Final visit (I hope)

This morning we received yet another text message from Go Outdoors advising Jan’s correct shoes had been received.  Shortly thereafter I headed off on my 5th visit to the store.  I’ve now walked just over 60km in return trips to order or collect shoes.  Not that I’m complaining; the exercise is good for you…. or so I’ve been told!

I decided to walk the long way back via the High Ferry pedestrian bridge over the River Dee.  I’d just turned east when there was a very loud roar behind me and a large jet aircraft took off.  I hadn’t realize there was a nearby airfield.  Then I noticed it was a ”Guppy”. 

Photo from Google Images

That’s when the penny dropped and I remembered watching a documentary about the composite wings for Airbus aircraft being manufactured in Wales.  The Airbus factory is adjacent to Hawarden Airport and the wings are flown to Toulouse in the “Guppy”.  Actually the wings of the A380 are took large to fit in the Guppy so they are taken by barge down the Dee and the transported by sea to France.

Hawarden Airfield was established during the early years of WW2.  Vickers-Armstrong built an aircraft factory and manufactured Wellington and Lancaster bombers.  In 1948 The de Havilland Aircraft Company took over the Vickers factory and continued to manufacture aircraft on the site.  In 1977 the plant became part of British Aerospace and is now owned and operated by Airbus.

You can read more about the Guppy here.

The day was looking rather good with clear skies and no breeze so we decided to cruise towards Ellesmere Port.  The water tank was topped up and we headed off around 2pm.  By 3.30pm the light was fading and we still hadn’t reached our planned mooring location.  Then at 4pm it started to rain (rather heavily) so we called it a day in a quiet rural spot.