I am particularly fond of Shobdon, nestled away in the valley off the Western tip of Leominster. It was the first Aerodrome I ever did a landaway with my instructor and it was the first stop on my Qualifying Cross Country, before the onward flight to Wellesbourne and back to Gloucester.
I’ve been back many times since. The members of the Herefordshire aero club are always so friendly and welcoming and it’s a joy to land there always. So when I saw they had a Food and Flying Festival early July it made total sense to combine two passions in one!
In the R44 getting to shobdon is a short 20 minute hop but in the R22 it takes a little longer and on a nice day, it’s enjoyable to watch the countryside rolling under and away on the journey.
I had called the aero club to book in, a week earlier and I was given my booking number and a very precise arrival time to meet if exactly 10:02. A challenge I was keen to accept but likely to not succeed with! As with any flight, there is a considerably amount of faffing and prep mainly due to pilots being pilots.
I lifted eventually as close to 09:20 as possible, to give myself a good chance of meeting the slot.. but realistically I was in the air close to 09:40! The flight was calm and peaceful, it’s a nice route from Gloucester up past the foot of the Malvern hills before skirting the Western edge of Ledbury, pinpointing Verzon House and heading onwards to Leominster before picking up the field at the 10 o’clock position.
I was joining left base for Runway 26, North Side Grass and keeping a lookout for what promised to be a very busy airspace for the event. Luckily turning finals I was the only Aircraft around (even though I was now behind my time slot!). The first thing I noticed was the grand marquees which would have all of the fabulous local food, the second I noticed in quick succession.. there were currently no visiting helicopters yet. Just me and a lot of planes!
I was directed by air traffic to head to wards the Marshallers to be allocated my landing spot.. however once I’d clocked them and was happily hovering in front of this merry trio of high vis wearing musketeers, j was quick as a flash ignored. Still hovering I danced the tail around whilst swaying my head questioningly before one of them pointed to a rough square of grass. Down I went and landed as instructed perpendicular to all of the aeroplanes. I was to find out later, by the lead marshalled that he had never directed a helicopter to land before so thought it best to just let me get on with it!
After shutting down and wearing a smug smile that fixed wing pilots can’t, because they can’t hover.. I checked in, cracked a few heli jokes to the guys on the paperwork which evidently went down like a lead balloon and headed in for some breakfast.
The setup was impressive! Local crafts, clothes, food, alcohol, cakes and delicacies. There were lectures and cooking demonstrations, static caravans, ice creams and lots of opportunities for trial lessons in gliders, autogyros and big smashing aerobatic planes.. but first on the to do list was a succulent bacon and egg sandwich. Cooked fresh with local produce. It was delicious. (And the first coffee of the day! Not bad for 11am!)
After a good look around all that was to offer, and a quick visit to Tiger Helicopters the rain started to bear through and I decided to hot foot away from the field and head to Wellesbourne. It was a straight out departure from runway 08 for a change rather than the 26LH circuit. I set a bee line for Wellesbourne, with a kink around Worcester and I was away.
The sight of the food festival from the air was quite something. It was nice to see the airfield so busy, and so many supporting local businesses and most importantly aviation. I picked up London Information for a basic service East of Leominster and watched the world go by whilst avoiding what seemed like a ridiculous amount of fixed wing traffic!
Wellesbourne was welcoming as ever, even in the face of their upcoming demise. It seems however, I’d. Ought the rain with me from shobdon and on landing we were caught in a shower whilst refuelling. Ironically, I hadn’t eaten at the food festival or sampled any foods! So I had a hearty piece if carrot cake in a very busy cafe before booking back in with Gloucester and heading off.
Hourbuilding Adventures 