Early Flight
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The Solent and beyond ~ A Virtual History Tour Post No 3 ~ Lee on Solent. Seaplanes, hovercraft and helicopters!
On my virtual historical tour of the Solent we will continue heading north west, but will pause a while at Lee on Solent. This is an unscheduled stop because Lee on Solent does not in fact feature in my novel ‘Ancasta ~ Guide me Swiftly Home,’ but the bay certainly has important history and my parents…
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The Solent and Beyond ~ Virtual Social History Tour Post no 2 ~ Fort Grange
For my second post in this series we are going to travel a short distance along Stokes Bay and follow the route of main road, until we pass Fort Grange, the second in a row of five Palmerstone fortresses. Four of these forts are still within the grounds HMS Sultan Naval Base, Gosport. The Aero…
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BBC Radio Solent. Diana and Colin have a chat with Katie Martin
I met Colin van Geffen, (the local artist who designed my covers and historian who checked some of my facts) outside the Bitterne Heritage Centre. Both Ancasta ~ Guide me Swiftly Home and Riduna are for sale there. It seemed a fitting place to meet since that’s where my research in the area began several…
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A Centenary Flight ~ Oldest British Plane to Fly
Last Sunday (7th October) there was a buzz at the Shuttleworth Air Day. Attendance to the show was high, the mood buoyant and we milled around with anticipation as we waited for the display to start. I did a double take when several pipers, resplendent in their kilts, walked towards us but no, we were still in the heart of…
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‘Schneider Trophy to Spitfire’ by John Shelton
I bought a copy of John Shelton’s comprehensive reference book ‘Schneider Trophy to Spitfire‘ when visiting the RAF Museum in Hendon. With its chronological factual information, enhanced by original photographs, diagrams, adverts and anecdotes, it a an extremely readable history of early flying boats leading to the development of the Spitfire. Looking at the double…
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I’m leaving, on a Sea Plane, Don’t Know When I’ll be Back Again!
The Loch was calm, the sun was shining through scattered cloud and the air was still and warm as we waited for the arrival of the sea plane which was to take us on one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. It had been my greatest wish to fly in a sea plane or flying…
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Shuttleworth ~ 5th August Book Signing
On Sunday 5th August I will be signing copies of Ancasta ~ Guide me Swiftly Home at The Shuttleworth Air Pageant Day. As members of SVAS we try to get over to several air shows at Shuttleworth each year and I was given a considerable amount of support by John and Richard in the archives, both…
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To The Shuttleworth Archives ~ Many thanks!
In the first few months of my research I spent several days at the Shuttleworth Collection Archives under the guidance of John Benjamin and Richard Greaves. I skimmed through many books about early flight, especially flying boats, Supermarine and the first sea plane carriers used in the Great War. I was also very kindly allowed…