We farewelled Len and Wendy and headed for Duxford Air Force museum. I had hoped to visit a house on the way but it was not open until 11am and we were at Duxford just after 10am. It is a huge museum with 8 large hangars and the path from the 1st to the last is about 1 mile.

John was delighted because the first thing he saw was a Fortress aeroplane . It was in US colours of course and is the only airworthy one left. We went into the hangar where historic planes are being restored and saw a number of Spitfires amongst others.

We spent more time in the Battle of Britain hangar which also had information about the history of the airfield. There were a number of planes and other vehicles but I was more interested in the Anderson shelter and some of the human stories from the Blitz.

I hadn't known the story of the Baedeker Raids. Baedeker was a very popular pre war tourist book and it had named Bath, Canterbury, Norwich and York as the top places to visit in England. After the historic German cities were part of the Allied bombing, Hitler had ordered raids on these cities because of this.

It also talked about rationing and said that as well as food, seeds were often in food parcels from abroad. It was also pointed out that 60,000 British civilians died in WW2 but 500,000 Japanese and 750,000 German civilians .

We went into the Operations room which was there from the war but renovated of course. A voiceover went though a mock raid.

The next stop was at a prefabricated bungalow. Near the end of the war these were produced and were able to be erected on site in 3 days to house some of the families whose homes had been destroyed. They were meant to last 10 years but some lasted much longer. It was pointed out that many families had better accommodation in these than they had ever had. They had a kitchen, inside bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a living room. Outside there was an Anderson shelter set up with the comment that people with higher incomes were expected to buy their own.

The US hangar was having a new path installed with glass panels representing the planes shot down in various squadrons. Inside they had planes from the war through to the cold war and also a spy plane. It was noted that in 1944, 1 in 7 of the population of Suffolk were US airmen so they played a big part in village life as well as having many US supplies on the base (coca cola, donuts) .

There was a guide to US soldiers on display that had a glossary of English words (as distinct from American) and said things like NEVER criticize the king and Queen, remember the English are reserved, don’t criticise the food. The comment was made that   'It is always impolite to criticise your hosts. It is militarily stupid to criticise your allies’. The Americans were also told that despite the British being quiet and reserved they were ‘no panty waisters’ and had stood up to Hitler. There were also pages from a similar book the English were given to help them work with Americans

John went on a fight simulator that was meant to represent a Spitfire flight. I did suggest he do an actual flight as they had a bi plane doing short trips but he thought it would be too cold as well as pricey.

We went last to the 1st hangar which is the recommended first stop. It has a number of great displays about flight including the history of flight, fitness requirements, the mechanics of planes etc . My highlight was going into a Concorde. We entered by the cockpit and walked through the plane which had various information panels in the front and rows of rather cramped looking seats at the back. It even had a airline trolley which looked just the same as the ones we see in economy class, however the menus on display were much more elaborate.

We stopped off at Ely for a late lunch at a pub where we could check emails. We revisited the church and walked around the block before heading north again. We arrived on time at Gerald and Helen’s home in Dersingham, a bit north of Kings Lynn in Norfolk. Our room overlooks a park area and we have already seen pheasants in the area. Their section backs onto Sandringham.

After tea they drove us to Hunstanton so we could watch the sunset. This part of Norfolk faces west over a large area of sea called ‘the Wash’ and the sunset was lovely. There were a number of others also out with cameras. We also saw the lighthouse that Raewyn, my cousin, keeps saying she will buy. However, it is being run as a BnB and is no longer for sale!! We had a good walk along the foreshore looking at the colours in the cliffs before driving back on country roads.