My day out in pictures. This was the scene when I arrived at Popham airfield just after 10.30 am.


Time for a wander round with my camera before a nice leisurely cooked breakfast in the sunshine before it gets too crowded.


Several hours later the field is packed with visiting aeroplanes & people wandering around looking at them. Others are constantly arriving or departing throughout the day & there are aeroplanes everywhere you look. It's impossible to show how many aircraft are on the field in just one shot.


Late afternoon & most of the visitors have departed to get home before dark. This is an opportunity for some interesting shots.




The man responsible for this wonderful place, the airfield manager. Always cheerful & friendly. I don't think I've ever seen him without a smile on his face. he used to work for Charles Church whose family still owns the huge estate the airfield is part of. It was originally twice the size & some of it was sold after his death.  He told me yesterday that had Mr Church not been tragically killed in a Spitfire crash it's more than likely there would now be three airworthy Lancasters in the world, not two, & that one would be based at Popham.


Almost 6.00 pm & almost everyone has gone home. That little black speck in the distance is my car & it's time for me to go home too.


I hope you enjoyed sharing my wonderful day out with me. Sadly I won't be doing this again for several months.

Ditto jared's sentiment: You've put a little cheer into another dismal Monday morning...

Thanks. I'm happy to bring a little sunshine into people's lives or just raise a smile.

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Bring your bike & your tent. You can even camp on the airfield & there's bound to be a nice country pub just down the road. No alcohol on the airfield though.

Something tells me I missed my vocation. Do you think I deserve commission from the British tourist board?

There'd be that Wicko again!

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I've no doubt that if CC had not been killed that we may have a 3rd airworthy Lanc (although it would still have been very squashed after the roof collapse at Woodford). Maybe Kermit Weeks will do something with it one day, although with the history with the Mossie and Lizzie I'm not sure it'll happen. I think the airfield manager is having a laugh if he though the Lanc would live there. I suspect somewhere like Lasham or Blackbushe would be more reasonable for that part of the world (any rain would ruin a Lancs chances of flying)...

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Mmm, I can't see the problem with extending the airfield (presubably the runway that isn't parallel to the A303), but surely it would need serious reinforcement for a heavy bomber to operate from it (we've seen what a drop of rain does to Old Warden), and a hard runway would be as out of place as one at Old Warden too!

Charles Church's crash was very sad, and the first warbird crash I remember the coverage of in the press - in those days (only 16 years ago) Spitfires were a lot rarer, with only 10 or so airworthy in the UK (5 of those at Coningsby alone!). Mind you, I wonder what he would have thought about his company developing West Malling...

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Biking and Guinness! Yeeeeeehaw! 

Pardon me, but in the 7th shot, is that toilet made into a plant holder?

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May I add "in another country" to my list?