Breighton is on my 'must do' list, maybe next year.
Indeed you must, it's one of English GA's little gems.
Danny, just caught your comment re the water at Breighton, there had been heavy rain the week before and the Derwent had burst it's banks, hence all of the large puddles!
Beags, thanks for the link, I've looked at that website many times but never looked at the history bit! I was surprised to learn that the Bloodhound stayed in service until '91 (and indeed until '99 with the Swiss.)
When I did my Red Top/Firestreak course at Newton in '85 the Bloodhound training facility was there also, they were painted camo green at the time (the Bloodhounds that is, not the training facility...). I thought they looked far more fetching in white. Newton at the time was also the training camp for the Provost branch which was an interesting and informative time for we techies...they were an odd lot but I'm sure very nice inside.
At the time I developed bursitis on the heel of my foot (I don't recommend it) so went to the vet's and was excused service footwear until it had gone down. I had to wear trainers as they were the only thing that relieved the pain. The other foot was fine but to give a little uniformity I wore trainers on both feet. I might add that they were black trainers, not some flashy Nike jobs. That is until Mr Plod asked why I was wearing trainers. I told them and they thought long and hard, the decision being that I should wear a service shoe on the good foot and a trainer on the other. I'm serious. So I lopsidedly shuffled around the unit until my training boss had a quiet word in their shell like and I went back to trainers on both feet. They were interesting times.