News update December 2023..
Dec 13, 2023 16:47:29 GMT
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Post by PB on Dec 13, 2023 16:47:29 GMT
Blackbushe Heritage Trust - News Update 10 – December 2023
As always it has been a busy few months at the BHT with a lot going on and new avenues opening up.
What we need most of all right now is more volunteers to get involved to cover an ever increasing
workload. There are different areas to work in – engineering, the shop, events, fundraising, social media,
community engagement or historic research. There is no minimum commitment at all and we have
inclusivity at the heart of everything we do. If you are interested in finding out more, please do get in touch
either via the form on our web site under ‘Volunteer’ or by emailing us. We look forward to hearing from
you.
A number of us attended the Aviation Heritage UK (AHUK) meeting at Old Sarum on 21st October and it
was an absolute honour (and a total surprise) to be awarded their ‘Group of the Year’. Trustees Pat
Marchant and Phil Johns accepted the trophy on behalf of everyone involved in the BHT. It does not matter
what level of support you have given either through volunteer hours or financially, it has all added up to
the position we are in now. Another surprise followed on the Monday afterwards when Chairman Peter
Brown was awarded the AHUK ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Sir Gerald Howarth, President of the
Historic Aircraft Association and Aldershot MP 1997-2007. Peter Brown has been a lifelong passionate
supporter of Blackbushe. He worked at the airfield alongside legendary Air Vice Marshall Don Bennett, has
organised many airshows and the more recent Air Days, has run the popular forum for many years and
took the helm as our Chairman at the Trust’s formation. A very well deserved award, many congratulations
to Peter.
As the BHT evolves and naturally becomes more complex we have put in place a management style
structure. As Trustees we look after the governance of the Trust but as five of us work full time we are
keen to delegate, where able, our responsibility for organising day to day activities. Ten Lead positions
have been created to work alongside Trustees and so far eight have been filled. The idea is that we will be
able to streamline the organisation by encouraging people to communicate with the relevant Leads and
Trustees. We will also shortly publish a Code of Conduct which all active volunteers will need to read and
sign. Most charities have such a document in place and it will cover areas such as equal opportunities,
health and safety, safe guarding and standard procedures.
Many of our dedicated group of volunteers have been very busy of late and as always it is impossible to
mention everyone. The Engineering team have been making excellent progress, helped by the generous
offer of free of charge scaffolding from Vision Scaffolding in Wokingham. The aircraft was raised and
placed on more purpose built trestles, courtesy of Paul Nichols. It has been cocooned for a number of
weeks whilst paint stripping has been carried out at an impressive pace, sometimes in temperatures of minus 6°C.
Other tasks carried out of late include duckboards constructed, baggage doors removed and the
installation of a grab pole and strut on the aft frame.
Pete Vickery has done a superb job equipping our new shop and history hub building ready for books and
memorabilia to be transferred in shortly. Those of you who are familiar with the History Hub boards that
were created by Rob Belcher and Peter Brown will see they have been relocated to this new multi use
space. We hope to ‘crew’ the shop on a regular basis, perhaps one day a week, but this depends on
attracting more willing volunteers to get involved. Once again please consider getting involved if you are
not already.
Dave Payne and Mark Griffiths gave an informative presentation on 29th November at the British Airways
Heritage Centre outlining the recovery of Vagabond this year. The audience included both staff on their
lunch break and visitors from the general public. We met some interesting people with their own
recollections of the Viking. One lady used to work in crew operations at British European Airways and knew
the names of all the Captains on the Flight Bulletins which we showed.
A week later we were back at the BA headquarters for the Sustainability Fayre. We certainly made our
presence heard as British European Airways PA announcements were broadcast throughout the day from
an excellent audio system that Phil Johns knocked together in his workshop. As Senior Managers were
brought up to date with our progress they were treated to the sound of two Bristol Hercules engines
increasing from idle to maximum RPM on take off!
The Transport Trust has installed one of their iconic Red Wheel plaques at Blackbushe. The Trust is the only
national body which promotes and encourages the preservation and restoration of Britain’s vast transport
heritage in all its forms – road, rail, wings and water. Our Wheel is one of the first to feature a QR code for
a direct link to their website. Staying with the subject of plaques, we were very grateful to Phil Stonard for
refurbishing the older plaques on the control tower in time for Remembrance Sunday when a service was
held and Peter Brown laid a BHT wreath.
Pathfinder evening events continue to be popular. Regular Quiz nights are organised by the airport with
profits going towards BHT, the last one for the year is this Thursday 14th December and there are still
places available. If you’ve missed out there will be more in 2024. Our evening talks programme has
continued well, Blackbushe Historian Rob Belcher carried on where he left off last year on 19th October and
Bob Wealthy from the Britten Norman Aircraft Preservation Society gave an informative overview of the
restoration of Islander G-AVCN, recovered from Puerto Rico in 2000. Our next Pathfinder event takes place
on 21st December with an informal get together featuring an update from Trustees and tea/coffee plus a
cold buffet. All for a suggested donation of £5 on the door (cash or card). We will look forward to seeing
you there. Our Christmas Raffle will also be drawn then so please make sure you have bought your tickets.
These are available at the Pathfinder or through our online store, where recent additions are our 2024
Calendar and BHT Watches.
Reflecting on 2023, it sure has been an incredible year for us. Once again a massive thank you, we have
come a long way all because of the support you give.
Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2024,
Peter, Phil, Dave, Pat, Chris, Becky and Mark
Trustees
As always it has been a busy few months at the BHT with a lot going on and new avenues opening up.
What we need most of all right now is more volunteers to get involved to cover an ever increasing
workload. There are different areas to work in – engineering, the shop, events, fundraising, social media,
community engagement or historic research. There is no minimum commitment at all and we have
inclusivity at the heart of everything we do. If you are interested in finding out more, please do get in touch
either via the form on our web site under ‘Volunteer’ or by emailing us. We look forward to hearing from
you.
A number of us attended the Aviation Heritage UK (AHUK) meeting at Old Sarum on 21st October and it
was an absolute honour (and a total surprise) to be awarded their ‘Group of the Year’. Trustees Pat
Marchant and Phil Johns accepted the trophy on behalf of everyone involved in the BHT. It does not matter
what level of support you have given either through volunteer hours or financially, it has all added up to
the position we are in now. Another surprise followed on the Monday afterwards when Chairman Peter
Brown was awarded the AHUK ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Sir Gerald Howarth, President of the
Historic Aircraft Association and Aldershot MP 1997-2007. Peter Brown has been a lifelong passionate
supporter of Blackbushe. He worked at the airfield alongside legendary Air Vice Marshall Don Bennett, has
organised many airshows and the more recent Air Days, has run the popular forum for many years and
took the helm as our Chairman at the Trust’s formation. A very well deserved award, many congratulations
to Peter.
As the BHT evolves and naturally becomes more complex we have put in place a management style
structure. As Trustees we look after the governance of the Trust but as five of us work full time we are
keen to delegate, where able, our responsibility for organising day to day activities. Ten Lead positions
have been created to work alongside Trustees and so far eight have been filled. The idea is that we will be
able to streamline the organisation by encouraging people to communicate with the relevant Leads and
Trustees. We will also shortly publish a Code of Conduct which all active volunteers will need to read and
sign. Most charities have such a document in place and it will cover areas such as equal opportunities,
health and safety, safe guarding and standard procedures.
Many of our dedicated group of volunteers have been very busy of late and as always it is impossible to
mention everyone. The Engineering team have been making excellent progress, helped by the generous
offer of free of charge scaffolding from Vision Scaffolding in Wokingham. The aircraft was raised and
placed on more purpose built trestles, courtesy of Paul Nichols. It has been cocooned for a number of
weeks whilst paint stripping has been carried out at an impressive pace, sometimes in temperatures of minus 6°C.
Other tasks carried out of late include duckboards constructed, baggage doors removed and the
installation of a grab pole and strut on the aft frame.
Pete Vickery has done a superb job equipping our new shop and history hub building ready for books and
memorabilia to be transferred in shortly. Those of you who are familiar with the History Hub boards that
were created by Rob Belcher and Peter Brown will see they have been relocated to this new multi use
space. We hope to ‘crew’ the shop on a regular basis, perhaps one day a week, but this depends on
attracting more willing volunteers to get involved. Once again please consider getting involved if you are
not already.
Dave Payne and Mark Griffiths gave an informative presentation on 29th November at the British Airways
Heritage Centre outlining the recovery of Vagabond this year. The audience included both staff on their
lunch break and visitors from the general public. We met some interesting people with their own
recollections of the Viking. One lady used to work in crew operations at British European Airways and knew
the names of all the Captains on the Flight Bulletins which we showed.
A week later we were back at the BA headquarters for the Sustainability Fayre. We certainly made our
presence heard as British European Airways PA announcements were broadcast throughout the day from
an excellent audio system that Phil Johns knocked together in his workshop. As Senior Managers were
brought up to date with our progress they were treated to the sound of two Bristol Hercules engines
increasing from idle to maximum RPM on take off!
The Transport Trust has installed one of their iconic Red Wheel plaques at Blackbushe. The Trust is the only
national body which promotes and encourages the preservation and restoration of Britain’s vast transport
heritage in all its forms – road, rail, wings and water. Our Wheel is one of the first to feature a QR code for
a direct link to their website. Staying with the subject of plaques, we were very grateful to Phil Stonard for
refurbishing the older plaques on the control tower in time for Remembrance Sunday when a service was
held and Peter Brown laid a BHT wreath.
Pathfinder evening events continue to be popular. Regular Quiz nights are organised by the airport with
profits going towards BHT, the last one for the year is this Thursday 14th December and there are still
places available. If you’ve missed out there will be more in 2024. Our evening talks programme has
continued well, Blackbushe Historian Rob Belcher carried on where he left off last year on 19th October and
Bob Wealthy from the Britten Norman Aircraft Preservation Society gave an informative overview of the
restoration of Islander G-AVCN, recovered from Puerto Rico in 2000. Our next Pathfinder event takes place
on 21st December with an informal get together featuring an update from Trustees and tea/coffee plus a
cold buffet. All for a suggested donation of £5 on the door (cash or card). We will look forward to seeing
you there. Our Christmas Raffle will also be drawn then so please make sure you have bought your tickets.
These are available at the Pathfinder or through our online store, where recent additions are our 2024
Calendar and BHT Watches.
Reflecting on 2023, it sure has been an incredible year for us. Once again a massive thank you, we have
come a long way all because of the support you give.
Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2024,
Peter, Phil, Dave, Pat, Chris, Becky and Mark
Trustees