The Beach is always a good idea, especially when the visit is spontaneous. I was sat having dinner the night before at a small pub close to Berkeley when the idea to fly to the beach popped into my head. At first I had wanted to visit Branscombe Airfield (https://www.branscombecampsite.com), as they have a small grass strip that seems popular and friendly for GA as well as a campsite, an unlikely combination but it looked.. remind me to look into Heli Camping. Nevertheless, on calling them, they regretted that they weren’t licenced to take visiting helicopters.
Searching the map around Branscombe and along the coast towards Chesil Beach, I remember reading somewhere about the Club House at West Bexington. (https://www.theclubhousewestbexington.co.uk). It is part of a three ship of Cafes owned by the same family who own and operate the Hive Beach Cafe and the Watch House Cafe with the joint tagline of ‘Iconic Coastline, Fantastic Food’. It had to be worth a trip surely.
I had flown down and around the South Coast a fair deal when I was with Hamish in the JetRanger or MD500, or even more so doing Fixed Wing grading when I was in the Fleet Air Arm as a baby Naval Officer. It was a beautiful setting, but one thing I hadn’t ever done was spend enough time there as PIC and explore the surroundings at my leisure. I picked a route that would be challenging enough for Navigation but also good fun.
The route took me down the M5 out of Heli South at Gloucester, In Sierra Hotel the trusty R22, I tracked towards Bath racecourse and the Eastern side of the Bristol CTR, there was no need for an ATZ penetration so I skirted under the zone as required and towards Shepton Mallet, Hearing Candia and John in the R44 on the Bristol Frequency, as they piped in their call, en-route for lunch in Bodmin. Weather wise, it was a little hazy in Gloucester, but the further towards the South Coast it brightened up beautifully.
The route would take me through the Eastern stub of the Yeovilton MATZ, but we all know the Military don’t work weekends, so 2 calls with no reply and traffic calls for the remainder of the stub crossing. Identifying when crossing the centre line of the main runway and seeing Merryfield out into the distance, I adjusted course a little more to the South and bee-lined for the coast. The terrain grew higher the further South I headed, which was slightly unnerving…
It transpired there was a ridge running East – West, with the Club House sat the far side of the ridge line nestled up against the pebble beach. Due to the ground and the wind direction, from the North today, it made sense to do a small circuit over the sea and end up back into wind, over the beach and onto the small grass area reserved for landing. Adequately marked with an H.
Coming over the sea was an experience, taking a descending right turn to bring the Club House to bear on to the nose. The descent in was gradual and progressive, taking due consideration not to overfly those who had gazebos and tents on the beach. The site was quite technical, with a Hedgeline to the West and a Car Park on the Southern edge of the landing site. The sea fishermen didn’t look too impressed as I passed over the shoreline and headed down on to the pad.
There was a marshaller on hand, if nothing else, it’s always nice to have an audience when coming in to land. After shutting down, I was taken to a table the Clubhouse had reserved for me, just a stones throw from Sierra Hotel. Open air dining, R22, Beach, Sea Breeze and of course, the TechLog. Breakfast was spectacular, the Clubhouse really lives up to its tagline the food was simply delicious.
If you ever decide to visit by Air or Road you will instantly notice the attention to detail of the while site. From the decor, to the deck chairs on the lawn, the external WC beach hut and summer house tucked away into the corner of the grounds. It boasted such character and the service was also very very good.
After breakfast, I opted for a stroll down the beach. It didn’t take long before a family of around 8-10 members, all huddled under a garden Gazebo on the beach sat on their camping chairs had clocked me, and starting shouting over. I went across to ask what they had said, it became apparent that I had blown their gazebo down the beach whilst I was on approach to the pad! I apologised profusely and explained that was my intention the whole time, and that it was a rouse to get them to see the sun! Being conscious there were hundreds of small flies on the beach, which quickly became a hindrance, I tracked down the marshaller (he was serving ice creams now in a small shack on the beach!) and let him know I was heading off.
Next stop on the journey was Dunkeswell, a small hop for fuel before a planned coastal route back up to Gloucester. They advised parachuting was planned at Dunkeswell, and that I should call as soon as possible when airborne and I may be advised to remain outside of the zone until dropping was complete. Luck would have it, that I managed to get onto the ground and take a suck of fuel before the parachutists made their jump! This worked rather well as it afforded me enough time to do the paperwork, grab a drink and watched the parachutists fall gracefully to the field. I had a small window to break out from Dunkeswell before the next para drop so I fired up and started my take-off run down Runway 22, before taking a climbing right hand turn towards Taunton and out of the zone.
My route took me overhead Blackmore Farm, where I had stayed in the Shepherds hut, when visiting with the R44 earlier in the year. For good measure I did a circuit overhead and picked up a track leading along Burnham beach, towards Brean Down and Weston-super-Mare. On a listening squawk with Bristol and under their airspace, I decided to pop into the Heli Museum as after all, hour building is about gaining experience so another approach and landing was welcomed (and it was free and the coffee is good).
After what seemed like a very brief stay, I fired up and headed back to Gloucester, taking a route across the Severn Bridge and up towards Lydney. Crossing at Arlingham and approaching into Gloucester from the North.
Hourbuilding Adventures 