In the early 1980’s I was a Masters Student at what was then Cranfield Institute of Technology. The campus was on the site of a former RAF airfield and I was studying Bio-Aeronautics with the International Centre for the Application of Pesticides (ICAP) attached to the College of Aeronautics. As part of the course we … More Hitching a ride on a Jetstream
Whilst researching the Dambuster attack on the Eder Dam I came across an interesting snippet of history. It was told to me by my sister’s friend G.C. who was in the RAF in the early 50s. In 1952 G.C. was based in Germany at RAF Wahn which is now the modern day Cologne Bonn International … More Milk run over the Eder Dam
A few years ago I bought several old cine films off eBay in a box that was labelled Monte Cassino. The seller said they had come from a house clearance and had no idea what was on them, but I bought them anyway. In order to view them I bought a reel-to-reel projector and the … More Polish 2nd Corps Cine films from the 1960s
The beginnings of golf in Mellor occurred at a time of considerable changes. The coal mines and textile mills that had dominated the surrounding area had mostly closed down, and the village was evolving into more of a dormitory community where people lived and travelled to their places of work. It’s amid this changing environment … More MELLOR – A TALE OF THREE GOLF CLUBS
Mellor is a small village in the foothills of the Pennines about 10 miles south-east of Manchester. It’s now right on the very edge of the Derbyshire border but in Greater-Manchester. It was once in Cheshire and before that in Derbyshire. Mellor Church at dusk Sitting on the northern the edge of a ridge above … More Mellor Church: Poems & Paintings
Although no Lancasters were supplied to the Russian military under the lend lease scheme in WW2 two examples were in fact used in Soviet Air Force markings. In preparation for Operation Paravane, the attack on the German Battleship Tirpitz which was anchored in a fjord in the far north of Norway, thirty-eight 617 Squadron and … More Lancaster bombers operated by the Soviet Air Force in WW2
The Dambuster Raids, or more correctly Operation Chastise is without doubt the most famous bombing mission of the Second World War (at least here in Britain). Over 75 years on everybody has heard about the ‘bouncing bomb’ and the hero pilot Guy Gibson. Most people, if they only know of one RAF Squadron, it will … More What happened to the Lancasters used on the Dambuster Raid?
The relationship between Manchester the city, and Lancaster the bomber is well documented. Many of us will also know that the Lancaster bomber originally started out as the Manchester bomber and that Avro, the aviation manufacturing company responsible for the Manchester and Lancaster bombers started in, and fortuitously remained Manchester based for the entire life … More From Manchester to Lincoln via Lancaster – An aviation aristocracy family tree
The famous aeroplane manufacturing company Avro is synonymous with the city of Manchester. The connection between the two lasted over one hundred years, longer if we consider that the founder of Avro was born in Manchester. Sadly, the last link was broken when the Avro successor, British Aerospace (BAe), closed its main facilities in 2012. … More Manchester’s Avro Aviation Heritage reminders
* * * N E W P U B L I C A T I O N * * * Townscliffe Golf Club 1908 -1920 Now available – Updated Publication: The bombing of New Mills and Hayfield 3 July 1942 Now available – Talk Calendar My talks:
