1.
Cotswold Airport
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Cotswold Airport is a private general aviation airport, near the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire, England. Located 4.5 NM southwest of Cirencester, it was built as a Royal Air Force station and was known as RAF Kemble. The Red Arrows aerobatics team was based there until 1983, and it is used for the storage and recycling of retired airliners, as well as flying schools, clubs and industry. Cotswold Airport is in a position for flying training as it is clear of controlled airspace allowing free movement for training aircraft. It is also positioned between Cheltenham and Gloucester and Swindon, with good road and rail links. Construction work for RAF Kemble began in 1936, and the first operational unit to arrive at the station was No.5 Maintenance Unit on 22 June 1938, around the same time, Kemble was also the home of No.1 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit. From 1966 until 1983, Kemble housed the Red Arrows, the RAFs aerobatic display team, following the end of the Cold War, the US Air Force left the station and it was returned to the Ministry of Defence. The British Army made use of the site to store vehicles and equipment. The MoD initially leased buildings on the station before selling the site to Ronan Harvey. There was a threat of closure because of a mistake which the Cotswold District Council made relating to planning permission when it was sold by the Ministry of Defence. However, this is no longer the case, and the status of the airfield has been changed to that of airport. In July 2007, the airfield was threatened by the council after local residents filed noise-pollution complaints. In August 2009, the airport was awarded a CLEUD as an airport so the future is assured as an airport. Resource Group have relocated their EASA Part 147 Approved Basic Training facility to Cotswold Airport with a facility opened in spring 2010. This has the effect of bringing jobs to the local area as well as supporting local infrastructure, such as shops. There are some 50 engineering students stationed there year-round, the current airport at the site was renamed Cotswold Airport in 2009, having previously operated as Kemble Airport or Kemble Airfield. Cotswold Airport has a CAA Ordinary Licence, which allows flights for the transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee. The airfield has a runway which can and has accommodated large aircraft such as the Boeing 747
2.
Civil parish
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In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. It is a parish, in contrast to an ecclesiastical parish. A civil parish can range in size from a town with a population of around 80,000 to a single village with fewer than a hundred inhabitants. In a limited number of cases a parish might include a city where city status has been granted by the Monarch. Reflecting this diverse nature, a parish may be known as a town, village. Approximately 35% of the English population live in a civil parish, as of 31 December 2015 there were 10,449 parishes in England. On 1 April 2014, Queens Park became the first civil parish in Greater London, before 2008 their creation was not permitted within a London borough. The division of land into ancient parishes was linked to the system, parishes. The manor was the unit of local administration and justice in the early rural economy. Later the church replaced the court as the rural administrative centre. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the authorities by the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601. Both before and after this optional social change, local charities are well-documented, the parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of the parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite, by the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due for instance to the progress of Methodism. The legitimacy of the parish came into question and the perceived inefficiency. Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later, the replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in the parish. The church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868, the ancient parishes diverged into two distinct systems of parishes during the 19th century
3.
Cotswold District
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Cotswold is a local government district in Gloucestershire in England. It is named after the wider Cotswolds region and it was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the urban district of Cirencester with Cirencester Rural District, North Cotswold Rural District, Northleach Rural District and Tetbury Rural District. Eighty per cent of the lies within the River Thames catchment area, with the Thames itself and several tributaries including the River Windrush. Lechlade in an important point on the river as the limit of navigation. In the 2007 floods in the UK, rivers were the source of flooding of 53 per cent of the locations affected, media related to District of Cotswold at Wikimedia Commons
4.
Gloucestershire
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Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the fertile valley of the River Severn. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud. Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. The local rural community moved to the city, and Bristols population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and it later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. The official former postal county abbreviation was Glos, rather than the frequently used but erroneous Gloucs. or Glouc. In July 2007, Gloucestershire suffered the worst flooding in recorded British history, the RAF conducted the largest peace time domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion, the county recovered rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area. This is a chart of trend of gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven schools, two are in Stroud, one in Cheltenham and four in Gloucester. There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, all but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms, each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. Most of the old market towns have parish churches, at Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone. Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve, the mansion contains a tiled floor from Hailes Abbey
5.
Wiltshire
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Wiltshire is a county in South West England with an area of 3,485 km2. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, the county town was originally Wilton, after which the county is named, but Wiltshire Council is now based in the new county town of Trowbridge. Wiltshire is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys, Salisbury Plain is noted for being the location of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles and other ancient landmarks, and as a training area for the British Army. The city of Salisbury is notable for its mediaeval cathedral, important country houses open to the public include Longleat, near Warminster, and the National Trusts Stourhead, near Mere. The county, in the 9th century written as Wiltunscir, later Wiltonshire, is named after the county town of Wilton. Wiltshire is notable for its pre-Roman archaeology, the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire. Stonehenge and Avebury are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK, in the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of Saxon Britain, as Cranborne Chase and the Somerset Levels prevented the advance to the west. The Battle of Bedwyn was fought in 675 between Escuin, a West Saxon nobleman who had seized the throne of Queen Saxburga, in 878 the Danes invaded the county. Following the Norman Conquest, large areas of the country came into the possession of the crown, at the time of the Domesday Survey the industry of Wiltshire was largely agricultural,390 mills are mentioned, and vineyards at Tollard and Lacock. In the 17th century English Civil War Wiltshire was largely Parliamentarian, the Battle of Roundway Down, a Royalist victory, was fought near Devizes. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry currently lives on as Y Squadron, based in Swindon, around 1800 the Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Wiltshire, providing a route for transporting cargoes from Bristol to London until the development of the Great Western Railway. Information on the 261 civil parishes of Wiltshire is available on the Wiltshire Community History website, run by the Libraries and this site includes maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures and short histories. The local nickname for Wiltshire natives is moonrakers and this originated from a story of smugglers who managed to foil the local Excise men by hiding their alcohol, possibly French brandy in barrels or kegs, in a village pond. The officials took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, many villages claim the tale for their own village pond, but the story is most commonly linked with The Crammer in Devizes. Two-thirds of Wiltshire, a rural county, lies on chalk. This chalk is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group, the largest area of chalk in Wiltshire is Salisbury Plain, which is used mainly for arable agriculture and by the British Army as training ranges. The highest point in the county is the Tan Hill–Milk Hill ridge in the Pewsey Vale, just to the north of Salisbury Plain, the chalk uplands run northeast into West Berkshire in the Marlborough Downs ridge, and southwest into Dorset as Cranborne Chase. Cranborne Chase, which straddles the border, has, like Salisbury Plain, yielded much Stone Age, the Marlborough Downs are part of the North Wessex Downs AONB, a 1,730 km2 conservation area
6.
Cirencester
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Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England,93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames and it is the home of the Royal Agricultural University, the oldest agricultural college in the English-speaking world, founded in 1840. The towns Corinium Museum is well known for its extensive Roman collection, the Roman name for the town was Corinium, which is thought to have been associated with the ancient British tribe of the Dobunni, having the same root word as the River Churn. The earliest known reference to the town was by Ptolemy in 150AD, Cirencester is twinned with Itzehoe, Germany. Cirencester lies on the dip slopes of the Cotswold Hills. Natural drainage is into the River Churn, which flows north to south through the eastern side of the town. The Thames itself rises just a few miles west of Cirencester, the town is split into five main areas, the town centre, the suburbs of Chesterton, Stratton, Watermoor and The Beeches. The village of Siddington to the south of the town is now almost contiguous with Watermoor, other suburbs include Bowling Green and New Mills. The area and population of these 5 electoral wards are identical to that quoted above. The town serves as a centre for surrounding villages, providing employment, amenities, shops, commerce and education, and as a commuter town for larger centres such as Cheltenham, Swindon and Stroud. Cirencester is the hub of a significant road network with important routes to Gloucester, Cheltenham, Warwick, Oxford, Wantage, Swindon, Chippenham, Bristol, Bath, however, only Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud and Swindon have slow bus connections. These good roads bring the town passing trade, although the ring road and bypass take traffic away from the town centre, both roads have busy service areas with adequate parking. Since closure of the Kemble to Cirencester branch line to Cirencester Town in 1964 the town has one of the largest in the region without its own rail station. However Kemble railway station,4 miles away, serves as a railhead and it provides regular services between Swindon and Gloucester, with peak-time direct trains to London Paddington station. The nearest airports are Bristol Airport, Cotswold Airport at Kemble, London, Cirencester was known to be an important early Roman area, along with St. Albans and Colchester, and the town includes evidence of significant area roadworks. When the Romans built a fort where the Fosse Way crossed the Churn, AD49, native Dobunni were drawn from Bagendon, a settlement of the Dobunni situated 3 miles to the north, to create a civil settlement near the fort. When the frontier moved to the following the conquest of Wales. 70, but the town persisted and flourished under the name Corinium Dobunnorum, even in Roman times, there was a thriving wool trade and industry, which contributed to the growth of Corinium. A large forum and basilica was built over the site of the fort, there are many Roman remains in the surrounding area, including several Roman villas near the villages of Chedworth and Withington
7.
Thames Head
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Thames Head is a site in Gloucestershire, traditionally identified as the source of the River Thames, a major river which runs through the centre of London. It lies near the village of Kemble and the town of Cirencester, the elevation of the source is 360 feet above sea level. The claim that Thames Head is the source of the River Thames is disputed, the Environment Agency, the Ordnance Survey and other authorities have the source of the Thames as the nearby Trewsbury Mead. Others hold that the source of the Thames is at Seven Springs, Gloucestershire, some 11 miles further north. Seven Springs is officially the source of the River Churn, which is itself a tributary of the Thames that joins at Cricklade. As it lies further from the mouth of the Thames than Trewsbury Mead, however, there is usually only water during a wet winter
8.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
9.
Frampton Mansell
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Frampton Mansell is a small settlement 5 miles ESE of Stroud, in the parish of Sapperton, England. It is situated off the A419 road from Cirencester to Stroud, Frampton Mansell lies in the valley of the River Frome, from which it takes its name. It was first mentioned, as Frantone, in the Domesday Book, in the 13th century the manor was held by the Maunsell family, from whom the second part of the name is derived. It also has a hall and pub together with the canal, river. The railway viaduct is a well known feature and the steam excursions along the valley are a trainspotters highlight. The village was known as Moises Frampton in the Domesday book, st Lukes Church in Frampton Mansell was built in 1843 by Lord Bathurst. It is a Neo-Norman conventicle church designed by J. Parish, a set of five original stained glass windows within the apse are dedicated to Christ and the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. St Lukes Church is an English Heritage Grade II Listed Building
10.
United Kingdom Census 2011
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A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011 and it was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National Statistics is the office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department formed in 2008. ONS designs, manages and runs the census in England and Wales, the first results from the 2011 census, age and sex, and occupied households estimates for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, were released on 16 July 2012. The first results for Scotland, and the first UK-wide results, were published on 17 December 2012, more detailed and specialised data were published from 2013. The Registrar General John Rickman conducted the first census of Great Britains population, from 1911 onwards rapid social change, scientific breakthroughs, and major world events affected the structure of the population. The 1971 census was run by the newly created Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, in 1996 the Office for National Statistics was formed by merging the Central Statistical Office, OPCS and the statistics division of the Department of Employment, the first census it ran was in 2001. In 2008 the UK Statistics Authority was established as an independent body, a population census is a key instrument for assessing the needs of local communities. When related to data sources such as housing or agricultural censuses, or sample surveys. Most countries of the world take censuses, the United Nations recommends that countries take a census at least once every ten years, other organisations that use census data include healthcare organisations, community groups, researchers and businesses. The 2011 census for England and Wales included around 25 million households, people could complete and submit their questionnaire online, or fill it in on paper and post it back in a pre-addressed envelope. Guidance was provided online and through the census helpline, completed questionnaires were electronically tracked and field staff followed up with households that did not return a questionnaire. In these cases field staff delivered and collected questionnaires and, where needed, provided advice or assistance in completing the questionnaire, there was a legal requirement to complete the 2011 census questionnaire, under the terms of the Census Act 1920. As at 27 March 2011 everyone who had lived or intended to live in the country for three months or more was required to complete a questionnaire, failure to return a completed questionnaire could lead to a fine and criminal record. The contract is valued at £150 million, approximately one third of the total £482 million census budget, concerns were raised during contract negotiations that the US PATRIOT Act could be used to force Lockheed Martin to reveal census data to US authorities. The Cabinet Office state that Lockheed Martin will develop the systems used to process census data, neither Lockheed Martin UK nor any Lockheed Martin employee will have access to personal Census data. The Office for National Statistics stated that no census information will ever leave the UK or be seen by any American-owned company. Several groups called for a boycott of the census over the involvement of Lockheed Martin, including the Stop the War Coalition, and the Christian thinktank Ekklesia
11.
Norman architecture
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The term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is used for English Romanesque architecture. Ancient Romes invention of the arch is the basis of all Norman architecture, the more inclusive term romanesque was used of the Romance languages in English by 1715, and was applied to architecture of the eleventh and twelfth centuries from 1819. The Norman arch is a point of Norman architecture. Grand archways are designed to evoke feelings of awe and are commonly seen as the entrance to large religious buildings such as cathedrals. Viking invaders arrived at the mouth of the river Seine in 911, at a time when Franks were fighting on horseback and Frankish lords were building castles. Over the next century the population of the territory ceded to the Vikings, now called Normans, adopted these customs as well as Christianity and the langue doïl. Norman Barons built timber castles on earthen mounds, beginning the development of motte-and-bailey castles, by 950 they were building stone keeps. The Normans were among the most travelled peoples of Europe, exposed to a variety of cultural influences including the Near East, some of which became incorporated in their art. In England, Norman nobles and bishops had influence before the Norman Conquest of 1066, edward the Confessor was brought up in Normandy, and in 1042 brought masons to work on Westminster Abbey, the first Romanesque building in England. In 1051 he brought in Norman knights who built castles as a defence against the Welsh. The Norman arch is the round arch, Norman mouldings are carved or incised with geometric ornament, such as chevron patterns, frequently termed zig-zag mouldings, around arches. The cruciform churches often had deep chancels and a crossing tower which has remained a feature of English ecclesiastical architecture. Hundreds of parish churches were built and the great English cathedrals were founded from 1083, after a fire damaged Canterbury Cathedral in 1174 Norman masons introduced the new Gothic architecture. Around 1191 Wells Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral brought in the English Gothic style, nicholas Church, Pyrford, Surrey Southwell Minster St. Mary the Virgin, Iffley, Oxfordshire St. Swithuns in Nately Scures, Hampshire, an example of a Norman single-cell apsidal church. His successor Máel Coluim III overthrew him with English and Norman assistance, the Benedictine order founded a monastery at Dunfermline. Her sixth and youngest son who became King David built St. Margarets Chapel at the start of the 12th century, Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline grid reference NT089872 St Andrew Cathedral grid reference NO516166 St. With rare examples of late 12th century Norman Transitional architecture[3 The Normans first landed in Ireland in 1169, within five years earthwork castles were springing up, and in a further five, work was beginning on some of the earliest of the great stone castles
12.
Chapel of ease
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A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often such a chapel of ease is deliberately built as such, such a chapel may exist, for example, when a parish covers several dispersed villages, or a central village together with its satellite hamlet or hamlets. In such a case the church will be in the main settlement. Some chapels of ease are buildings used to be the main parish church until a larger building was constructed for that purpose. This led to the building of a new church building for the parish. There are many chapels in England, for example that at Pedlinge in Kent. Sometimes an ancient parish church is reduced in status to a chapel of ease due to a shift of population, an example is the churches of St Mary Wiston and All Saints at Buncton in West Sussex. For centuries St Marys was the church, whilst All Saints served the nearby hamlet of Buncton. When two or more existing parishes are combined into a parish, one or more of the old church buildings may be kept as a chapel of ease. St. Thomas Aquinas Church serves as the church, with Our Lady of the Rosary Church. When a parish is split because of expanding population a chapel of ease may be promoted to a parish church. An example of this is St. Chapelry Filial church
13.
Transept
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A transept is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the edifice. In churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a building within the Romanesque. Each half of a transept is known as a semitransept, the transept of a church separates the nave from the sanctuary, apse, choir, chevet, presbytery or chancel. The transepts cross the nave at the crossing, which belongs equally to the main nave axis, upon its four piers, the crossing may support a spire, a central tower or a crossing dome. Since the altar is located at the east end of a church. The north and south end walls often hold decorated windows of stained glass, such as rose windows, occasionally, the basilicas and the church and cathedral planning that descended from them were built without transepts, sometimes the transepts were reduced to matched chapels. More often, the transepts extended well beyond the sides of the rest of the building, forming the shape of a cross and this design is called a Latin cross ground plan, and these extensions are known as the arms of the transept. A Greek cross ground plan, with all four extensions the same length, when churches have only one transept, as at Pershore Abbey, there is generally a historical disaster, fire, war or funding problem, to explain the anomaly. At Beauvais only the chevet and transepts stand, the nave of the cathedral was never completed after a collapse of the daring high vaulting in 1284. At St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, only the choir, in a metro station or similar construction, a transept is a space over the platforms and tracks of a station with side platforms, containing the bridge between the platforms. Placing the bridge in a rather than an enclosed tunnel allows passengers to see the platforms. Aisle Apse Cathedral architecture Cathedral diagram Glossary of the Catholic Church Transom
14.
Kemble, Gloucestershire
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Kemble is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Historically part of Wiltshire, it lies 4 miles from Cirencester and is the settlement closest to Thames Head, at the 2011 census it had a population of 1,036. The village lies in Thames Head electoral ward, which stretches from Kemble in the south to Frampton Mansell in the north-west, the population of the ward as recorded in the 2011 census was 1,955. Kemble was the site of a 7th-century pagan, Anglo-Saxon cemetery, the village church today has a Norman door and a tower dating from 1250, to which a spire was added in 1450. The full restoration in 1872 included bringing the chapel of ease at nearby Ewen here brick by brick to form a new south transept, Kemble Church is part of the Thameshead benefice, comprising the communities of Kemble, Ewen, Poole Keynes, Somerford Keynes, and Shorncote. The benefice since 2001 also includes Coates, Rodmarton, Sapperton, Tarlton and Frampton Mansell, Cotswold Airport on the edge of the village hosted the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic display team from 1966 until 1983. After the Red Arrows moved to RAF Scampton, the station was used by the US Air Force as a maintenance facility. The airfield is used by industry, by flying clubs and by private aircraft owners. Delta Jets rebuild, maintain and fly historic jet aircraft, particularly Hawker Hunters, the Bristol Aero collection had a museum at the airfield until 31 May 2012. Aston Down airfield,3 miles to the north-west, formerly belonged to the RAF but is now used for gliding by the Cotswold Gliding Club, Kemble railway station has direct trains to Swindon and London Paddington in one direction, and to Gloucester and Cheltenham in the other. Kemble was once an important railway junction, the Golden Valley Line from Swindon to Cheltenham passes through the village. The branch lines from Cirencester and Tetbury were dismantled in the 1960s, Kemble Primary School has around 100 pupils. The pub, The Tavern, is next to the station, a combined post office and local store provides most essentials. All Saints Church, Shorncote Kemble Community website Kemble village website This is Gloucestershire information Cotswold Airport
15.
Somerford Keynes
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Somerford Keynes is a small village in Gloucestershire, close to the River Thames and Thames Path about five miles from its source and in the Cotswold Water Park. It is on the boundary with Wiltshire midway between Cirencester, Swindon and Malmesbury. The population of the village taken at the 2011 census was 479, the first beavers to be born in Britain for 400 years were born at Lower Mill in the summer of 2008. Somerford Keynes is also the name of a character in the Rutshire Chronicles books by Jilly Cooper. A series of excavations at Spratsgate Lane from 1986 to 1988, before the creation of the Cotswold Water Park, revealed part of an Iron Age. The earliest features discovered comprised a series of curvilinear enclosures dating from the early 1st century AD to the early 2nd century AD, a religious focus is also hinted at by an unusually large number of coins and brooches, which may have been votive deposits. Stone sculptural fragments were found of an eagle and a shield and these may have belonged to a representation of the Roman Capitoline triad, and therefore point to an official religious presence. The village is first mentioned in writing in AD685, a charter in that year confirmed a gift of 40 hides of land by King Ethelreds nephew Bertwald, to St Aldhelm, the first abbot of Malmesbury. The manor was held in 1211 by William de Cahaignes, an ancestor of the Keynes family, the village has a flourishing history group, details of which appear in the external link below. Somerford Keynes has a council and is represented by the county councillor for South Cotswold. The Manor House dates from the 15th century and is grade II listed, SOMERFORD KEYNES SOMERFORD KEYNES VILLAGE SU09 NW 8/207 Manor House 4.6.52 GV II Large detached manor house. Core probably of late C15 or early C16, enlarged to east c1630s, random coursed rubble stone with flush quoins, stone slate roof, renewed stone stacks including flue to large partially external stack to main fireplace on north side. Originally a single range with through passage, gabled cross wing added to east, probably originally a hall with solar to east of screens passage, with 2-storey service wing to west. External stack rises through this lean-to, which has mostly small leaded casements to left, north-west wing of 1924 built in sympathetic style with leaded stone windows. South front has original service wing to west with 3 and 2-light stone mullion and transom with square hoodmould and relieving arch to first and ground floors. Three-light stone mullion and transom above and 2 similar to ground and first floors to right, All fenestration leaded iron casements, including 2 small hipped dormers. Early C17 wing has large squared masonry on south gable end, interior substantially altered in 1967 and in 1970s. Partitions in main hall have been moved, including removal of screens partition, C17 panelling survives in additional north entrance hall. There is reputed to have been a house on this site since the C14
16.
Coates, Gloucestershire
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Coates is a village situated in Gloucestershire, England. It is around 5 km or 3 miles west of Cirencester and close to Cirencester Park, part of the Bathurst Estate. It is the nearest village to the source of the river Thames at Thames Head, and it is close to the course of the Foss Way or Fosse Way, the nearest railway station is Kemble. The village population taken at the 2011 census was 507, the parish church of St Matthews dates back to the 13th century. The building has a Perpendicular tower, 13th century piscina, Norman font, bernard Vann, VC, spent much of his childhood in the Coates rectory, where his mother was housekeeper to the Rev. T. C. He is commemorated in the church, the village is home to the Coates Cricket Club that plays in the Cotswold District League. The Tunnel House Inn can be found just beyond the edge of the village towards Tarlton, the Royal Agricultural Colleges Rural Skills Centre is on the eastern side of the village in the buildings that were previously Coates Farm. David Verey, Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds, The Buildings of England edited by Nikolaus Pevsner, 2nd ed. ISBN 0-14-071040-X, pp
17.
Rodmarton
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Rodmarton is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire. Evidence of a Roman settlement has been found at Rodmarton, through the parish runs a Roman trackway from Cirencester and Chavenage Green, adjacent to which is a long barrow. Roman roads such as the Fosse Way, Portway and the London Way run through or intersect near the parish, in 1636, a number of Roman coins and a tessellated pavement were discovered in the parish. By the Domesday Survey in the late 11th century, the parish consisted of three tithings – Rodmarton, Culkerton, and Tarlton, the nearby hamlet of Tarlton was home to the Arts and Crafts architect and designer Alfred Powell and his wife Louise from the 1920s to 1960. They built themselves a home and pottery studio where they designed pottery for Wedgwood. Rodmarton is situated approximately 4 miles north-east of Tetbury and 6 miles west of Cirencester, the villages proximity to Wiltshire appears to give origin to part of the parishs name, as the Old English maer means boundary. The parish lies primarily on the Forest Marble Formation, the soil in the area ranges from a light loam to stony brash, and the quality of the bedrock led to a number of quarries being established in the area. According to statistics gathered during Charles Is reign, the parish had a population of 227, by 1794, under the reign of George III, the population had grown by 82 to 309, of whom 152 were male and 157 were female. 38 parishioners were listed as being servants, at this 1794 survey, all the men in the village were employed in agriculture, and the women in spinning wool. Working children were listed as carders, the villagers wages ranged from 6s to 9s per day, with salaries increasing during the harvest. The standard diet for a labourer was described as bread and cheese, garden stuff and dumplings for dinner, of the 163 residents aged between 16 and 64 who were in employment at the time of the census, the majority were classified as being in managerial and professional occupations
18.
Sapperton, Gloucestershire
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Sapperton is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire in England, about 4.5 miles west of Cirencester. It is most famous for Sapperton canal tunnel and its connection with the Cotswold Arts and Crafts Movement in the early 20th century and it has a population of 424, reducing to 412 at the 2011 census. The parish includes the villages of Sapperton and Frampton Mansell, the outlying hamlet of Daneway lies in the parish of Bisley, but is nearer to the village of Sapperton and often considered a part of it. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists the village as Sapleton, there are many interesting buildings in Sapperton associated with the leading designers of the Arts and Crafts movement in the area, as well as the church, primary school, and a pub. Sir Robert Atkyns, the county historian and author of The Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire, lived in the house of the village, now demolished. The manor was acquired by the Bathurst family, who still own most of the village. Most of the buildings in the part of the village were built under the patronage of the Bathurst family in the Cotswold Arts and Crafts style. Upper Dorvel House and Beechanger, designed and built by the brothers Ernest and Sidney Barnsley, norman Jewson, friend and associate of Gimson, and son-in-law to Ernest Barnsley, lived at Bachelors Court. His memoir, By Chance I did Rove of village life, st Kenelm is the parish church. It was last rebuilt during Queen Annes reign and it contains a monument to Sir Robert Atkyns and another to Sir Henry and Lady Anne Poole. 1086 -39 tenants 1801 -3511901 -4221961 -377 Charles I stayed at Sapperton House on 13 July 1644, george III came here to view the making of the Sapperton Tunnel in 1788. Sir Richard Stafford Cripps is buried here
19.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
20.
Red Arrows
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The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Scampton. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, the Red Arrows badge shows the aircraft in their trademark diamond nine formation, with the motto Éclat, a French word meaning brilliance or excellence. Initially, they were equipped with seven Folland Gnat trainers inherited from the RAF Yellowjacks display team and this aircraft was chosen because it was less expensive to operate than front-line fighters. In their first season, they flew at 65 shows across Europe, in 1966, the team was increased to nine members, enabling them to develop their Diamond Nine formation. In late 1979, they switched to the BAE Hawk trainer, the Red Arrows have performed over 4,700 displays in 56 countries worldwide. The Red Arrows were not the first RAF aerobatics team, an RAF pageant was held at Hendon in 1920 with teams from front-line biplane squadrons. In 1925, No.32 Squadron RAF flew an air display six nights a week entitled London Defended at the British Empire Exhibition, in 1938, three Gloster Gladiators flew with their wing-tips tied together. Formation aerobatics largely stopped during the Second World War, in 1947, the first jet team of three de Havilland Vampires came from RAF Odiham Fighter Wing. Various teams flew the Vampire, and in 1950, No.72 Squadron was flying a team of seven, No.54 Squadron became the first RAF jet formation team to use smoke trails. Vampires were replaced by Gloster Meteors, No.66 Squadron developing a team of six aircraft. Hawker Hunter aircraft were first used for teams in 1955. The official RAF team was provided by No.111 Squadron in 1956, and for the first time the aircraft had a colour scheme. After a demonstration in France, they were hailed as Les Fleches Noires and this team became the first team to fly a five-Hunter formation. In 1958 the Black Arrows performed a loop and barrel roll of 22 Hunters, the Black Arrows were the premier team until 1961, when the Blue Diamonds continued their role, flying sixteen blue Hunters. In 1960, the Tigers were re-equipped with the supersonic English Electric Lightning and performed wing-overs and they sometimes gave co-ordinated displays with the Blue Diamonds. Yet another aerobatics team was formed in 1960 by No.56 Squadron, in 1964, the Red Pelicans, flying six BAC Jet Provost T Mk 4s, assumed the role of the RAFs leading display team. In that same year, a team of five yellow Gnat trainers from No 4 Flying Training School displayed at the Farnborough Airshow and this team became known as the Yellowjacks after Flight Lieutenant Lee Joness call sign, Yellowjack. In 1964, all the RAF display teams were amalgamated, as it was feared pilots were spending too much time practising formation aerobatics rather than operational training
21.
RAF Scampton
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The current Station Commander is Wing Commander Joanne Campbell. The site is owned by the Ministry of Defence and managed by the RAF, RAF Scampton stands on the site of a First World War Royal Flying Corps landing field, which had been called Brattleby. The station was closed and returned to following the First World War being reactivated in the 1930s. It has therefore provided an airfield for fighters in the First World War, bombers during the Second World War and V-force Avro Vulcans during the Cold War. The station was due to close in 2014 but in June 2012 the Ministry of Defence confirmed the Red Arrows would remain there until at least the end of the decade, home Defence Flight Station Brattleby was opened on the site of the current RAF Scampton in late 1916. The airfield was bounded to the east by Ermine Street, to the south by Pollyplatt Lane, to the west by Middle Street, and to the north by Aisthorpe House. The form of the airfield was very similar to that of Hackthorn Park to the north east, in addition to field boundaries, a number of other features were demolished or used for the airfield, including Aisthorpe House and a farm complex to the east of the site. The aerodrome covered 287 acres consisting of a ground and six single-span end-opening General Service Flight Sheds arranged in pairs with their doors at 90-degrees to the landing ground. Technical buildings were set out behind these, followed by domestic accommodation close to Ermine Street and these were sub-divided into smaller groups depending on rank. Accommodation for women was based around a Women’s Hostel, the first operational unit was A Flight,33 Squadron RFC, which flew FE2bs defending against the Zeppelin threat. The site then developed into an aerodrome, supporting No.60 Training Sqn, followed by No.81 and No.11 Training Sqns, flying the Sopwith Camel, Pup. The station was renamed as Scampton in 1917 following which it was designated as 34 Training Depot Station, by 1920 all the buildings, including the hangars, had been removed. By 1936 the RAF Expansion Scheme had overseen a period of rapid increases both in terms of new squadrons and the development of new stations, the site was to be constructed to the latest specifications and on completion would form a fully equipped Bomber Station. From its reopening in October 1936, the station was to be known as Royal Air Force Station Scampton, the station consisted of four large C Type hangars with permanent brick-built technical and domestic buildings. Roads were arranged parallel or perpendicular to Ermine Street with the Guardroom at 90-degrees to the main entrance. This resulted in the base occupying an area of 360 acres, along the top of the Edge a series of airfields were developed, including RAF Waddington, RAF Cranwell and RAF Scampton. Upon opening IX Squadron and 214 Squadron were the first residents of the station, arriving in October 1936, operating the Handley Page Heyford, IX Sqn stayed at Scampton until March 1938,214 Sqn having departed for RAF Feltwell in April 1937. Another squadron which was stationed at the base was 148 Squadron formed from C Flt of IX Sqn operating the Hawker Audax, the term of residence of 148 Sqn was brief being replaced by 49 Squadron and 83 Squadron in March 1938
22.
United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
23.
Hawker Hunter
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The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing, on 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for jet-powered aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph. The all-weather/night fighter role was filled by the Gloster Javelin, successively improved variants of the type were produced, adopting increasingly more capable engine models and expanding its fuel capacity amongst other modifications being implemented. Hunters were also used by two RAF display teams, the Black Arrows, who on one occasion looped a record-breaking 24 Hunters in formation, and later the Blue Diamonds, the Hunter was also widely exported, serving with a total of 21 overseas air forces. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary roles with the RAF, sixty years after its original introduction it was still in active service, being operated by the Lebanese Air Force until 2014. Overall,1,972 Hunters were manufactured by Hawker Aircraft and its successor, Hawker Siddeley, in British service, the Hunter was replaced in its principal roles by the Lightning, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. During 1945, the Second World War came to a close, Aviation author Derek Wood refers to this policy as being, a fatal error of judgement which was to cost Britain a complete generation of fighters and heavy bomber aircraft. By this time, it had become apparent that newly developed jet propulsion would form the future of fighter aircraft development. Many companies were quick to devise their own designs to harness this means of propulsion, Hawker Aviations chief designer, Sydney Camm, had proposed the Hawker P.1040 for the RAF, but the demonstrator failed to interest them. Further modifications to the design resulted in the Hawker Sea Hawk carrier-based fighter. However, the Sea Hawk possessed a straight wing and was powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine, both features that rapidly became obsolete. Seeking better performance and fulfilment of the Air Ministry Specification E. 38/46, Sydney Camm designed the Hawker P.1052, which was essentially a Sea Hawk outfitted with a 35-degree swept wing. As a private venture, Hawker proceeded to convert the second P.1052 prototype into the Hawker P.1081 with swept tailplanes, a fuselage. In 1951, the sole P.1081 prototype was lost in a crash, in 1946, the British Air Ministry issued Specification F. 43/46, which sought a daytime jet-powered interceptor aircraft. Camm promptly prepared a new design for a fighter that would be powered by the upcoming Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet. Initially fitted with an air intake in the nose and a T-tail. The intakes were moved to the roots to make room for weapons and radar in the nose. On 20 July 1951, the P.1067 made its flight, flown by Neville Duke, from RAF Boscombe Down
24.
Bristol Aeroplane Company
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In 1956 its major operations were split into Bristol Aircraft and Bristol Aero Engines. BAC went on to become a component of the nationalised British Aerospace. Bristol Siddeley was purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1966, who continued to develop, the BAC works were in Filton, about 4 miles north of Bristol city centre. BAE Systems, Airbus, Rolls Royce, MBDA and GKN still have a presence at the Filton site where the Bristol Aeroplane Company was located. Additionally, key personnel for the new business were recruited from the employees of the Tramway Company, including George Challenger as chief engineer and works manager. These flying schools came to be regarded as some of the best in the world, the companys initial manufacturing venture was to be a licensed and improved version of an aircraft manufactured in France by the Societe Zodiac, a biplane designed by Gabriel Voisin. This aircraft had been exhibited at the Paris Aero Salon in 1909 and had impressed Sir George with the quality of its construction. One example was bought and shipped to England to be shown at the Aero Show at Olympia in March 1910, since the machine had been sold with a guarantee to fly Sir George succeeded in getting 15,000 francs compensation from Zodiac. Work was then begun on designing a successor, drawings were prepared by George Challenger for an aircraft based on a successful design by Henri Farman whose dimensions had been published in the aeronautical press. The drawings were made in little over a week, and Sir George authorised the construction of twenty examples, the first to be completed was taken to Larkhill for flight trials, where it made its first flight on 30 July piloted by Maurice Edmonds, proving entirely satisfactory. Many served in the flying schools and examples were sold to the War Office as well as a number of foreign governments. Both of these were exhibited at the 1911 Aero Show at Olympia, at this time both Challenger and Low left the company to join the newly established aircraft division of the armament firm Vickers. Their place was taken by Pierre Prier, the chief instructor at the Blériot flying school at Hendon. In January 1912 the Romanian engineer Henri Coandă was appointed as chief designer, also at this time a highly secret separate design office, the X-Department, was set up to work on Dennistoun Burneys ideas for naval aircraft. Frank Barnwell was taken on as the engineer for this project. Barnwell was to one of the worlds foremost aeronautical engineers. The Company expanded rapidly, opening a factory at the Brislington tramway works. Official War Office policy was to only aircraft designed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment
25.
Aston Down
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Aston Down is located 2.5 miles east of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, South West England and 6.9 miles west of Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The airfield was used by the Royal Air Force from the First World War until 1967 when the Cotswold Gliding Club moved in from their previous base near Tetbury. In 2002 the land and most of surrounding the airfield were sold by the Ministry of Defence to private developers for use as industrial units. During the Second World War the main present unit was No.20 Maintenance Unit RAF which stored and prepared aircraft, the unit arrived during October 1938 and left in September 1960. The next unit to arrive was No.12 Group Pool RAF which arrived during August 1939, the unit trained Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim pilots before being renamed No.3 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF at RAF Annan. This was redesignated on 18 December 1944 and moved back to Aston Down where the unit flew Hawker Typhoons. During 1941 the second longest staying unit arrived which was No.2 Ferry Pool of the Air Transport Auxiliary which transported aircraft from the buildings of No.20 MU to operational airfields. The unit was renamed No.187 Squadron RAF and moved to RAF Benson during January 1953, in August 1941 No.52 OTU joined the station from RAF Debden and the unit trained daytime fighter pilots but after two years in August 1943 the unit moved out. The Fighter Leader School moved in during August 1943 operating Supermarine Spitfires moving from RAF Charmy Down, during the time No.4 Squadron RAF arrived on 3 January 1944 and stayed until 2 March 1944 flying the de Havilland Mosquito XVI. Sometime after the Second World War the hangars were used by No.5 Maintenance Unit RAF which was based at RAF Kemble, on 1 February 1953 No.187 Squadron RAF reformed at the airfield. More recently the airfield was used as an airfield for the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington. Visits by the Red Arrows were also frequent until their departure from the nearby Kemble Airport in 1983, since the sale of the airfield it no longer sees any RAF flying activity. Having since acquired further land, the CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track, in 2005, following a Freedom of Information request, the local newspaper revealed that Aston Down is contaminated with arsenic, hydrocarbons and radium. Cotswold Gliding Club List of former Royal Air Force stations Roberts, a comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Lake, A Flying Units of the RAF, the Story Of The Air Transport Auxiliary, WW2 Peoples War, BBC Cotswold Gliding Club Webcam view of northeastern end of main runway at 15-minute intervals over the past two hours
26.
Gliding
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The word soaring is also used for the sport. Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s, initially the objective was to increase the duration of flights but soon pilots attempted cross-country flights away from the place of launch. Improvements in aerodynamics and in the understanding of phenomena have allowed greater distances at higher average speeds. Long distances are now flown using any of the sources of rising air, ridge lift, thermals. When conditions are favourable, experienced pilots can now fly hundreds of kilometres before returning to their home airfields, some competitive pilots fly in races around pre-defined courses. These gliding competitions test pilots abilities to make best use of weather conditions as well as their flying skills. Local and national competitions are organized in countries, and there are biennial World Gliding Championships. Techniques to maximize a gliders speed around the task in a competition have been developed, including the optimum speed to fly, navigation using GPS. If the weather deteriorates pilots are unable to complete a cross-country flight. Consequently, they may need to land elsewhere, perhaps in a field, powered-aircraft and winches are the two most common means of launching gliders. These and other methods require assistance and facilities such as airfields, tugs. These are usually provided by gliding clubs who also train new pilots, the development of heavier-than-air flight in the half century between Sir George Cayleys coachman in 1853 and the Wright brothers in 1903 mainly involved gliders. With the active support of the German government, there were 50,000 glider pilots by 1937, the first German gliding competition was held at the Wasserkuppe in 1920, organized by Oskar Ursinus. The best flight lasted two minutes and set a distance record of 2 kilometres. Within ten years, it had become an event in which the achieved durations. In 1931, Gunther Grönhoff flew 272 kilometres on the front of a storm from Munich to Kadaň in Western Czechoslovakia, in the 1930s, gliding spread to many other countries. In the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin gliding was a demonstration sport, a glider, the Olympia, was developed in Germany for the event, but World War II intervened. By 1939 the major gliding records were held by Russians, including a record of 748 kilometres
27.
Cotswold Gliding Club
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The Cotswold Gliding Club is based at Aston Down airfield, between Cirencester and Stroud in Gloucestershire, South West England. The Club maintains a fleet of aircraft for training purposes, and is a centre for cross-country gliding and it was initially based at Long Newnton airfield near Tetbury, but in 1967 moved to its current home, Aston Down—at that time still a military airfield. In 1980-1, with the help of Sports Council grants and other loans, having since acquired further land, CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track. CGC has some 200 members, including 80 students from the University of the West of England in Bristol, there are about 30 associate members, these include both pilots and aeromodellers. In 2007 the CGC widened its membership to include Blokarters, Aston Down is, by gliding standards, a large airfield. The 1500 m main runway offers scope for launches of 450 to 700 m —and sometimes up to 900 m when the direction is straight down the runway. For many years most launches at Aston Down were by the reverse pulley method, the high launches make it easy to contact the abundant thermals that rise from the well drained Cotswold limestone to give excellent soaring conditions. Aerotow launching is increasingly available, particularly in competitions and when westerly or north-westerly winds generate lift off the Cotswold ridge or wave lift downwind of the Welsh mountains, the picture shows Aston Down taken from the south. The main runway runs from left to top right, while the shorter 1,000 m east-west runway runs left to right. The disused runway in the distance has been removed to allow more room for gliders landing on the grass. Blokarting and aeromodelling are restricted to the runway not currently in use for gliding, an ASK-23 is available for early solo pilots, while an Astir provides pilot progression and an ASW-19 is provided for cross-country rated pilots. All Club gliders have similar instrumentation and are equipped with audio variometers, the Club operates seven days a week during the soaring season, and on Wednesdays, Fridays and at weekends during the winter months. Members of the public can book trial lessons or more intensive one-day courses, group flying for work parties, clubs, etc takes place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in the summer. In 2008 the Club introduced courses specifically designed to give pilots a hands-on introduction to soaring flight. Members receive training from the Clubs 30 BGA-qualified instructors and this training takes pilots to solo and well beyond—to advanced cross-country flying. Privately owned motor gliders based at Aston Down are available for members for field landing. During the soaring season many members fly private gliders, usually owned jointly by two or more partners and this flying takes the form of either local soaring or more ambitious cross-country flights, often covering several hundred kilometres. Some examples of recent flights by members of the Club can be seen on the BGA Ladder website, the excellent runway and facilities available at Aston Down make it a frequent choice for hosting regional and national gliding competitions
28.
Kemble railway station
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Kemble railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire, England. The station is on the Swindon to Gloucester Golden Valley line, despite its rural location, Kemble station has a high number of passengers, due mainly to the proximity of Cirencester. The station was opened by the Great Western Railway as a station on 12 May 1845 with the line opening from Swindon to Gloucester. Only on 1 May 1882 did it become a public station replacing the nearby Tetbury Road, until the 1960s the station was a junction, with branch lines to Cirencester Town and Tetbury. Both the Tetbury branch line and the Cirencester Branch Line were closed to traffic under The Reshaping of British Railways, British Rail reduced the line to Swindon to single track in 1968 but the second track was reinstated in 2014. The station has two platforms in use, the former Tetbury bound platform remains but the track has been lifted. The building on the platform has been out of use for several years, containing toilets and a waiting room. On the former Cirencester platform, a stub of track remains for the occasional stabling of track machines. This ends at a stop just before the station car park. In 2013, Cotswold District Council refused an application by Network Rail to demolish part of the Grade II listed Cirencester bay platform in connection with the redoubling of the line from Swindon, the station has a ticket office and a small café. Kemble station is served on a Monday to Friday by,18 Swindon bound trains,8 of which continue to London Paddington via Reading 18 Gloucester bound trains,17 of which continue to Cheltenham Spa. Making an off peak service of one every two hours to London, with trains to Swindon, Cheltenham and Gloucester every hour. The station is served by Cardiff Central / Swansea services diverted during engineering works. On Sundays there are twelve trains each way, seven of which run to or from London, history of the line Gloucestershire Transport
29.
London Paddington station
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Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of the Great Western Railway, much of the main-line station dates from 1854 and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was first served by London Underground trains in 1863, as the western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway. Today, Paddington tube station is served by the Bakerloo, Circle, District and it is also the terminus for the Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect services to and from London Heathrow Airport. It is one of 19 stations in the United Kingdom managed directly by Network Rail and it is situated in fare zone 1. The station complex is bounded at the front by Praed Street and at the rear by Bishops Bridge Road, on the west side of the station is Eastbourne Terrace, while the east side is bounded by the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. The station is in a cutting, a fact obscured at the front by a hotel building. The surrounding area is residential, and includes the major St Marys Hospital, restaurants. Until recently there was little office accommodation in the area, however, recent redevelopment of derelict railway and canal land, marketed as Paddington Waterside, has resulted in new office complexes nearby. In addition to the Underground stations at Paddington, Lancaster Gate tube station on the Central line is a walk away to the south. A little further to the south lie the conjoined parks of Hyde Park, the National Rail station is officially named London Paddington, a name commonly used outside London but rarely by Londoners, who call it just Paddington, as on the London Underground map. Parts of the station, including the train shed, date from 1854. It is one of 19 stations managed by Network Rail, the first station was a temporary terminus for the GWR on the west side of Bishops Bridge Road, opened on 4 June 1838. The first GWR service from London to Taplow, near Maidenhead, after the main station opened in 1854, this became the site of the goods depot. It opened on 29 May 1854, the glazed roof is supported by wrought iron arches in three spans, respectively spanning 68 feet,102 feet and 70 feet. The roof is 699 feet long, and the original roof spans had two transepts connecting the three spans and it is commonly believed that these were provided by Brunel to accommodate traversers to carry coaches between the tracks within the station. However recent research, using documents and photographs, does not seem to support this belief. The Great Western Hotel was built on Praed Street in front of the station in 1851–1854 by architect Philip Charles Hardwick, the station was substantially enlarged in 1906–1915 and a fourth span of 109 feet was added on the north side, parallel to the others
30.
Gloucester railway station
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Gloucester railway station is a railway station serving the city of Gloucester in England. Subsequent closures and rationalization have left Gloucester with a station that is located off the main Bristol-Birmingham line, only trains that continue along the Gloucester to Newport Line do not have to reverse. The railway development at Gloucester was very complex involving four different railway companies, the first company onto the scene was the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, which was a standard gauge line opening 4 November 1840. This line from Cheltenham was built by the Birmingham and Gloucester railway on a built by the Cheltenham. The first station was a built on land near the cattle market. The line from Gloucester to Cheltenham was upgraded to mixed gauge so that the C&GWU could share tracks to Cheltenham, in 1845, the Midland Railway, which had already bought the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, also absorbed the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. In 1847, the GWR opened the Cheltenham Loop line which completed the triangle junction east of the station. This allowed GWR trains to avoid the reversal at Gloucester, but so as to allow GWR passengers to access Gloucester, carriages were detached from trains at the T station, turned on turntables and taken into the main Gloucester station. This operation was not very successful and so was abandoned, along with the loop line, hereafter, GWR trains from London to Cheltenham continued to reverse at the main station, a practice that continues to this day. On the 19 September 1851, the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway, on 22 May 1854, the Midland Railway opened a new, standard gauge railway between Gloucester and Standish Junction, thus avoiding running on the ex-CGWU line into Gloucester. This new line paralleled the old route as far as Tuffley and this anomaly was not sorted out for another 40 years until the MR opened a new station on 12 April 1896, south-east of the existing station, on the Tuffley Loop. The old station was demolished, to be replaced by sidings, in 1901, the Cheltenham Loop, now known as the Gloucester avoiding line, was re-instated, primarily for goods traffic, but also for passengers from 1908. Between 1914 and 1920, the GWR station was expanded with a long platform north of the running lines. The two main platforms were split in two with a scissors crossing in the middle. In 1951, the Western station was renamed Gloucester Central and the Midland station renamed Gloucester Eastgate to avoid confusion. There was also a proposal for a new station on the triangular junction east of the existing stations, to avoid the troublesome reversals. Therefore, in 1975, Gloucester Eastgate and the Tuffley Loop line were closed, in 1984, the 1914 parcels platform was brought back into use as a passenger platform and a new footbridge was opened to provide access. On New Years Eve 2010, a fire out in the booking office due to arson
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Cheltenham
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The town hosts several festivals of culture, often featuring nationally and internationally famous contributors and attendees. As the home of the race of British steeplechase horse racing. Cheltenham stands on the small River Chelt, which rises nearby at Dowdeswell, as a royal manor, it features in the earliest pages of the Gloucestershire section of Domesday Book where it is named Chintenha. The town was awarded a charter in 1226. Though little remains of its history, Cheltenham has been a health. Captain Henry Skillicorne, is credited with being the first entrepreneur to recognise the opportunity to exploit the mineral springs, the retired master mariner became co-owner of the property containing Cheltenhams first mineral spring upon his 1732 marriage to Elizabeth Mason. Her father, William Mason, had little in his lifetime to promote the healing properties of the mineral water apart from limited advertising and building a small enclosure over the spring. Skillicornes wide travels as a merchant had prepared him to see the potential lying dormant on this inherited property, after moving to Cheltenham in 1738, he immediately began improvements intended to attract visitors to his spa. He built a pump to regulate the flow of water and erected an elaborate well-house complete with a ballroom, the beautiful walks and gardens were naturally adorned with sweeping vistas of the countryside. Soon the gentry and nobility from across the county were enticed to come, the visit of George III with the queen and royal princesses in 1788 set a stamp of fashion on the spa. Cheltenhams success as a spa town is reflected in the station, which is still called Cheltenham Spa. Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll were regular visitors to a house in Cudnall Street, horse racing began in Cheltenham in 1815, and became a major national attraction after the establishment of the Festival in 1902. Most of this materiel was reshipped to the continent for and after the D-Day invasion, lee and his primary staff had offices and took residence at Thirlestaine Hall in Cheltenham. On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, four parishes—Swindon Village, Up Hatherley, Leckhampton and Prestbury—were added to the borough of Cheltenham from the borough of Tewkesbury in 1991. The first British jet aircraft prototype, the Gloster E. 28/39, was manufactured in Cheltenham, manufacturing started in Hucclecote near Gloucester, but was later moved to Regent Motors in Cheltenham High Street, considered a location safer from bombing during the Second World War. Cheltenham Borough Council is the authority for Cheltenham, which is split into 20 wards. Since 2002 elections have been every two years with half of the councillors elected at each election. The Doughnut, the office of the British Government Communications Headquarters is located in Cheltenham
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Golden Valley Line
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The Golden Valley line is a railway line from Swindon to Cheltenham Spa in England. The line was built as the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway in the 1840s. It was opened between Swindon and Kemble, along with a line to Cirencester in 1841. It took a four years before the remainder of the line. The line diverges from the Great Western Main Line at Swindon and, the intermediate towns served by the route are listed below. Swindon Kemble Stroud Stonehouse Gloucester Cheltenham The other intermediate stations and halts were closed to passengers on 2 November 1964, Kemble railway station was a junction for two branch lines serving Cirencester and Tetbury. Both of these lines closed to passengers on 6 April 1964 Local passenger services between Swindon and Cheltenham are currently operated by Great Western Railway, services are approximately hourly but with some gaps. These are filled by express services from Paddington to Cheltenham via the Golden Valley, options included electrifying numerous former Great Western routes including the Golden Valley line. Under the 1979–90 Conservative governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government the proposal was not implemented, as of 2016 there are no plans to electrify the line. The line had originally built as double track, but as a cost saving measure it was reduced to single track between Swindon and Kemble in 1968. Network Rail proposed to reinstate the track in September 2008, then September 2009. Despite protests by local MPs, the ORR made a decision that it would not be included in the 2009-2014 High Level Output Specification plan for new rail infrastructure. In the 2011 Budget the Government announced that funding for the redoubling was to be provided, with works reported to be completed by Spring 2014, initial work involved slewing the single track, as it had been moved to the centre of the trackbed during the singling works. This was followed by excavation and clearance work, then finally installation of the new track, Level crossing works were also undertaken. The line was reopened by Anne, Princess Royal
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Swindon
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Swindon is a large town in Wiltshire, South West England, midway between Bristol,35 miles to the west and Reading,35 miles to the east. London is 78 miles to the east, and Cardiff is 78 miles to the west, at the 2011 census, it had a population of 185,609. Swindon became an Expanded Town under the Town Development Act 1952, Swindon railway station is on the line from London Paddington to Bristol. Swindon Borough Council is an authority, independent of Wiltshire Council since 1997. Residents of Swindon are known as Swindonians, the town and wider borough also has the headquarters of the Nationwide Building Society and a Honda car manufacturing plant. The original Anglo-Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Old English words swine and dun meaning pig hill or possibly Sweyns hill, Swindon was a small market town, mainly for barter trade, until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, the Industrial Revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindons growth. It started with the construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810, the canals brought trade to the area and Swindons population started to grow. Between 1841 and 1842, Isambard Kingdom Brunels Swindon Works was built for the repair, the GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. The Steam Railway Museum and English Heritage, including the English Heritage Archive, in 1878 the fund began providing artificial limbs made by craftsmen from the carriage and wagon works, and nine years later opened its first dental surgery. In his first few months in post the dentist extracted more than 2000 teeth, from the opening in 1892 of the Health Centre, a doctor could also prescribe a haircut or even a bath. The cradle-to-grave extent of service was later used as a blueprint for the NHS. The Mechanics Institute, formed in 1844, moved into a building looking rather like a church and included a covered market, on 1 May 1855. The New Swindon Improvement Company, a co-operative, raised the funds for this path self-improvement and it was a groundbreaking organisation that transformed the railways workforce into some of the countrys best-educated manual workers. It had the UKs first lending library, and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre, the Institute also nurtured pioneering trades unionists and encouraged local democracy. During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around the line between London and Bristol. In 1900, the market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town
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Tetbury
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Tetbury is a small town and civil parish within the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, the population of the parish was 5,250 in the 2001 census, increasing to 5,472 at the 2011 census. During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool, the Tetbury Woolsack Races, Founded 1972, is an annual competition where participants must carry a 60-pound sack of wool up and down a steep hill. The Tetbury Woolsack Races take place on the late May Bank Holiday, the Market House is a fine example of a Cotswold pillared market house and is still in use as a meeting place and market. Other attractions include the Police Bygones Museum, chavenage House, Highgrove House and Westonbirt Arboretum lie just outside the town. Tetbury has won five consecutive Gold awards in the Regional Heart of England in Bloom competition in 2006,2007,2008,2009 and 2010 and was category winner Best Small Town in 2008,2009 and 2010. In 2010 Tetbury was Overall Winner of Heart of England in Bloom, Tetbury won Silver Gilt as a first-time entrant in the National Britain in Bloom Campaign in 2009 and a second Silver Gilt in Britain in Bloom in 2011. The Tetbury town crest features two dolphins, Tetbury is situated in a landscape of gently rolling hills primarily used for farmland, including grazing of sheep and grain production. Its location is associated with a nearby major east-west trade or drovers trail, nearby to the west are Owlpen Manor, Beverston Castle and Calcot Manor. The Tetbury Avon, a tributary of the Bristol Avon, known locally as the Ingleburn rises to the north of the town, most of Tetbury falls in the Tetbury parish, although some of the northern parts of the town are officially in Tetbury Upton. Tetbury is in the Cotswold district, and amentities are run by Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire County Council is also responsible for parts of the town. Nationally, Tetbury is in the Cotswold constituency, and has represented in Parliament by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown since 1997. He has a majority of nearly 10,000 over the Liberal Democrats, Tetbury is renowned for its antique and bric à brac shops. A Tesco supermarket was opened a quarter of a mile from the centre in July 2002. The towns high street is the home to a number of specialist shops selling cheese, breads, the town has pubs and hotels, including The Royal Oak Inn which was featured in the 1971 film Dulcima and in an episode of BBC1s Bonekickers. The Trouble House, immediately outside the town, was served by Trouble House Halt between 1959 and 1964, events in the town include Woolsack Day, held on the last Bank Holiday in May, famous for the races and street fair. A flower show is held at the recreation ground, the first Tetbury Fiesta was held on the recreation ground in July 2008, and has become an annual event. Tetbury Music Festival is held in early October, Tetbury Hospital is a privately run facility which funds itself from government funding and charitable donations
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All Saints Church, Shorncote
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All Saints Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Shorncote,7.2 kilometres south of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, all Saints dates from about 1170. Alterations were made to it, including the addition of a bellcote, the church was restored by William Butterfield in 1883. The church was declared redundant on 1 July 1984, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 18 March 1987, the church is in Norman style. It is constructed in rubble, with stone slate roofs. The plan consists of a nave with an aisle and a south porch. On the east gable of the nave is a double bellcote, in the west, south and east walls are two-light windows. The south doorway is Norman, with Early English capitals on the outer columns, on the south side of the chancel is a priests door between two straight-headed Perpendicular windows. Inside the church are wagon roofs, the chancel arch is narrow and pointed and contains 15th-century gates. The arch is decorated with Norman style carving, in the chancel is a piscina and a credence shelf dating from the 14th century, and in the north wall is a 15th-century Easter Sepulchre. On the chancel walls are wall paintings depicting patterns and foliage. The pulpit dates from the early 18th century and has a tester suspended above it, also in the church are the Royal coat of arms carved in stone. List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands Photographs from rootsweb Description of church from Parish website
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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
