From Hilversum to Gloucestershire, then Cheltenham

On Thursday, 2 May 2013, Veleda and Rene departed Hilversum for a trip to England. We first flew to Lydd to clear customs, and then continued to Gloucestershire. On the airport we first booked a hotel in Cheltenham, and then took a taxi to Cheltenham. Cheltenham has been a health and holiday spa town resort since the discovery of mineral springs there in 1716. Horse racing began in Cheltenham in 1815, and became a major national attraction after the establishment of the Festival in 1902. The first British jet aircraft prototype, the Gloster E28/39, was manufactured in Cheltenham. The town is famous for its Regency architecture. Every year, Cheltenham Festivals organises music, jazz, literature and science festivals in the town. When we were there the Cheltenham Jazz Festival was going on. Cheltenham is the birthplace of Brian Jones, the first bandleader of the Rolling Stones.

From Gloucestershire to Wellesbourne Mountford, then Stratford-upon-Avon

On Friday we left Gloucestershire airport for a flying trip along a number of airfields. We ended in Wellesbourne Mountford, where we took a taxi to nearby Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a small market town and lies on the River Avon, 35 km south east of Birmingham. The town is a popular tourist destination owing to its status as birthplace of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare. The town include five houses relating to Shakespeare's life. These include Hall's Croft (the one-time home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna, and her husband Dr. John Hall) and Nash's House, which stands alongside the site of another property, New Place, owned by Shakespeare himself, wherein he died. Near to the town are Anne Hathaway's Cottage at Shottery, the home of Shakespeare's wife's family prior to her marriage, and Mary Arden's House (Palmer's Farm), the family home of his mother. At the top end of Waterside is Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was baptised and is buried.

From Wellesbourne Mountford to Hilversum

On Saturday morning, we left early for the airport. A cold front was moving in, and we left immediately after the airport opened, just ahead of the cold-front. We first flew south-east to the Bovingdon VOR, but we had to divert to the east because of bad weather near the cold-front. We flew the corridor between Luton and Stansted airspace, and shortly thereafter we left behind the low clouds. The weather improved rapidly, and the last scattered clouds were left behind over Kent. The further flight via Dover and Koksijde to Hilversum was uneventful.