A glorious first
Sunday in September and the East Anglian Section of the Bristol Owners’
Club held its summer barbecue.
The day started at Wattisham
airfield for a tour of the heritage museum which was opened early especially
for the club. The museum contains many interesting exhibits including details
of the Bristol Blenheim and Beaufighter aircraft that were stationed there in
the early years of the Second World War.
The cars, 4 Bristols
and an Aston Martin, were then escorted to the other side of the base (it is
still operational with an active fleet of Apache helicopters) for a scene
straight out of the cold war. The cars were parked outside one of the hardened Quick
Reaction Alert Sheds where during the 1950s and 60s live armed English Electric
Lightnings were on standby at all times before being replaced by McDonnell
Douglas Phantoms in the 1970s. After the massive doors were slid apart we were
allowed inside and found a Phantom and Hawker Hunter undergoing restoration.
We then drove
through the Suffolk countryside to Battisford near Stowmarket where John
and Gwynneth Hogger hosted a Barbeque in the grounds of their beautifully
restored farmhouse. John’s impressive Barbecue cooked the food with wood smoke, which was
helped on its way by a heater fan from a Bristol car rigged up to a 12v battery.
A door led though to
their neighbour’s garden revealing an extensive scale steam railway – the smell
of the coal smoke and rhythm of the trains over the tracks transporting everyone
back to their childhood as they rode on the various trains all afternoon.
The summer barbeque is
also the section’s fundraising event and it does not need to look very far for its
nominated charity as one of its members is a Lymphoma Association Buddy. The buddy
scheme puts people affected by lymphoma in telephone or email contact with
volunteers who have had a similar experience of lymphoma. Well deserved
recipients of the £235 raised on the day.
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