Following a recommendation from the Ian Visits website we were going to visit the Battle of Britain Bunker at RAF Uxbridge, but before that I needed a haircut. Have been letting it grow for a change, but have got to the point where I either need to buy a comb or get it cut. The barber’s is in Wendover and if you get there just a few moments before 08:30 you can usually be the first in the queue. Today was no exception by 09:00 I was back home and shorn.
Satnav was on but when we got to the edge of the very large site we had a challenge because some entries were blocked and the road was up at others, but eventually we parked up at the bunker. The place is run by enthusiastic volunteers. From the entrance there are 76 steps down which I reckon is about 5 floors worth. At the bottom we were ushered into a film that had just started, where we were told all about the Dowding method for tracking planes during the war. The video was a bit amateur but informative and well presented.
Following the film there were about 8 rooms to look around with lots of RAF memorabilia to look at some of more interest to RAF people but much of it the sort of thing you wish museums showed more of. Lots of pictures of young airman, details of their planes, and where appropriate, where the brave men lost their lives. Part way through the viewing route was the main room where they used to push blocks representing aircraft across a map and allowed decisions about who and how many aircraft to send to deal with. There was lots of WAAF memorabilia including an example of the fetching regulation purple bloomers. One of the guides was particularly informative and wished that they could get hold of some more mannequins for the map room, in order to represent how busy and full these rooms were during peak times. One for M&S public relations I think! Some really interesting exhibits and well worth a visit. The steps were more difficult leaving than arriving unusual for a museum!
Helen was all RAF’d up and decided a trip to the RAF memorial at Runnymede was necessary, so I cancelled the satnav destination and put in the new one. Before leaving Uxbridge we stopped off at an Asian supermarket for some cheap garlic, ginger, and falafel mix. We had been to Runnymede once before but it was only when we got within mile that I recognised the area.
We parked up and walked the few hundred metres to the memorial. You enter via some wooden gates, to a tarmac drive, that leads to what looks like a low building, with a central section slightly taller. When you get to the building you realise that the building is actually a sheltered stone wall surrounding a central grassy area with a cenotaph in the centre. It is a very peaceful and atmospheric place, with great views towards the West. The roar of aircraft taking off from Heathrow echoes overhead as you run your eyes down the plaques of the 20,000 airmen remembered there who lost their lives and have no known grave. Watching the cloud bank covering the sky it was easy to imagine Lancasters breaking through the cloud as they flew on in some endless journey.
Helen went off to find out which list of names an acquaintance of a relative was on by referring to the registers. I tried my hand at a couple of hand held panorama shots, one outside and one inside. I also went up the stairs where from the top you could get great views over Windsor. As we left two buzzards were sweeping across the sky above the memorial in the Spring sunshine.
It was getting a bit late to get home for lunch, but I had the idea that we should stop at The Crown in Little Missenden, a real gem of a pub. Helen had chosen the blue route back which meant passing down Slough High street, where Helen felt the need to break out into the On The Buses theme tune!
I created two panoramas at the Runnymede memorial one outside and one inside.
Outside panorama – http://neilbaldwin.netpanorama/local/runnymede-raf-memorial/
Inside panorama – http://neilbaldwin.netpanorama/local/runnymede-raf-memorial-inside/