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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3521   
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No Skip, I never had an apprenticeship like that
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18th Jun 2020 1:22pm |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3786  
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slideywindows, not much of that where I live, but growing up in England until I was 14, I retain an interest.
I remember when my wife & I had a trip to England upon my retirement in 2001, we were staying with my wife's family in Norfolk, and there was an old control tower just sitting in the middle of a ploughed field, and on another occasion, we rounded a corner, and there was a small concrete pill box by the side of the road. Pickles. |
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18th Jun 2020 11:34pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3521
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What bit of Norfolk, Pickles?
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19th Jun 2020 7:30am |
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| Intercept Member Since: 27 Feb 2017 Location: Suffolk Posts: 587 
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Even smaller world, during WW2 my grandparents owned a farm on Weston Green Road, just east of the SE runway extension, and south of the bomb & ammo dumps of Attlebridge airfield. Two of the girls in this photo from Attlebridge are my father's cousins:  |
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19th Jun 2020 11:08pm |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3786
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Hickling, we also visited a place where there was a windmill. Pickles. |
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19th Jun 2020 11:38pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3521
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Pickles, Hickling is lovely. It's a fair way away from me towards the coast and on the Norfolk Broads. Most of the Windmills in that part of the world were used for drainage, something which I have found is hard to explain to some who assume windmills were for milling flour.
I would love to know where the Control Tower was? There aren't many of them left and those that are cannot be accessed very easily. Intercept, the south east runway was the one I was describing (where the road between Honingham and Weston dissects it now. I know exactly where Weston Green Road is. I use it quite frequently. The turkey sheds that Bernard Mathews built near there have recently been demolished. I have seen lots of photographs of the airfield, but I have never seen the one with your relations and the balloon. The Americans were mostly good to the area. My Grandmother said they had sweets 'candy' which were rationed and they were good at sharing these to the locals. I still have a Snap On half inch ratchet that my Great Grandfather was given by one of the Americans (at the time he was still running the garage, although the forecourt had been taken over). I never use it, but I wonder if I broke it, Snap On would replace it 
Saying all that, a couple of GI's from the airfield were shot after they went out poaching around Honingham Estate one night. They killed the land owner, Sir Eric Tiechman. He was something to do with the British Government. This was part of the reason why my Mum was interviewed by Channel 4 TV. There has always been rumours that the Guys who were shot were scapegoats? 9/11 happened shortly afterwards and I think this is why the programme was binned. |
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20th Jun 2020 8:10pm |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3786
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Thanks for your reply, No, I can't remember where the control tower was, only that it was in the middle of a field, crops growing etc, no other signs at all that anything had been there!
We loved Hickling, our relos were members of the local, very historic, Anglican Church. They actually drove a LandRover too,...we now own a 600HP HSV Commodore GTSR V8, & wonder what it would be like driving it down those lovely country lanes. Most definitely a beautiful part of the world. Pickles. |
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20th Jun 2020 11:33pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3521
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I would imagine the 600hp might be wasted on the rural roads around Hickling, Pickles
You would definitely turn a few heads as we don’t get too many V8s on Norfolk roads (bar the odd RR or Ford Mustang). It sounds like a great car for cruising our little roads, albeit you would find yourself stuck following the rear tyres of a tractor at some point or another. That’s just normal for Norfolk
They used to open the runway at RAF Marham once a year so you could run your car or bike up the runway. I don’t think they have done it since the building work started for the new F35’s. One of my ex-colleagues took his Impreza for a blast. Not sure what the criteria was for having a go but your car sounds like a prime candidate, Pickles |
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21st Jun 2020 6:56am |
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| TACK Member Since: 26 Apr 2009 Location: Essex Posts: 1045 
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Just happened to be at RAF Woodbridge last night to add to the theme.
Click image to enlarge |
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21st Jun 2020 8:34am |
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| Intercept Member Since: 27 Feb 2017 Location: Suffolk Posts: 587
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RAF Woodbridge is my most local airbase. With RAF Bentwaters adjacent, growing up nearby through the 70s & 80s was an excellent time for plane spotting and airshows.
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21st Jun 2020 10:04pm |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3786
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Well, with the Lockdown we have at the moment, we can't really drive anywhere, which is one of the main things we miss, so it basically comes out every couple of weeks to charge the battery etc. We have some very good driving country here, lots of open space etc, very nice for V8s, but with radar everywhere, high speeds are out of the question, but the power & torque is excellent for overtaking etc!. However, good though our "country" areas are, NOTHING matches the beauty & history of the English Countryside, IMHO. Pickles. |
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22nd Jun 2020 12:03am |
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