Pentax S1a goes shooting ghosts in Twyford Wood

[grahams]

One of the favoured pastimes of the best-beloved and I is hiking, or

rambling, as we call it here. Last bank holiday weekend we were up

in Lincolnshire, and while in the old stone town of Stamford (see my

previous post on <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-

msg?msg_id=00DJbw" target="_blank">this</a>) we picked up a map of

the local forests and footpaths, or rights-of-way.

 

 

These are footpaths that were established in the dim and distant past

as the routes that local people took to travel between villages, or

between farms and markets, before there were safe public roads. No-

matter how the boundaries of private land changed, the right of the

public to use these footpaths has been guaranteed in law down the

ages. Many landowners have tried to restrict this right, but few

have succeeded as organisations such as the Ramblers Association are

vehemently protective of the public?s right to roam.

 

 

 

To return to topic, we were intrigued by a map of a walk through a

local forest where the path follows the disused runways of a former

airfield. We discovered the remains of RAF North Witham, which was

allocated to the USAAF IX Troop Carrier Command HQ. In March 1944,

IX TCC Pathfinder School was established here to train the leading D-

Day airborne invasion forces.

 

 

 

20 C-47?s left North Witham at 22.00 hours on June 6th 1944, landing

200 pathfinder troops in Normandy at 12.00 hours on D-Day to guide in

the main paratroop forces. After being handed back to the RAF in

1945, the runways were used for bomb storage until 1948. The

airfield was decommissioned in 1956 and sold off to the forestry

service in 1960, who then extended the adjacent Twyford Wood to cover

the airfield site.

 

 

 

The Pentax H1a with 55mm f2.0 SMC Takumar and the 35mm f2.8 Pentax

Super Takumar came along and yes, I cheated by converting the Fuji

Superia 200 neg to B&W in PSCS, for the shots posted here. I think

that the subject deserves the treatment of B&W, which is in keeping

with the era. We walked into the wood, whose trees are now around

30 feet tall in places, and soon came upon the remains of the main

runway when the footpath turned to concrete and widened out to over

300 yards. We walked down the length of this runway, between silent

trees, to the remains of the control tower building and the loading

ramp used to unload munitions trucks. Now I don?t care if you don?t

believe me, but I could hear the engines of those C-47?s echoing off

the concrete as we walked ? it was very spooky. The noise of the wind

in the trees blended with the distinctive sound of twin radial

aircraft engines and the sound of wings with full flaps rushing past

us.

 

 

 

From there we walked along the interconnecting taxi-way and back

along the cross-wind runway. Took us three hours and we felt as if

we had been in another world. Here are some of the shots.<div></div>

[grahams]

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[grahams]

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[grahams]

Shot above: The remains of the control tower.<div></div>

[grahams]

*****<div></div>

[grahams]

******<div></div>

[grahams]

*******<div></div>

[kevin mayo]

Nice history lesson it brings back memories. Bacl in the late 60's early 70's my father owned a filling station in Sutton Ma. One of our customers was a DDay pathfinder. I always considered the Pathfinders the bravest of the brave he just shrugged it off as doing his job. I loved the photos also I agree B&W worked for these

Kevin

[grahams]

I don't know why this won't post properly, it is 511 px<div></div>

[rustys pics]

Great photographs. They remind of the opening scene from "12 O'Clock High". Surprising to see them in such good shape 6 decades later. The Old Pentax looks quite sharp. Good to hear that the UK still respects the concept of public land....

[gene m]

Ghostly stuff.

[john_robison3]

Lovley Graham, thanks for sharing. In the U S we don't own privite land, all we own is the right to pay taxes on it. Close to were I grew up there is quite a lot of land the govt used in WW 2 that has now gone back to privite and public use. Some of the "10 year" wooden buildings are still in use. regards, John R.

[summitar]

Bless them all, bless them all, the long and the short and the tall...

 

Love the photos.

 

My daughter, a retired USAF Lt. Colonel, was stationed at Lakenheath RAFB 1984-87, which is located in Suffolk. We visited in 1985. Beautiful spot. To round out the history, my grandfather, Pvt Sam Kennedy was a rifleman assigned to the 1st Lincolnshire Regiment and, along with Sir Winston, took part in Kitchener's 1898 expedition to retake Khartoum in the Sudan from the crazies, which included whirling dervishes and fuzzy wuzzies. I actually interfaced with the old man before his death in 1944. The family came to the US in 1912, including my then 12 year old father because there wasn't enough poverty to go around in Scotland. In their infinite wisdom they settled in the Appalachian area around Wheeling WV, where thanks to the coal mines, there definately was enough poverty to go around. And because it is like deja vu all over again, my youngest son is in the Army in Iraq, thanks to the crazies (but these crazies currently occupy Washington DC, except when they are on vacation).

 

Camera question: how does the H1a compare with the Spotmatic. Obviously it is an effective picture taker (along with its master), but does the H1a provide any metering assistance?

[grahams]

Kerry - Glad you enjoyed. I guess many have connections with and memories about the various conflicts that our elected masters decided would be good for us. I too have ancestors from Scotland who settled in South Africa in 1915, from the Isle of Skye, and shared in the relative prosperity of the gold mines.

 

The S1a / H1a predates the SP by a couple of years. It has no metering at all and marked shutter speeds up to 1/500th. The body is slightly smaller and lighter than the SP, and is therefore handier in my opinion. Still, a great camera.

[wayne_cornell2]

Actually there was a clip on CDS meter for the H1A that mounted over the prism housing and clamped around the viewfinder eyepiece. Back in the late 1960s I had an H1A with 200mm, 30mm and 35mm Takumars (I think someone in Vietnam brought them home). I really liked the shape of the camera --seemed a little smaller than the Spotmatic--and lighter. Traded it off to get a Nikkormat. Wish I had held onto it.

[dennis_gallus]

Graham,

 

A neat essay and good supporting photos. The main reason I like this PN forum so much is that most posters go through the additional trouble to make their postings interesting on several levels, not just the nuts and bolts of photography.

 

My favorite uncle, now departed, flew B-24s during WWII and regaled me with stories of his many missions, so I can also hear the throaty roar of those big reciprocating engines. Thanks,

 

Dennis

[Sandeha Lynch]

A moving emptiness. The forest seems a suitable covering.

[grahams]

Thanks for the comments, glad you enjoyed.