Reports - Events & Days Out 2025

June days out started with a visit to the Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln on Sunday 1st. Four people were there from Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire, The visit included an interesting talk about the history of the museum. There was an air raid shelter that two people ventured into, and a small allotment area showing what vegetables would have been grown during the war. There is a report about this visit on the website (see below).

Two members from Warwickshire spent the day at Cheshire County Show later in the month where they met some members from the Cheshire group. The highlight of the day was a ride on the back of a monster truck. That was £10 well spent.

Lorraine also visited a local vintage vehicle show where she had the opportunity to drive some vintage diesel steam rollers, and engines.

On Sunday 1st June three members from Nottinghamshire Country Link (Pat Bosworth, John Greasley, and Peter Hunt) joined Lorraine Clarke on her National Day Out at the International Bomber Command Centre near to Lincoln.

The visit began with a guided tour around the peace gardens, where the volunteer guide explained that 27 trees had been planted here to represent each of the (27) WW2 RAF stations based in Lincolnshire.

Moving on from the peace garden we walked to the 31m tall spire and the memorial 'Walls of Names' which display the names of almost 58,000 men and women who lost their lives serving or supporting Bomber Command during WW2. The height of the spire is the same as the wingspan of the Avro Lancaster bomber.

During WW2 more than 1 million people, men and women, served or supported Bomber Command. They were from 62 different nations across the world and included Aircrew, Ground Crew, Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Auxiliary Air Transport, Auxiliary Transport Services, NAAFI, as well as many others. They were united in their efforts and we have them to thank for the freedom we enjoy today.

Special tributes are made to the roles played by women. Some of those roles involved control room operations, with many women flying solo delivering planes to RAF bases across the country.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day there is currently a display of ceramic poppies, the centre of which displays the shape of a Lancaster Bomber.

The Chadwick Centre uses state of the art technology and interactive displays to tell the story of Bomber Command. The stories are told by those who witnessed the events first hand.

Entry to the centre is with an annual pass and with so much to see and experience another visit is definitely on the cards.

For more information about the centre visit https://internationalbcc.co.uk/visit

On Sunday 9th March seven members from Warwickshire and Derbyshire visited Sudbury Hall and Childhood Museum, and spent some time in the gardens there.

Many of the members could remember playing with a variety of the toys in their own childhood, and there were toys that they had bought for their own children.

In the house there was a beautiful painting that was actually painted directly onto the wall with a fake frame put around it to make it look like a picture. With the warm and sunny weather they also had a perfect weekend weather wise which was a bonus.