6.30am Saturday

Apart from me, the High Street is more or less deserted.  At 7.30, the road will be closed to traffic as the town gets ready for its Vintage Day which will celebrate all things from the 1940s and 1950s.  

Just after 1.00pm we're in the garden and hear the roar of a Merlin engine.  There's no mistaking it.  We get a close up view of a Spitfire as it flies over our heads, does a loop around the Common and then flies back again.  As it passes over our house a flight of Swifts take to the air making a fitting accompaniment.

It's an incredibly emotional experience - both for what it represents and what it looks like.  My dad was in the RAF during the Second World War and much of my childhood was spent making models of Spitfires.  It's a real privilege to see/hear it.