Binbrook Boots
Not really surprised about the Blacksmith's landlord's attitude.... only went in there once, didn't eat, just drinks, which themselves were underwhelming and overpriced. I think you needed someone fluent in Serbo-Croat to decipher the menu... all poncey and, IMO, out of place in what should be a cozy rural pub. I may be misinformed, but I heard that the owner is ex-BA cabin crew.
The Click'em is nearer to me, and as others have said, better food, better ales, (multiple CAMRA award-winner,) and a far less pretentious atmosphere.
The Click'em is nearer to me, and as others have said, better food, better ales, (multiple CAMRA award-winner,) and a far less pretentious atmosphere.
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: In an ever changing place
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My son did a bit more digging and got this reply:Hi, Chris,
Good to hear from you and please give my best wishes to your father. I know that he was badly injured in the Hunter crash and I hope he has made a good recovery.
When the base closed, the boots were mounted on wooden shields carrying a small brass plate with the name of the pilot, the date of the ejection and the serial number of the aeroplane. As you know, they were then displayed at the Blacksmith’s Arms in Rothwell during a ceremony attended by many of the ejectees themselves.
The then landlord, Morris Phillips, was a strong supporter of the armed forces and not just the air force. In his hallway at home, he had an original painting of the SAS raid on the Iranian embassy showing two troopers shooting a terrorist on the stairs, and he certainly had many military connections. There were a number of other Lightning artefacts displayed in the pub, such as the cracked windscreen from T.5 which had been on a missile-firing exercise at Aberporth against a Jindivik-towed flare. The missile came off the rail and exploded about 100 metres in front of the jet, which then flew into the rocket motor and severely damaged the windscreen, but it did not penetrate.
When the new landlord took over, I briefed everyone to keep an eye on him to see what his attitude would be to the various military displays. We soon got an answer, when he scrubbed all the many squadron zaps off the canopy over the bar, so all the history of the RAF and visiting units going back to 1940 was immediately lost. I went down with a bunch of Lightning Association guys and spoke to the landlord’s wife, who confirmed that everything was going. In fact, some pieces were already in a skip in the yard. We rescued everything we could, including all the boots we could find, although I cannot guarantee that we got them all. If not, it certainly was not for want of effort.
One or two of the guys wanted to divvy up the boots amongst ourselves, but as chairman of the Association I stamped firmly on that one. I insisted that we contact the original pilots and return their boots, and this was done for all but three of them. One was the French Mirage III pilot whose single boot (more of a shoe) had started the tradition. One was an Australian exchange pilot who had returned to Australia and who we were never able to trace. The last pair belonged to a pilot who was still in the Service, but who wasn’t interested in having his boots back.
The three shields were displayed in a room at my house called the Lightning Room, effectively a small Lightning museum which is visited by people from all over the world. One year, I received a letter from an Englishman who had been travelling in France and stayed at a gite in the grounds of an old mill. The owner turned out to be the French ejectee (who it turned out had also thrown away another Mirage III) and the letter provided his name and address. At that time we holidayed in France several times a year, so we sent the pilot photographs of the Room with his boot and eventually visited him during one of our trips.
It was clear that his military days were still very important to him. He had a bar in his house festooned with flying helmets, photographs and prints, control columns and flying suits. He eventually became a colonel and was the French liaison officer in the first Gulf War, although most of his photographs are of American female soldiers! We became and remain good friends. On our next trip we dismounted his shield from the wall and took it out for him, but as a surprise. The look on his face when he opened the box is impossible to describe. He had obviously wanted to have his boot returned but was too well-mannered to ask. Anyway, it was definitely the right thing to do.
If Craig’s boot was not returned to him and as I do not have it, either we did not find it while searching at Rothwell, or someone may have taken it, although I would be extremely disappointed if that were the case. However, I am still in touch with many of the surviving members of the team and will make enquiries to try to find out any further information.
I hope this is of some help and I’m sorry that I have not been of more assistance. If I find out any more, I will let you know immediately. In the meantime, please give Craig our very best wishes for his 60th birthday from all here at Binbrook and in the Lightning Association.
Best wishes,
Charles
Good to hear from you and please give my best wishes to your father. I know that he was badly injured in the Hunter crash and I hope he has made a good recovery.
When the base closed, the boots were mounted on wooden shields carrying a small brass plate with the name of the pilot, the date of the ejection and the serial number of the aeroplane. As you know, they were then displayed at the Blacksmith’s Arms in Rothwell during a ceremony attended by many of the ejectees themselves.
The then landlord, Morris Phillips, was a strong supporter of the armed forces and not just the air force. In his hallway at home, he had an original painting of the SAS raid on the Iranian embassy showing two troopers shooting a terrorist on the stairs, and he certainly had many military connections. There were a number of other Lightning artefacts displayed in the pub, such as the cracked windscreen from T.5 which had been on a missile-firing exercise at Aberporth against a Jindivik-towed flare. The missile came off the rail and exploded about 100 metres in front of the jet, which then flew into the rocket motor and severely damaged the windscreen, but it did not penetrate.
When the new landlord took over, I briefed everyone to keep an eye on him to see what his attitude would be to the various military displays. We soon got an answer, when he scrubbed all the many squadron zaps off the canopy over the bar, so all the history of the RAF and visiting units going back to 1940 was immediately lost. I went down with a bunch of Lightning Association guys and spoke to the landlord’s wife, who confirmed that everything was going. In fact, some pieces were already in a skip in the yard. We rescued everything we could, including all the boots we could find, although I cannot guarantee that we got them all. If not, it certainly was not for want of effort.
One or two of the guys wanted to divvy up the boots amongst ourselves, but as chairman of the Association I stamped firmly on that one. I insisted that we contact the original pilots and return their boots, and this was done for all but three of them. One was the French Mirage III pilot whose single boot (more of a shoe) had started the tradition. One was an Australian exchange pilot who had returned to Australia and who we were never able to trace. The last pair belonged to a pilot who was still in the Service, but who wasn’t interested in having his boots back.
The three shields were displayed in a room at my house called the Lightning Room, effectively a small Lightning museum which is visited by people from all over the world. One year, I received a letter from an Englishman who had been travelling in France and stayed at a gite in the grounds of an old mill. The owner turned out to be the French ejectee (who it turned out had also thrown away another Mirage III) and the letter provided his name and address. At that time we holidayed in France several times a year, so we sent the pilot photographs of the Room with his boot and eventually visited him during one of our trips.
It was clear that his military days were still very important to him. He had a bar in his house festooned with flying helmets, photographs and prints, control columns and flying suits. He eventually became a colonel and was the French liaison officer in the first Gulf War, although most of his photographs are of American female soldiers! We became and remain good friends. On our next trip we dismounted his shield from the wall and took it out for him, but as a surprise. The look on his face when he opened the box is impossible to describe. He had obviously wanted to have his boot returned but was too well-mannered to ask. Anyway, it was definitely the right thing to do.
If Craig’s boot was not returned to him and as I do not have it, either we did not find it while searching at Rothwell, or someone may have taken it, although I would be extremely disappointed if that were the case. However, I am still in touch with many of the surviving members of the team and will make enquiries to try to find out any further information.
I hope this is of some help and I’m sorry that I have not been of more assistance. If I find out any more, I will let you know immediately. In the meantime, please give Craig our very best wishes for his 60th birthday from all here at Binbrook and in the Lightning Association.
Best wishes,
Charles
