Living With Planes

In about 1961 my father became the manager of Blackbushe Airport. As a result my mother, brother (16) and I (9) moved from our comfortable town house in Cheltenham to a large mobile home attached to, what was then, the middle of the long terminal building. We weathered high winds, blizzards, beating heat, pounding demolition, aircraft running up within inches of the front window, eccentrics using our roof as an escape root, enjoyed crowds of drag racing fans, air shows, trials for land yachts, fiberglass sports cars and mono-planes, watched the making of TV adverts, serials and a film with Robert Mitcham, met with various film crews, celebrities including Dick Emery (and others that I don't remember, being so young) and experienced wonderful wildlife, life with horses, dogs, cats and goodness knows what.

For my father it was an opportunity to develop an airfield from derelict to successful business, for my mother it was a bit of a nightmare, with little control over her life, less privacy than she would have liked and a job bringing up 2 children in very difficult circumstances, but for my brother and I it was a 5 year adventure that has left me with a profound respect for those who fly and a deep love for very open spaces!