went walk last

[Craig.]

Halfway through the walk, the hardest part to go.
Looking towards Wales, dont know the name of the island. The fort in the foreground, was used to hold off beach invaders, and any fleets that would appear in the bristol channel. they had a huge gun on a set of tracks that could be moved forward and further from the channel, sadly it got free in 1945 in bad weather  and was destroyed.

cant remember the name of the island has a small population and the only way to get to it is by aeroplane.

well defended bunker, used to take out any battleships that would appear in the channel

[Hagar]

Well done Craig. Those are excellent shots.

The island interested me. It must have some history attached to it so I had a punt round. Took a while to find it as the hill is named Brean Down - not Breen Downs. This shows the importance of correct spelling.

The island is Steep Holm. I couldn't see anywhere an aeroplane could land & assume it was visited by sea long before helicopters were invented. I finally found this very interesting site.
http://website.lineone.net/~ronald.h.miller/breandown.htm

Out in the Bristol Channel, lies the island of Steep Holm, once a source of much of the stone used in building Weston and Bristol.

It is now a bird sanctuary and is inhabited during the summer months by a warden. It can be visited during those months by boat from Weston which involves a five mile boat trip lasting about an hour. Visitors land on a pebble beach.

Occasionally the smaller Weston vessels link up with Waverley or Balmoral paddle steamers to take some of their passengers ashore because the larger vessels are constrained by their draught. Once ashore, there is a zigzag ascent through a small sycamore wood to the island's plateau 256 feet above sea level.

Thanks for posting these. It seems you had a good day out.

[Craig.]

thanks for the info:) then it will be the island beside it that has the airfield only ops, i couldnt get a shot of it as its further back and even the zoom couldnt help
Thanks again

[ozzy72]

Looks like it was a nice walk in very pleasant weather. Lucky you, its been chucking down here

[Hagar]

thanks for the info:) then it will be the island beside it that has the airfield only ops, i couldnt get a shot of it as its further back and even the zoom couldnt help
Thanks again

I think that can only be Flat Holm. http://www.philip.ukphotographers.com/holms1.htm
I can't think of many islands that haven't been visited by sea for centuries before aeroplanes were invented. Flat Holm played an important part in history. Guglielmo Marconi set up his spark transmitting equipment there in 1897.

[Craig.]

thanks:) there is an island somewhere in the bristol channel thats got an airfield on it, and i am sure i remember something about that being their only way on and off the place. Maybe my memories playing tricks on me Thank you for taking the time to research these things

[Hagar]

Thanks for posting your shots Craig. Without that I would probably never discovered all this. I find anything of this sort fascinating. I did nothng you cannot do yourself. I found this information in a short time on Google with very little to go on.

The only other island I can think of is Lundy Island off the north coast of Devon. I believe that can be visited by air. This was where I broke the "sound barrier" back in 1959. We aimed directly at the island from 43,000 feet. Then climbed back up again for another one. I reckon the locals must have been a tad fed up with it. LOL

[Craig.]

Thanks, its difficult to think of a search term when your stuck for names, i suppose bristol channel islands would work.
Couple of things, if you look closely in the island photo then to the left you will see a cargo ship these things are huge and spend months at sea and pull a fair few knots too.
Also as we were leaving the museum an old jet flew over i didnt have time to get a photo as it was going rather fast and into the sun i am hoping someone could help on the ID though, it was small, had two round pods on the end of the wings looked like fuel pods, and i believe had a bubble canopy.

[Hagar]

Once I figured out the correct spelling it was easy. I typed in < brean down weston island > & Hey Presto! http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=brean+down+weston+island&btnG=Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB

Now, this "old jet". I need more info. Civil or military - number of engines - straight or swept wings - anything to give a clue. I don't know of any air displays this weekend so it's possibly based in the area.

[Craig.]

straight wings, military. I think it was an old trainer

[Hagar]

Sound like a T-33. Not sure if there's any airworthy examples around. I'll have a punt round.

[Craig.]

Had a quick look, it sure looks alot like it, Like i said it was into the sun so getting to see more than a dark outline was difficult, I thought at first it was a Provost, but as it got closer it was clearly not one of those

[Hagar]

Look familiar?

http://www.goldenappleoperations.org/aircraft.htm

Based at Duxford. Beautiful.

[Craig.]

certainly looks like it:) Thank you.

[FLYING_TRUCKER]

Hi Craig and Doug:

Found this post most interesting...the two of you are excellent examples of what simviation is all about.
The amount of interesting articles, personal views and history is wonderful .

Hope you keep it up!

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug