In contrast to last weekend when we were in Istanbul the pair of us have had a home-based time at Bigland Towers. The weather’s picking up – as are the temperatures – so the season’s feeling more like the May of old rather than the miserable and wet one we’ve experienced so far. We’ve also had a impromptu weekend. Yesterday, whilst browsing the internet I found out that the Lancaster bomber from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) was due to include an afternoon flypast at the Golcar lily festival in the nearby Colne valley. As the skies consisted of blue skies and bright sunshine the pair of us decided to pop over to watch. It’s near where Dawn’s parent live anyway so we could call in and see them. Surprisingly, information on the flypast was limited. There was nothing on the BBMF website. All I had for reference was an article on the Yorkshire Post website which gave times. Despite this, we decided ‘what the hell’ and Dawn drove us over. Fortunately (as a local girl) Dee had a really good idea where on the South side of the valley would be the best place to head to so we parked up on a road high above Golcar and waited. Eventually we were joined by another couple and their young lad. They’d spotted us, seen my camera and worked out why we where there. The cahp had ‘flightrader’ on his phone so scanned for signs of the Lanc’. No Lancaster to be found, but a Spitfire was heading our way…

Sure enough, in the timeframe the Lancaster was meant to arrive a Spitfire and Hurricane from the BBMF put in an appearance to put on a short display over the village before flying off to their next engagement. I’d been expecting a slow, four-engine bomber, not a pair of nimble (and far smaller) fighter aircraft, so even my 400mm lens was struggling with the range, but I managed to grab a couple of reasonable shots, but it was frustrating…

Today we haven’t moved from home at all. Whilst I prepared lunch Dee’s been the ‘hostess with the mostest’, cooking up a mouth-watering evening meal of pulled-pork, roasted vegetables and new potato’s seasoned with some of my home-grown Parsley. Now it’s time to call it a day and relax before the start of another week. I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from yesterday’s flypast. Expect more blogs and more wide-ranging travels next week…

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