XM603

Have tried snapping a picture here before after finishing a weekend Nightshift but was unable to get this close. RAF Woodford was an aerodrome & aircraft factory just south of Greater Manchester. In the 1940s the Avro Lancaster was manufactured here and during the Cold Disagreement, the Hawker Siddeley (nee.Avro) Vulcan - this example - XM603 taking to the sky in 1963.

In its latter years Woodford hosted an annual airshow and after the aerodrome closed for good, for a short time it's runway was used for testing a land speed record attempting vehicle & the muscles of it's fabulous pilot! The site is now a housing development that is still partly under construction, hence the access problem.

The training course I am attending this week finished in the middle of the afternoon so I pop-pop-bang-popped over to find the builders on site along with an open gate and in we went. I may return when the visitors centre fully reopens. Have only seen one other Vulcan, as a youngster at East Midlands Airport.

Afterwards I visited Mum & Dad for an hour then headed back to cut the lawns quickly just to tidy them up some before making tea.

A later start tomorrow so that sounds like a good excuse for an extra hour of Zzz...