What a Weekend: The Red Arrows and The Sands of Rhyl

On Sunday, the two boys and I were invited to join my brother and his neighbour on a day trip to the seaside resort of Rhyl in North Wales. There was also an air show and it was rumoured that the royal Prince Harry may turn up. His neighbour offered to take us as he only had his daughter and my niece on board. My brother tailed closely behind with the rest of his family.

The urban landscape of our industrialised town in the northern part of England rolled into swathes of Welsh pasture land with sheep, horses and cattle lazily grazing. The sun rolled through white turning grey clouds that occasionally dispersed to their bright azure-coloured background. However, the boys were more interested in the goodies they had packed in their bags: chocolate, sweets, cakes and snack rolls. As they tucked into an extended breakfast, my friend and driver regaled his tales of when he worked in Wales. We eventually arrived and we parked our cars where we could: it was very busy.

The first aviation exhibit was started by the aerobatic team of the Royal Air Force: The Red Arrows. The expectant audience interrupted their Oohs and Aahs with regular applause. I lifted the boys in turn high above my head to settle on my shoulders and I could feel their tremulous excitement as the daring pilots negotiated acts of bravery whilst travelling at amazing speeds. The event was astounding and after the RAF finished, they were followed by other similar aircraft and biplanes with wing walkers teasing the anticipation of the onlooking crowds. We also visited the RAF encampment that had stalls, simulator rides and a large helicopter.

After the air show we wandered down to the beach and sank our backsides into the soft sand. The children enjoyed building their own version of sandcastles. Joshua, my eldest, was most impressed with his tunnels and Eriah sought out rocks and shells for decoration. I dug into my bag to get the children a drink. I had packed a flask, plastic cups with instant tea for them and for myself I had coffee.

We stayed until the sun crept behind darkening clouds and the wind started whipping a cold air along the coast. We returned to newly stickered cars that displayed a penalty notice. It dampened the day a little before it was quickly shrugged off. No warden was going to take this fun trip away from us.

The following authors have helped contribute through links in my hub:

Rhyl by Andrea Roberts

Camping in North Wales by hathibelagal

North West England - Travel Itinerary by nakmeister

How to Draw Cumulus Clouds by robertsloan2

Sandcastles by no after the glow

Fossils Show Us Past Life by diogenes

On Saturday the 20th August, Jon Egging, Red Four, more commonly known to his colleagues as "Eggman" died in his aircraft whilst taking part in an airshow in Bournemouth on the south coast of England. Our hearts go out to his family. More news can be obtained from the BBC NEWS website.

Our commiserations also go to the family of the departed airshow wingwalker Todd Green who died participating at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan.