Two weeks after the first European meeting of the year in Dresden, the weather remained kind once again, and on the weekend of 21 to 23 June, it was again gloriously sunny for the IFFR UK weekend meeting in Leicester, right in the centre of England. After two years travelling the world as IFFR President, it was a pleasure for me that my last section weekend was back here in the UK where my journey started.
About half the party arrived on the Thursday evening for an informal dinner, and were then ready on the Friday morning for a walking tour of this city, exploring its Roman ruins, its former castle and its place in the UK’s industrial revolution. We saw hidden sides to Leicester that none of us would have imagined were there.
The main event proper started with a buffet lunch at Leicester airport on Friday lunchtime. For some this was slightly delayed. We received word that PWP James Alexander had lost his vacuum pump while en route to Leicester and so had diverted to his maintenance base at Little Staughton, near Huntingdon. I offered to fly down to collect him and jumped into G-IFFR, only to discover when doing my power checks that one magneto had failed. At this point, IFFR Benelux member Tony de Bruyn kindly stepped in and flew down to rescue James in his very fast Siai Marchetti F260 (OO-EEJ), returning long before the buffet was gone.
After a guided tour of the hangers and kicking tyres, we headed into the city centre to our hotel. We gathered again in the early evening for a fascinating talk tracing the history of the Leicestershire Aero Club from its inception in 1909
We enjoyed our Gala Dinnner in the spectacular Grand Hall of St Martins House on the Friday evening. That was a great idea – no one was flying the following day.
Saturday was a day of contrasts. We started in the morning with a visit to the National Space Centre, with its iconic 42m high Rocket Tower visible from a distance as we approached. We explored the six themed galleries telling the history of space travel right up to the present day and enjoyed a show in the UK’s largest 360° full dome planetarium.
We lunched at the Abbey Pumping Station, home to Leicester’s museum of science and technology. The museum is housed in an 1891 grand Victorian building displaying the city’s industrial, technological and scientific heritage, including the twin Woolf compound rotative beam engines – the only place in Britain this magnificent sight can be seen.
We enjoyed the afternoon at Leicester Cathedral and the King Richard III visitor centre – the late king’s body having been discovered buried under what is now a council car park just a few years ago.
Leicester is famed for its Asian restaurants, so on the Saturday night, our weekend finished with a delicious Indian meal nearby.
Thanks go to Rodney Spokes for a great weekend.
