in the 1969 film The Battle of Britain.

After my picnic and brief spell sitting in the park, I made my way to Kings Hill, a new(ish) town between West Malling and Wateringbury, formerly known as RAF West Malling. RAF West Malling was a satellite airfield in the Biggin Hill sector of fighter command. Built in 1917, it was used as a private airfield up until it was commissioned by the RAF in 1940, even being known as Maidstone Airport in the early 1930s. Closing in 1969, the developers moved in and little now remains of the original infrastructure. Little but some, including the original control tower, original RAF officers mess (now council offices) and a Bofors gun tower. Besides these relics of days gone by, there are some memorials around the town but also, though I was unable to locate it due to further construction work, a Pickett-Hamilton Fort or pop-up pillbox. These forts, made of concrete, could hold 3 men with rifles and were sunk into the ground, though ingeniously, when needed as defense, they could rise out of the ground to allow the occupants sight of any approaching enemy.

Officers Mess

Control Tower

Running Airman

Bofors Gun Tower

Leaving West Malling, I made my way to my final stop. Detling is a village that sits on the outskirts of Maidstone, on the Pilgrims Way. The Pilgrims Way is the historical route taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. Besides being a point on this famous route, Detling was also host to an RAF airfield. RAF Detling was located about 1.5 miles, north east of the village, on top of what is known as Detling Hill, 600m above sea level. I don't think anything remains of the airfield these days but in the village, there is a memorial to all those who served there between 1915 and 1945. 

Detling RAF Memorial

Concluding my historical tour, I rode the 7 miles home, passing along the way, the field I spoke of in my first paragraph. It had been a very pleasant and interesting ride. It's heartwarming to see these places and people remembered in these ways, people who lived, worked and even died in places now long since removed from the landscape. Lest We Forget.

I have another tour lined up, for, as Vera sang, "some sunny day", so watch out for that one.

For now though, stay safe.

A brief legover

So, last week, I managed a ride out on Ginny, for the first time in almost 2 months. My bro' had sent me a link to a website called www.tracesofwar.com, which shows war graves, etc around the country. I'd already decided I was going to drop a book about the Somme to him, via the back roads but on checking out the website, I found a graveyard, just alongside the A20, down which I would be travelling. So I planned to stop there on the way down.

Doing a bit of digging on the CWGC website and viewing the graves, I realised that many of the 80 or so headstones had the same date on them, 24th June 1944. When I dug a little deeper, I discovered that 52 men, belonging to 6th Guards Tank Brigade, REME (Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers), had been killed at Charing Heath, when a German V1 flying bomb, apparently knocked off course by an RAF Spitfire, slammed into their camp. There is a dedicated area containing a memorial to the 52 and graves of the 46 men who were sufficiently intact, to be able to identify and bury. How dreadful for the six families of those other men, presumably blown to kingdom come.

Further reference to the traces of war website map, led me to discover a WW1 tank, on open air display in the centre of Ashford. In all the years I've lived in Kent, 37 now, I had never heard of this. So, that went on my stopping list too.

Ginny started first prod of the button and as usual, purred, whilst she waited for me to get astride her and click her into first gear. A gentle ride through the country lanes and old villages, led me to the cemetery, which is just on the outskirts of Lenham. I rode about 50 metres along a tarmac 'driveway', through some commemorative gates and into the cemetery. There, I spent some time checking out the headstones and also removing a beer can, that some disrespectful scumbag had seen fit to leave on the grass. Over half of the dead, I think, were in their twenties, the youngest, just 20, all having had their lives wrenched away from them, by a quirk of fate, as they made preparations to join the allied assault, just 3 weeks after D-Day.

Commemorative plaques on the entrance to the cemetery

46 of the 52 lost souls. All 52 are named on the memorial

Back on Ginny, I made my way just a few miles more down the A20, to Ashford. The tank is under a canopy in St George's Square. Luckily, as I arrived, there was one parking space left on the narrow one-way street, right in front of the tank.

The story of the tank, a genuine Mark IV Female, is that it was presented to the town in recognition of its effort in raising funds towards the war effort. This tank never saw action, as it was a training tank, and was presented to the town in 1919. Apparently, the tank was driven into position in the square and has remained there ever since. 101 years and counting. It was spruced up a bit in 2017, in preparation for its 100th anniversary and I must say looks very nice.

WW1 Mark IV Female Tank

Sticking to the country roads, I made my way to my brother's gaff, where we enjoyed a socially distanced drink & chat. It was a nice warm & sunny day, so nice to get out on the bike again. The ride back was not so leisurely, as I just jumped onto the M20 for the ride home, letting Ginny stretch her legs, at a legal 70mph of course.

As the weather seems set to be nice for the next week or so, I'll try and get out to more historical sites. Who knows what there is out there to discover?

Till next time.

Stay safe.

Lockdown Blues

A quick update. A lot has happened since Catherine and I got back from the Caribbean, just as the Covid-19 shit was hitting the fan.

I was able to fire up Ginny, the first time since I got back from the Aragon GP last September and take a run over to see my grandson James, in Wales. I'd booked a hotel for 2 nights, as there is no room at the inn any more, that room now being a nursery. Distancing measures had sort of been introduced, so a stop at the services meant no seating by Burger King or elsewhere but that was about it. As usual, I underestimated the wind chill factor, so by the time of the stop, I was bloody freezing around my kidneys. I had to put my waterproof jacket on, to keep the wind out but as any biker knows, once that chill sets in, it's hard to warm up.

My hotel was at Llantrisant, about 8 miles from my daughter's house. I'd checked in, then rode over. That afternoon/evening, Boris announced closure of restaurants & pubs, so any thoughts of going out for food were scuppered. We had a Dominos pizza delivery instead. The new rules meant that when I got back to the hotel, the bar was closed, so hotel time would be confined to my room. Breakfast, was cooked to order, normally a buffet I think but on the second morning I had to give a time I wanted brekkie. I misunderstood, thinking they would bring it to my room, so when it didn't turn up and I eventually went to enquire, I found they'd made it for the time I'd asked but were keeping it warm. I'd only asked for bacon butties and these they'd wrapped in foil. Not best.

My ride home was completed in one non-stop stint. Learning from my earlier mistake, I had the waterproofs on from the outset, which kept me warmer. I really should think about getting a decent base layer, especially for those spring/autumn chilly days.

The day after I got back we went into full lockdown. Ginny cane out for a clean but then went back on trickle charge, where she has been for the past 7 weeks. With the news this week though, she might get a run out fairly soon. She could do with getting some miles under her belt, as she won't now be doing the planned 4500 miles of the European tour, not till 2021 now.

I've coped pretty well in lockdown. To be fair, it's not much different to how things were before, apart from the lack of movement and not being able to go to spitfire club twice a week. I've been getting out for a walk most days, completing the 80K Hurricane Challenge (along the lines of the Spitfire 10k last year, only at home) and managing to hit a target of over 160km / 100 miles for April. My goal for May is to achieve that target again and I'm well on my way (44%) to reaching it.

The next big adventure for me and Catherine, will probably be our coming together in a civil partnership. We'll have been together for 24 years, come the 31st of this month, so we decided it was about time we made it official. Things are obviously still up in the air at the moment, with Covid-19 but we have a date of 17th August to put pen to paper. Hopefully this terrible virus won't put a spanner in the works, though it is certainly stopping us planning too much, at the moment.

Don't think there is much else to add, except to say, I hope everyone stays safe and well.

Until next time.

Not at the moment though!

Day 16, Back in Blighty

Flight was ok, for me at least. Catherine had the large 'lady' behind sticking her knees in the back of her seat and the one in front reclining her seat. Not to mention the guy next to her (I don't do strangers) seemingly unable to keep in the confines of his seat. The woman behind also had her seat fully reclined, so a young woman behind her, nearly had her nose pressed against the tv screen. Some people just don't give a shit about anyone else. Catherine whacked her seat back, to give the woman a taste of her own medicine.

Watching a couple of films helped pass the time between dinner and breakfast. It's not easy to sleep, with babies crying, so I grabbed a few winks whilst I could. We were welcomed back into Gatwick just before 5am, with a most unhealthy 27 degree temperature swing! Roasting in Barbados, to freezing in Surrey.

For some reason, baggage reclaim decided to put our cases onto two carousels! You can guess what happened, mine on one, Catherine's on the other. If only I had the eyes of a chameleon 😒

Eventually I retrieved both cases and we made our way to the car park bus pick up. The drive back from the car park was pretty quiet and we were back home by about 07:30. We pretty much went straight to bed and slept until lunchtime. I then took Catherine home and came back to unpack, upload photos, catch up with emails, etc, etc.

I shall be updating those blogs that didn't have any photos included. Unless I had my phone with me, which I didn't on a lot of days, then I didn't have any photos to hand. Now I have uploaded from my camera, I can add some, so if you can be bothered, take a look back through and see what I've added.

That concludes this particular adventure, during which we went; diving, under the waves in a submarine, swimming with Stingrays, on a train, and into a volcano crater. We both had a fabulous time and met some nice interesting people, both on board and ashore, plus one not so nice. All in all it was a great way to celebrate turning 60.

Thanks for taking the trouble to follow the blog and don't forget, comments are always welcomed.... well nearly always 😃

Day 15, Bridgetown, Barbados- Coming home

Up just as the ship docked. Our cases had gone overnight, so we just had our hand luggage and the clothes we were wearing for the day/flight. Once dressed , we went down to complete the immigration process, then went for brekkie. We had to be out of the cabin by 9am, which we were. Storing our hand luggage, we walked into Bridgetown to have a look around and take some photos. By the time we had done Nelson's statue, the Independence Arch, the Parliament building and Cathedral, the 30 degree heat was starting to take its toll on Catherine, so we made our way back to the ship.

Admiral Lord Nelson

On board we had a light snack and drink, before collecting our hand luggage. The coaches to take us to the airport were ready at 1pm and we arrived 30 minutes later. It's great being a cruise passenger, they fast track you through. There's even the personal touch, as the security lady stroked my leg! I had my passport in my pocket and she queried what it was. No interest in my watch or belt, which I hadn't removed, just my passport and boarding pass. Not satisfied with me telling her what it was, I had to show her. And to satisfy herself there was nothing else, she touched my thigh.

We quickly found a couple of seats and made ourselves comfortable for the wait ahead. With a little over 2 hours till departure, they posted the gate, so we moved to the departure lounge at gate 14.

People were already changing into their UK clothing. I've got my zipoffs on, so I can put the legs on before we land. 

Next update will be when we are back in Blighty.  Brrrrr!

Airport Selfie