An Alvis doubles up as a useful washing line
My cousins Alan and Janet. Their father Frank, was also in the RAF as ground crew electrician, as was our Uncle Alan, an aircraft engine fitter, both my father’s elder brothers.
My cousin Janet and partner John with a line of Singers
Just to show you how wet it was on arrival – from the shelter of the tea tent
Pre-War Prescott exhibitd some measure of the spirit of the blitz on Saturday (19th July) as rain lashed down to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning. I arrived on site at around 9.00 with Chattie strapped onto the back of the carrier, thinking that pre-war cars would be a bit short on the ground with the monsoon conditions, but they came pouring in – literally – through the gate, many driven some miles without all-weather hoods. By the time I had unloaded Chattie, with the help of my cousin Alan, I was soaked through to my skin through my rain coat and trousers, and if he hadn’t lent me another one of his, the top half of me would have been drenched as well. Thank you so much, Alan!
We watched through the murk and downpour as the cars swished their way up the hill, their occupants obviously enjoying themselves. But by the afternoon, they were going up dry, and I have a picture etched in my mind of a couple zooming past, the lady passenger laughing in delight, and her white-blonde hair streaming out behind with the speed.
These cars have a special throaty sound, each one with its own voice. No car is just like another; they are individuals with modifications inside and out that have changed them subtly over the years, and each is a character on its own. Many of the owners have kept the same car lovingly over decades, and they have become part of the family, and connected indelibly with family memories. One couple wondered who would look after the car when they themselves were gone, and hoped that one of their children would take on the guardianship. This is a hobby with a lot of love.
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Don’t forget your umbrella! Car at Pre-War Prescott waits for the sunshine.
Despite the atrocious weather in the morning, around 140 pre-war cars gathered at Pre-War Prescott, many of them going up the hill in the pouring rain. But by early afternoon the clouds lifted at by the evening, those who stayed on for the jazz barbecue were sitting outside overlooking the hill climb and the valley beyond it, in balmy evening sunshine.
More on Prescott to follow.
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I’m just finishing off a cup of tea before setting out for Pre-War Prescott. Bad weather forecast means Dad’s Tiger Moth and Chattie will have to meet up another day, but there’s plenty I’m looking forward to at Prescott, quite apart from the huge number of pre-war cars on show and the evening jazz barbecue – including meeting other members of the Singer Sports Car Club, and getting together with my cousins and uncles tomorrow.
Ground Control has checked the rig and I’m ready to go.
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My father’s second-world-war airfields which I will be visiting in my 1935 sports car next year are listed on my new AIRFIELDS page. Take a look and let me know if you have any stories to tell me about any of them.
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What a weekend. Near-perfect weather and for someone who has never seen a real airshow at all, it was wonderful to start with probably the best in the world. The Red Arrows – thrill, precision and an excellent commentary from ‘Red 10’, the airbus with its ponderous bulk and fluked tail graceful in the sky like a whale in the water; the grace of the Polish formation – grey-glint and silver gleam against the cloud base; the flamboyant Italian display generous in sweep and character and a commentary that delighted with enthusiasm – ‘There he goes! Up! up! up into the sky!’; the sheer power and bone-rattling noise of the jets conveyed not so much through the air as in immediate and direct connection through the ground and our very bones – all this was thrilling. But the highlight of highlights for me was the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight: Lancaster majestic in the air, accompanied by the iconic Spitfire and Hurricane – the note in the drone of their engines we all recognise, even though we weren’t there then. Thank you everyone who put the show on for us, and the tremendous staff and volunteers who were utterly exceptional (thanks, Christian, for your help over the weekend). See my Facebook page facebook/wheretheyserved for more pictures. Here’s just one:
Chattie watches Lancaster and Spitfire overhead
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We are delighted and astounded at the fabulous job that Transmobile have done on our Mercedes Sprinter carrier in re-spraying it to a mid-blue to match the RAF Benevolent Fund heart roundel.
As you can see, it’s – literally – brilliant.
Our thanks to Bill Stokes of Transmobile for a great job with wonderful care and attention to detail, and for generous sponsorship of the Where They Served project.
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Again, at Shobdon, I was talking to a lady whose relative had been a radio operator during the war, and this brought to mind a great book I have read recently: “Night Fighter Navigator: Beaufighters and Mosquitos in World War II” by Dennis Gosling DFC. I was particularly interested in his account because in many ways it mirrors that of my father, who also flew Beaufighters and Mosquitos as a night-fighter. His long-standing navigator was Flt Sgt Ralph Gibbons, and Dennis Gosling’s book gave me a rare glimpse of the story from the navigator’s point of view. My father’s experience of the RAF was almost universally positive and friendly; Dennis Gosling’s was not like this at the beginning of his wartime career but later he realised he had been unfortunate and his later squadrons were much more welcoming, with the social integration of rank and class more like that of my father’s remembrance. I found it a good page-turner, even though it’s not a traditional ‘action-packed’ account of war, and would recommend it for an interesting and touching read.
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Thanks to all those people at the Shobdon Food and Flying Festival who came and talked to me. I had a very interesting weekend and heard many stories about people’s fathers, grandfathers and even grandmothers who served with the RAF during the war in one way or another. It was great to meet you all, and I hoped you enjoyed the day as much as I did. It was a great show, a lovely mixture of vintage cars, food, crafts, community and of course flying.
It was touch and go that Chattie made it at all, but we got down there and back both days with her seemingly running beautifully and certainly without incident. HOWEVER, when Ground Crew checked the car after it cooled, there was no water showing, so he put in over 1 pint. The oil dipstick was showing about 1 pint higher, so presumably the old problem had reoccurred. Right, he thought, go for bust. He added the Blue Devil again, in the knowledge that Crispin Thetford is going to take the head off in any case at some stage in the near future. It seems to have worked, but Chattie has yet to be tested!
Ground Crew took this photograph of Chattie this morning 
with her back-up vehicles and our excellent new promotional banners by ABC Print of Hereford.
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Where They Served 