Imber bus day

[whole diary]

[chuffed]

I reckon that was Four Propellers, Now! trying out his new toy.....

[grahame]

Note for next year ... should probably set up a time & place for forum members to meet if they wish.   Lunchtime pint at the Green Dragon, Market Lavington?

[LiskeardRich]

One slightly concerning moment came as I was walking to church and a remote controlled drone flew over my head.  It was certainly closer than 50 metres!  They do get some spectacular pictures but having seen a couple of near misses when they crash, it did make me feel a little uneasy.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/

I noticed today that Trago have the basic drones with cameras starting from £29.99. At that price we are going to end up with operators that aren't clued up on rules and regs.

[grahame]

One slightly concerning moment came as I was walking to church and a remote controlled drone flew over my head.  It was certainly closer than 50 metres!  They do get some spectacular pictures but having seen a couple of near misses when they crash, it did make me feel a little uneasy.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/

Yes, I felt the same concern - overhead the path and landing in the field-become-car park just to the right.



A picture isn't good when you have to explain what it shows ... HOWEVER ... it can be informative.  Landing area was between the black and the white cars, with two chaps with a table and impressive looking controllers there.  The drone I saw clearly had a lot of "whizz-bangs" like camera rotation motors as well as the main drive and was brought in about the height of three people (above the busy path) 15 to 20 metres overhead and landed in the middle of the area.  Clearly not a  "Trago Mills special" and one hopes they had dispensations, insurance, etc ... there wasn't an organisation / contact name of any sort of clear display. 

[ellendune]

One slightly concerning moment came as I was walking to church and a remote controlled drone flew over my head.  It was certainly closer than 50 metres!  They do get some spectacular pictures but having seen a couple of near misses when they crash, it did make me feel a little uneasy.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/

 
BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Wiltshire have tweeted an aerial photo of Imber. Was it them?

[grahame]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Wiltshire have tweeted an aerial photo of Imber. Was it them?

Not directly ... their pictures are credited "PA^▸ (Public Address)" which I guess means "Press Association" ... who I suspect buy in from lots of others.  BBC Wiltshire were in Imber on Friday morning, long before the buses were running, and did some excellent prior publicity;  didn't see them there at all on Saturday.

[Chris from Nailsea]

A news item, illustrated with some more cracking pictures, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

'Ghost village' on Salisbury Plain opened to public


Roads through the MoD-controlled village are opened to the public on a handful of occasions

Passengers have been taken by bus to a Salisbury Plain "ghost village" which was abandoned in 1943.

The deserted Wiltshire village of Imber was cleared during World War Two and later taken over by the military.

Vintage Routemaster buses have been used to take passengers to the village, for one day each year, since 2009.

The area is normally closed to civilians as it sits in the middle of a Ministry of Defence training zone.



Villagers were given a few weeks' notice to pack their bags and leave before the community was abandoned in December 1943.

It was needed by the army to provide an exercise area for US troops preparing to invade Europe.

In the 1970s, several empty houses were built for use by UK^▸ (United Kingdom) soldiers taking part in training exercises.



St Giles Church, the only original building left intact, was also opened to visitors for the weekend.

[Jason]

Long wait if you missed the last bus...

[trainer]

Thanks for all who posted pics here.  I wish I'd ignored the weather forecast and gone. 

[bobm]

Trainer, you are not the first person who has said that to me about Saturday.  Funnily enough I was planning to go out on Sunday too and having seen the forecast decided to stay in.  As it turned out that was the correct decision as it poured down.  You can't win!!

[bobm]

Note for next year ... should probably set up a time & place for forum members to meet if they wish.   Lunchtime pint at the Green Dragon, Market Lavington?

Date now set for 2017

Saturday 26th August 2017

https://imberbus.wordpress.com/

[ChrisB]

Time to amend the thread title?

[bobm]

Time to amend the thread title?

OK - you've twisted my arm.  Calendar updated too. 

[bobm]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Access to a "ghost village" church which was taken over by the military in World War Two is to be restricted.

The village of Imber was abandoned in 1943 and has been closed to civilians ever since as it is sited on the MoD's training zone on Salisbury Plain.

St Giles Church, the only building left intact in Imber, is normally open to the public for two weeks each August.

This year the MoD has reduced it to three days due to visitors "attempting to access restricted areas".

It was just before Christmas 1943 that Imber villagers were ordered to pack up and leave to provide a training area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe during World War Two.

They were never allowed to return and the village vanished off the map.

Since then, up to 50 days of public access is granted each year by the MoD.

But this year it has been "significantly reduced", according to Neil Skelton, custodian of the church, because visitors have been "trespassing in the restricted areas" of the deserted village.

"Last August, we had probably around 4,000 to 5,000 people over the two weeks and at Easter it was manic," he said.

"It's the sheer numbers, we're attracting so many people but if you reduce the number of days, you'll be squeezing more people in to fewer days."

'Public in danger'

It is feared people are putting their lives at risk by trespassing in to areas where there could be "unexploded ordnance".

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said keeping visitors to Imber village safe was a "top priority".

He said: "Unfortunately we have received numerous reports of members of the public placing themselves and others in danger during previous open days by attempting to access restricted areas.

"Following these reports a risk assessment was carried out which resulted in the decision to reduce public access periods to the village."

[ChrisB]

Those pesky