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RAF Wyton Heritage Centre

15th March 2017

The RAF Wyton Heritage Centre comprises 3 historical collections:

1. The RAF Wyton History Timeline. This covers the history of RAF Wyton from its beginnings as a Royal Flying Corps station in 1916 to its present use as the HQ Joint Forces Intelligence Group.

2. The Imagery Intelligence Collection. This collection was previously the JARIC History Collection formerly housed at RAF Brampton and recently expanded to cover all aspect of photo reconnaissance/imagery intelligence.

3. The Pathfinder Collection. This is the most comprehensive collection of RAF Pathfinder Force memorabilia which was started in 1996 and has grown considerably over the years.

Photography was not permitted on most of the Site but the following four pictures give a general impression of the exhibits.

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The "gate guardian" at the main entrance - an RAF Canberra XH 170 which were based at Wyton from the 1970s to 1993.

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De Haviland Mosquito which was the work horse of the Pathfinder Squadrons in WW2 "flying" above the entrance stairwell.

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Display of aircraft technical equipment used during WW2 - what a contrast with the current computer based gear which we were shown in the Defence Logistics Collection with a mock-up of a Nimrod interior which looked like a large computer room!

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A large selection of RAF uniforms were on display in several ares of the Heritage Centre. This one shows Pathfinder uniforms, maps, Mosquitos and group photographs of crews.

Man Made Wonders in the Heart of Essex

26th September 2017

Our coach left the Dolphin Hotel, St Ives, at 9.00am and we arrived at the 14th century Swan Inn in the village of Chappel just in time for morning coffee. The river Colne runs through the pub garden from which our first man made wonder of the day was immediately apparent behind the pub. We had plenty of time to chat and examine the Chappel railway viaduct which has 32 arches, is 75 feet high and 175 years old. It was then on to enjoy a superb carvery lunch and coffee (interesting ales were also available - look for the Nelson’s Blood picture!) at the Bosworth’s Tea Room in Finchingfield. After lunch we explored this village which is often described as one of England’s prettiest with a village green, duck pond and windmill. In the afternoon, we visited Cressing with its two massive 'cathedrals of wood', barns that are over 800 years old. They were established for storing wheat and barley from the Knights Templar’s farm estate before being transported to London to be sold to help finance the Holy Wars in the mid 1200s. At the same site, we also enjoyed visiting the Tudor walled gardens of a manor house now long gone before enjoying tea and cakes in the Tiptree Tearoom and gift shop on site. A very enjoyable and informative day with a super City and Village Tours Guide and with what members described as having the best lunch yet, ended by us arriving back in St Ives at dusk. Clive Sprawson did a great job in organising this year’s trip and even emulating our previous and long standing visit secretary, Peter Frazier, by getting the met office to give us a good weather day!

(Click on [Enlarge] under an image to open it in a new window)

The 14th century Swan Inn at Chappel [Enlarge]

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An old description of the Swan

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Bar and coffee lounge [Enlarge]

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Chappel Viaduct – chatting in the pub garden [Enlarge]

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Chappel viaduct crosses the Stour Valley, built ca1847 [Enlarge]

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Probus members dwarfed by a few of the 32, 75 ft high arches [Enlarge]

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Hopefully not delivering our lunches!

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Earls Colne village hardware shop – is it Arkwright’s?

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Bosworth’s Tea Room in Finchingfield [Enlarge]

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Appetising carvery [Enlarge]

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Nelson’s Blood celebrating Trafalgar Day

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And the 'story' of Nelson’s Blood ale

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Finchingfield Green [Enlarge]

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Panoramic view of the village [Enlarge]

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Our guide, Jan, introducing us to the 800 year old Cressing Temple Barns, 15 minutes from Braintree, restored by Essex County Council in 1987 [Enlarge]

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The Barley Barn 36 m (120 ft) long by 14 m (46 ft) wide [Enlarge]

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The Wheat Barn 40 m (130 ft) long by 16 m (53 ft) wide [Enlarge]

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Looking up to the height of 11 m (36 ft) [Enlarge]

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So, be careful!

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Between 1205 and 1280, about 500 oak trees were specially grown to the required size and shape for each barn [Enlarge]

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Precarious manual labour! Only wooden pegs used [Enlarge]

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Originally used for grain storage, the barns are now used as venues for concerts, theatre productions (tiered seating for 400), conferences and weddings [Enlarge]

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