The aviation part is fairly typical, it mostly consists of a hanger absolutely packed with planes and aviation memorabilia, mainly military but with some civilian as well. The site was formerly part of RAF Usworth, the initial home of 607 (County of Durham) Squadron so there is a small tribute and a display dedicated to the pilots and crew. The planes on show inside include a Gloucester Meteor and a Hawker Hunter, two of the most famous British fighter jets. The larger planes are outside of course, the first of which is the Canberra WJ639 built in 1954.
The workshop hangar is partly accessible but mainly consists of a small collection of fire engines, which seem slightly out of place! The Military Vehicles hangar is again very full. The thing I found most curious was this:
As the sign says, it's a Trolley, Amphibious, 4x2 Morris Gosling! It was designed for airborne forces to carry loads across the battle field and could be steered on land by walking along behind as a motorised wheelbarrow or on (very still) water you could steer from inside. I reckon one would be handy for carrying loads to and from the yacht.
Arguably the star of the museum, and the least presented exhibit, is XL319, the Avro Vulcan. This particular plane was initially allocated to 617 (Dambusters) Squadron and was the first Vulcan to be released to a private collection. It's looking a bit sad and lonely at the moment.
On my way out I was talking to the gentleman manning the ticket desk and shop. The Museum do have plans which are partly dependent on development going on around the site. Ideally the Vulcan needs a permanent hangar but at £250k that's not going to happen any time soon.
To many people from County Durham there is one sure sign that you are nearly home, Penshaw Monument. Everyone has heard of the Angel of the North but over 150 years earlier an equally impressive monument graced the North East skyline:
Of course there is one huge difference; in 1840 monuments were built to honour "the great and the good", in this case The Earl of Durham, by the late 20th Century they were a tribute to the working men of the area. The climb up to the monument seems much steeper than it was 40 years or so back but the view from the hilltop is extensive. The new Northern Spire bridge is very clearly visible (more on that possibly tomorrow). I had a slightly disappointing lunch in the country park opposite the Monument, it doesn't really inspire confidence in a café when half the tables are taken up by staff eating their own food!
After getting set up on site outside Durham two good friends picked me up to go out for dinner; I will admit to eating rather too much! It was another good catch up with people I rarely see in person though. Tomorrow I'm off in to Sunderland. I'm still not sure whether to drive in or catch the bus, either way the plan is to pick up a Metro Travelcard and use that to get around.
No comments:
Post a Comment