Tag Archives: hampshire

Seeing a Kodiak Again

The Pacific Northwest was a great place to see Daher Kodiaks. They were built over in Idaho and there were plenty of them in the Seattle area. Even so, I was still keen to see them as there is something about their chunky functionality that appealed to me. When I came back to the UK, I wasn’t expecting to see them around. Consequently, when I got to the FAST museum at Farnborough, I was pleasantly surprised to see that one was inbound shortly from Guernsey. It was really overcast with the base very low. The instrument approach would result in popping out of the clouds quite late. I went with my preferred technique for shooting in such conditions with a couple of stops of overexposure with the goal of having enough light on the airframe and then post processing to bring the sky back down to something sensible.

I wasn’t exactly sure what the angle on the plane would be from the area outside the museum and where the plane would come into view, but it wasn’t too bad as it worked out. I had a reasonable sighting line and enough time to react. Having a dark grey aircraft in such dreary light was not helping but I think I got something reasonable from it.

St Cross

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Head south out of Winchester and you come to an impressive church. It is part of the hospital and alms houses of St Cross and, while it looks like a cathedral, it is just a normal church. Not only does it look good, but it is also situated in a lovely valley alongside the river. We took a walk down by St Catherine’s Hill and then crossed the valley to return up the river. This gave us both a good view across the valley then close up to the church. Here are some shots to show it off. It must be considered picturesque because it is used as the cover photo for the Ordnance Survey map of the area!

FAST Museum at Farnborough

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Farnborough sits at the centre of the history of aviation in the UK. From the first powered flight in the country, through the development of key aircraft in the First World War, through the research into aviation that took place in what was originally called the Royal Aircraft Establishment and then evolved through various names. (Oh yes, it also has a large trade airshow every two years.) Eventually the establishment was closed down as facilities got consolidated.

While there had been a museum on site, that collection got redistributed. However, a bunch of volunteers came together to create the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST). This museum is on one edge of what was once the airfield campus. They have many exhibits that document the varied work that was undertaken at Farnborough as well as the nearby Pyestock gas turbine research facility. Apparently, they have way more stuff than they can display so things get rotated in and out of the public space.

Some of the specific exhibits are worthy of their own posts so you will see more of this place in the future. I went one damp Saturday to take a look around. This was not optimal for the planes outside because the light was not great and most of the airframes had covers on their canopies. That didn’t stop me, though. There is a two seat Lightning sitting alongside the gate which is always a good start.

Within the museum grounds are some top types. The recent retirement of the Puma made me happy to see their example which was not built by Westland but was actually from Aerospatiale and provided to Westland to use as a pattern before it became a testbed at Farnborough. The raspberry ripple paint looks good on it.

There are a couple of Hunters including one that had been used for research into night flying using low light TV and infra-red sensors. A Gnat is there which is always fine. A Scout and a Lynx are part of the collection and a two seat Harrier T4 was a particular pleasure. There are also cockpits from other type including a Canberra and a Trident. The museum is free to visit although they do welcome voluntary contributions. If you are in the area, it is worth a visit. More to come…

Beaulieu’s Monorail

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We made a return trip to Beaulieu with a few of the family in late January. Unlike our previous visit, the weather was a bit nicer, and it wasn’t raining. This meant we were able to have a trip on the Monorail. When I went to Beaulieu as a kid, the monorail was seen as something new and innovative. It runs around the grounds including going through the middle of the museum – shutter doors open and close at each side of the building to give it access without making the museum exposed to the outside weather permanently.

It is a pretty small vehicle. Getting in and out as an adult requires bending over a long way. Once you are inside, it is fine. There are no windows, so you are exposed if the weather is unfavourable which is why we hadn’t gone on it on our previous visit. The train we went on is called Monty – a reference to the Montague family. There is a second train that was stored on a siding as we came by. It is only a short ride but a pleasant trip around the grounds and gives a different perspective on both the buildings and the content of the museum building itself.

The Kites Hang Out Together

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Late one Sunday afternoon, I was walking across Chilbolton Cow Common. I had been out looking for something a little rare in the area without success. As I headed back towards Chilbolton itself, I saw a red kite circling above a tree. The tree was full of birds, and I wondered whether the kite was hassling some of the other birds. However, I was quite wrong. The tree was actually full of kites. Red kites are very common in our area, and you can see them circling in close proximity to each other. I didn’t realise that they would like to roost in a tree together though. I guess they are pretty sociable birds!

Stena Vinga Wasn’t Always Your Name, Right?

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While we were standing along the shore in Gosport awaiting the arrival of the HMS Prince of Wales, the normal traffic from Portsmouth was going about its business. A DFDS ferry was heading out to cross the channel to Jersey. Judging by its shape, it can accommodate a higher mix of freight. It doesn’t look like the regular cross channel ferries that resemble cruise ships these days! As it came closer, there appeared to be a different name built into the side of the hull. The name Stena Vinga had been painted over the top of the original name, but you could still see it. Hammerodde was its name before it was acquired by Stena and they have chartered it to DFDS apparently.

Only Slightly Better Prepared for the A340 This Time

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You might look at this image and ask, “why make a post about it?” That is a fair question I suppose. The first thing is it is an A340 so that might be enough for me. However, it is more about my luck with getting these European A340s as they operate in Bournemouth. This time I was walking with a longer lens. Last time I had one overfly me, I only had a short lens and so it was a bit distant. This was an improvement. However, this time it was a bit rainy and overcast so not great conditions. The specs of raindrops are clearly visible in the image. That might ruin it for me but, for some reason, this time I feel like it adds something that reflects my frustration with trying to get good shots of these jets. Whatever way I try and justify it, it doesn’t really matter. I just like it.

Serious Looking Yacht

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Whenever I see a large looking yacht in a harbour, I am apparently compelled to make a blog post about it. This one was in Lymington when we were catching the ferry to Yarmouth during the summer of 2025. When I saw it, I wondered just how nice it would be on board and what crew you would have to operate it. I suspect it would look rather good when under sail.

Flame Details in the Bonfire

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Bonfire night celebrations in Winchester included a big fire and fireworks demonstration in Wall Park. The bonfire was started in dramatic (i.e. fake) fashion with two cannons firing towards it and it igniting. It was quite a spectacle although clearly a bit contrived. The whole thing is contrived of course. As the fire got established, I found myself entranced by the flames. Watching fire is like watching the waves. Every one is slightly different and I can spend a ridiculous amount of time just staring at it.

Getting images that actually reflect what I saw is something I haven’t practised so I was winging it a bit. The brightness of the most intense parts of the flames is so much more than the cooler areas that it is hard to reflect the detail that can be seen without blowing everything out. I went with underexposing to try and show more of what was interesting to me. Then I would look up at the hot particles above the fire as they rose and dispersed. They looked beautiful as they swirled around and cooled.

Lighting the Christmas Train

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Get to the run up to Christmas and, if you have a heritage railway near you, there is a good chance they will be advertising that they have illuminated trains in operation. The trains will have lights all across the outside and probably within the carriages too. I’m sure they are fun to ride on but, from my point of view, seeing the outside lights is more appealing than being inside.

The Watercress Line is close to Winchester, and they had an illuminated service. In fact, they had more than one. My mum was visiting, and she was also interested in the lights so, late in the afternoon, since it was already getting dark at that time, we popped out to see the train go by. Sure enough, we soon saw it coming up the hill out of Alresford. There is a long stretch where the trees have been trimmed back when you get a good view of it coming our way. Even with the lights, the exposure is still a stretch for the camera. It did okay, though, and a bit of noise reduction software helps.

As they came around the corner into the straight heading at us, the lights would illuminate the embankment on either side of the cutting. There was also a strong yellow glow which, I assume, came from the firebox. The colours were constantly changing and it looked really impressive as the loco pulled hard up the bank. I think that they had swapped to a smaller loco because they had a diesel on the back of the train to support.

We were going to head straight home but one of the other people there told us there was a second train coming down from Alton a little while later. While it was getting a bit chilly and definitely dark, we figured there was no harm in hanging around. We did get the second train as it came down the cutting and then headed back the way the previous train had come. Going that way, they are going downhill so the loco is barely working to get them home. No plumes of smoke and thundering noise.