August Activities

August Bank Holiday was dark, damp and dismal so what’s new!!!

On the Sunday Sue and I decided to go and watch the hovercraft racing at Gang Warily near to the Fawley oil refinery.

I have wondered for some time where the name ‘Gang Warily’ had come from so for this blog I have found out and copied it here.

In 1314 The Drummond Clan, loyal to Scotland and her kings fought off the invading English at the battle of Bannockburn. The ingenuity to strew the grounds with calthrops (a four pointed spike) proved to be crippling to the horses of the English cavalry.
Some years later the Drummond Clan were rewarded for their services to Robert the Bruce and were allowed to include the calthrops in their coat of arms, which when completed required a motto and what better than "Gang Warily" (Go Carefully).

In 1772 members of the Drummond Clan moved to Hampshire and acquired large areas of land in Southampton. Part of this land was bought by a large petroleum company that resulted in the dividing of one of the Drummond farms. The divided land had to be given a new name and hence the area was called Gang Warily.

Many years later part of this land was sold to Fawley Parish Council and in 1986 Gang Warily Recreation and Community Centre was built and opened to the public.

Here are some of the action shots of the hovercraft racing.

And they’re off!

Out of the water….

Someone going the wrong way?

Down the finishing straight…..

Waterlogged and needing a helping hand.

Oooops!

Not the best way to finish!

Ex-Dortmund gathering at Trish and Colin’s.

David and Carol moved on to us after T&C’s. We had to do a bit of geocaching whilst they were here. This photo was taken at Avon Heath Country Park not too far from Ringwood.

NB for Maggie and Andy – do you remember this sheep seat!

Sue’s always ready for the rough terrain.

Newbie geocachers Tony and Ellen. They only fully join the club when they have a GPSr. Have you bought one yet?

This set of geocaches was close to Waterlooville. We managed a few of the caches which are part of a long walk.

Ellen ‘What have we got here then?’ Tony reading the log.

Where is the cache? It’s here!

Bournemouth Air Festival

We went to the Bournemouth Air Show last Friday, which was the first day of the Red Arrows. They opened the display that day. We bagged our spot on the prom and took the photos from just west of Bournemouth pier.



All 9 Hawks together. 


Some info about the Hawk - The dual control BAE Systems Hawk T1 is the RAF’s advanced trainer, and has been used by the Red Arrows since 1979, replacing the Folland Gnat. The Hawk’s Rolls Royce Adour engine produces 5,200lbs of thrust and can power the aircraft to a top speed of Mach 1.2. The aircraft has a maximum altitude of 48,000 ft and fuel capacity gives a range of 1,000 nm, making most of the world accessible apart from New Zealand.








As can be seen from the photo the weather was superb and every inch of the beach was packed. It is estimated that more than 1 million people visited the air show over the four days.



The Black Cats display team - there is another helicopter somewhere.


The Royal Navy Helicopter Display Team have been a popular fixture on the Airshow circuit since 2003 under the title of The Lynx Pair, winning the Steadman Sword for the best British participant at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2003.  In 2004, increased support from the Royal Navy and AgustaWestland Helicopters saw the team reinvented as “The Black Cats” for the forthcoming season.



The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.



The Vampire - 


The de Havilland DH.100 Vampire was a British jet-engined fighter of the Second World War, the second jet-powered aircraft commissioned by the Royal Air Forceduring the War (the first being the Gloster Meteor), although it was not used in combat. The Vampire served with front line RAF squadrons until 1955 and continued in use as a trainer until 1966.



Guinot Wingwalkers - 

The World's only formation wingwalking team is the best loved civilian air display act in Europe.

Dazzling over 6 million spectators each year the wingwalkers buzz airshows at low level, their beautiful biplanes carving loops through the sky while daring wingwalkers wave and perform handstands at 150mph!

The Blades Aerobatic display team.


The Blades fly an aircraft called the Extra 300 LP; one of the leading high-performance aerobatic aircraft in the world. 

July/August 2009

We’ve been back for 5 weeks now and don’t seem to have stopped. I tend to do a lot of DIY and Sue deals with the entertaining. It’s great to see lots of people and to catch up with everyone's news.

I’ve lead 4 rambles in the New Forest and had a good turn out each time even though the weather has been iffy on occasions. Here is a photo I took close to home whilst on a ramble. The question is - are they long necked sheep or alpacas or llamas?

Near Stinking Edge Wood – that’s the correct name – honest. Lyn’s in the pink!

 

Joan and Udo, from Germany, eventually managed to make it to the UK. We met them at the Royal Victoria Country Park near Southampton. We managed a few geocaches and the weather held for the picnic.

The picnic!

Auntie Hilda, from Holland, with Peter (a neighbour) her nephew usually visits us for a meal. We can then reminisce about our trips to Holland.

Sue with John.

 

You know who!

 

RNLI Lifeboat Week - Poole

Poole is the headquarters of the RNLI so they usually do things well.

The new Atlantic 85, Sgt. Bob Martin, going through its paces in Poole harbour.

And again.

 

East Anglia 2009 - Wisbech

After Sandringham we moved onto the fens to meet up with friends some of whom you will no doubt recognise. After the ‘hills’ of Norfolk and Suffolk this place was seriously flat.

We did quite a bit of geocaching with David and Carol and also visited Peckover House in Wisbech. This is an elegant Georgian merchants house with a wonderful walled garden, an orangery and summerhouses.

Here we are geocaching and covering a bit of history at the same time. Somewhere on the site is a geocache, the information boards brought the site to life.

Stonea Camp stands on a gravel island two meters above sea level. It was a very wet place and the ditches would have naturally filled with water. There is a single bank and ditch to the south west with three defensive lines to the north. There were three periods of construction and it is suggested by the excavators that this was the site of the battle between the Roman governor, Ostorius and the Iceni in 47AD

My 1000th geocache!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Downham Market on a quiet Sunday morning. It is an ancient Saxon town and is one of Norfolk’s oldest market towns.

I had to have a rest after seeing so many shops in one place – fortunately most were closed.

Post BBQ chat on a cool evening. Sue Jones, Glynn and Carol.

David and yours truly.

At least somebody was enjoying the cool weather. Lord and Lady Bristow (no tiaras tonight – Geoff left his at home!).

This ends our tour of East Anglia, 4.5 weeks in all and generally very good weather.