Originally Posted by
treadigraph
Cor, talk about thread drift!
Re Elizabeth Taylor and St Just, there was something recently about my brother bunking off school and being there when she opened the terminal - I think he found some film of the event on YouTube or something and wasn't quite in the shot but his fellow scholastic escapologist was.
Brian (who had been on BEA Comets ) ran St Just rather like a rest home for BEA Pilots who were not overemployed at the time. In fact the operation was run by corporation types on leave or between rosters. Years later the odd chap (but now on Boeings) would call in to look over the place where he had once played with Rapides. The cafe 'pond' was the old inspection pit which in Brians day sometimes contained sea water with a lobster in situ. The approach aids were muti coloured telegraph poles on the approach which survived up to a few years ago. The main business was pleasure trips and flying shellfish to France. After Brians 'holiday' in the middle east all the equipment and Aircraft went to auction, and eventually Viv Bellamy arrived and started a flying club alongside the pleasure flying. Westward airways began charter ops to Scillies with Islander and C337 and later the the Steamship co took over with its first Islander (eventually 5) and then the Otters. A common theme during all this (and now) is the ability of the place to 'clamp' in minutes which can last for a couple of days at a time. (hence need for an excellent cafe)
No doubt opening the St Just cafe was Liz Taylors career high spot !!