Thu, Jul 10, 2008
Richard follows three major waterways in the Midlands: the River Great Ouse, the Grand Union Canal and the River Dee. On the way he flies over The Wash, Wisbech, Ely, Cardington airship hangars, Milton Keynes, Stoke Bruerne canal museum, Warwick Castle, Birmingham and Pont Cysyllte aqueduct.
Fri, Jul 18, 2008
Richard flies from Gloucester to Norwich, following various National Rail and preserved railway lines. Having left Gloucester (cathedral), he passes over Cheltenham (GCHQ listening station) before flying along the preserved Gloucestershire and Warwickshire railway, calling at Croome landscape park, Worcester (cathedral, Royal Worcester China) and Hanbury Hall. He then follows the preserved Severn Valley railway from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth, diverting briefly to Stourport to look at the terminus of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal. In Bridgnorth he sees the cliff railway between the Low Town and High Town areas. Having flown over Birmingham (New Street railway station) he flies past Bosworth (Wars of the Roses battle), Kirby Muxloe Castle (which was never completed) and Leicester before passing over the Great Central heritage railway line. Having taken a look at the Flying Scotsman locomotive on an excursion on the East Coast Main Line, he flies to Melton Mowbray, famous for Stilton cheese and pork pies, and then on to Oakham and the Rutland Water reservoir. Following the Nene Valley railway, he arrives at Peterborough (brick works, cathedral) and follows the railway line towards Norwich, passing over Thetford and The Brecks where he sees the Army training area. Finally he arrives at Norwich, where the earliest known aerial photograph was taken - of Thorpe railway station in 1895 - and looks at Norwich Castle.
Fri, Jul 25, 2008
Richard flies from Great Yarmouth in Suffolk to Wroxeter in Shropshire, looking at Roman roads, forts and towns. He flies south-west along the A12 towards the outskirts of London, passing over Burgh Castle (Garianonum), Lowestoft, Colchester, Chelmsford and Ingatestone Hall. He then turns north-west along Watling Street (the A2 and A5), flying over St Albans (Verulamium), Dunstable (at the cross-roads of Watling Street and the Icknield Way), Bletchley Park ("Station X", the World War II Enigma decoding station), Watford Gap (crossing point of the A5, a major east-west coaching route, the M1 motorway, the West Coast Main Line railway and the Grand Union Canal), Rugby transmitting station (Rugby time-signal and submarine communication), Rugby School, Nuneaton (the Battle of Watling Street: Romans against Queen Boudica), Sutton Park at Sutton Colefield, Birmingham, Spaghetti Junction (intersection of M6, A3, A38 and A5127 roads, crossing two railways, two canals and three rivers), Telford, Ironbridge (Telford's iron bridge across the River Severn) and The Wrekin (conical hill), before arriving at Wroxeter (Viroconium).
Thu, Jul 31, 2008
Richard flies from Shropshire to the Suffolk coast, looking at various military airfields (and a few other places of interest) along the way. The journey takes him over: RAF Shawbury (Defence Helicopter Flying School), Hawkstone follies, RAF High Ercall, Weston Park house, RAF Cosford aerospace museum, Wolverhampton racecourse, RAF Bobbington (now Halfpenny Green airport), Baddesley Clinton house, RAF Honiley (motor vehicle test track), Charlecote house, Sezincote house, Moreton-in-Marsh (fire brigade training college), RAF/USAF Upper Heyford, Silverstone racetrack, Northampton, Rushton Triangular Lodge, RAF Wittering (Harrier jump-jet headquarters), RAF/USAF Mildenhall, RAF/USAF Lakenheath (F15 fighter jets), RAF Beccles, RAF Bungay, RAF Hardwick, RAF Woodbridge, RAF/USAF Bentwaters. Some of the airfields are still in use; others have been converted to civilian airports, racetracks and industrial estates.
Thu, Aug 7, 2008
Richard travels west from Felixstowe (container port) to Kettering, along the A14 trunk road. He flies over Harwich (naval redoubt fort), Ipswich, Shrubland Hall, Bury St Edmunds, West Stow (Saxon village), Ickworth House, Newmarket (stables and racecourses), Cambridge (university), Hinchingbrooke House, Boughton House, Kettering, Wicksteed theme park, Kelmarsh Hall and Stanford Hall.
Thu, Aug 14, 2008
Richard travels from Crewe to Clacton-on-Sea, following railway lines. On the way he flies over Mow Cop Castle, Little Moreton Hall, Chatterley Whitfield Colliery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent (bottle kilns), Shallowford (home of "Compleat Angler" author Izaak Walton), Stafford (timber-framed Ancient High House), Shugborough Hall, Lichfield (cathedral), Armed Forces Memorial and Arboretum at Alrewas, Burton-on-Trent (breweries and Marmite factory), Ratcliffe on Soar power station, Nottingham (Trent Valley cricket ground, Wollaton Hall, National Watersports Centre), Belton House, Peterborough, Kings Dyke Brickworks, March, Ely, Newmarket, Flatford Water Mill (made famous by artist John Constable), Clacton (beach, Martello towers).
Thu, Aug 28, 2008
Richard follows the longest cross-country path in England - the Greater Ridgeway which runs from Lyme Regis in Dorset to Hunstanton in Norfolk. It is made up of four long-distance paths: the Wessex Ridgeway, the Ridgeway National Trail, the Icknield Way and the Peddars Way. Richard begins his journey at Swindon (station, railway works, Honda car works). He then flies over Wayland's Smith and Uffington White Horse, Great Coxwell tithe barn, Kelmscott Manor, Stanton Harcourt mediaeval village, Oxford (Magdelen college, Radcliffe Camera), Thame, Aylesbury, Berkhamsted (castle), Whipsnade Zoo, Duxford air museum, Cambridge American Cemetery, Snetterton racetrack and Houghton Hall. Finally he arrives at journey's end: Hunstanton in Norfolk.
Thu, Sep 4, 2008
Richard visits various civilian airfields, starting at Southend-on-Sea and finishing at Welshpool. On the way he flies over: Southend-on-Sea Airport, Clacton Airport, Sizewell Nuclear Power Station, Framlingham Castle, Cambridge Airport, Audley End House, Stansted Airport, Luton Airport, Santa Pod Raceway, Sywell Aerodrome, Donington Park Racetrack, East Midlands Airport (originally RAF Castle Donington), Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Birmingham International Airport, Coventry Airport, Honington Hall, Gloucestershire Airport (originally RAF Staverton), Eastnor Castle, Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, Welshpool Airfield.
Thu, Sep 11, 2008
Richard flies from Offa's Dyke to Sandringham, looking at places that have connections with royalty. He starts at Offa's Dyke - Offa was a king of Mercia in the year 757 who built the dyke to keep out the Welsh. He then visits: Ludlow Castle which has connections with the Wars of the Roses and the Princes in the Tower (Edward V and Richard, Duke of York); Boscobel House, near Wolverhampton, where Charles II hid in an oak tree after the Battle of Worcester in the Civil War; Dudley Castle, home of Lady Jane Grey, queen for just nine days; Coughton Court, Redditch, where the Gunpowder Plot conspirators met to plan the attack on James I; Sudeley Castle where Catherine Parr (sixth wife of Henry VIII) lived after Henry's death; Warwick Castle, home of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who became known as Warwick the Kingmaker after he was instrumental in Henry VI being deposed and replaced by Edward IV in the Wars of the Roses; Kenilworth Castle which has connections with various monarchs from Henry I to Henry V and where it is alleged that Elizabeth I may have given birth to an illegitimate child; Althorp House, family home and burial place of Diana, Princess of Wales; Holdenby House, built by Sir Christopher Hatton, a close friend of Elizabeth I: he said he would not sleep a night in the house until Elizabeth had slept there... which she never did; Fotherighay Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was executed; Burghley House near Stamford, built in the shape of a letter E to honour Elizabeth I who was a frequent visitor; King's College Chapel, Cambridge, founded by Henry VI; Castle Rising, King's Lynn, where Queen Isabella of France, queen consort of Edward II, was exiled after she tried to depose him; Blickling Hall, probable birth place of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII who had her beheaded. Richard's journey ends at Sandringham, one of the country residences of the present royal family.