Drone Scene

Wondering where you can fly your drone in the UK — and get £5,000,000 public liability insurance cover? Welcome to Drone Scene!

Wondering where you can legally fly your drone in the UK? Drone Scene helps you find great flying locations and provides £5m Public Liability Insurance cover for complete peace of mind when flying throughout the UK and Europe.

What is Drone Scene? Drone Scene is an interactive drone flight safety app and flight-planning map — built by drone pilots, for drone pilots. Trusted by tens of thousands of hobbyist and professional operators, it is the modern, feature-rich alternative to Drone Assist, featuring thousands of recommended UK flying locations shared by real pilots.

What makes Drone Scene the number one app for UK drone operators? It brings together live data including NOTAMs, Flight Restriction Zones (FRZs), Airports, Airspace Restrictions, and National Trust land boundaries, alongside trusted ground-hazard layers and detailed airspace intelligence — giving you the clarity and control to plan safe, legal flights on desktop or mobile, with no installation required.

×You must be logged in to see NOTAMs, Airspace Restrictions, National Trust boundaries and other interactive map layers.

Gloucester Docks, Gloucester & Sharpness Canal added to Rivers and Canals in South West by clinkadink on 21/11/2022

Parking: 51.864407, -2.251596
TOAL: 51.864046, -2.252143

Be aware that Gloucester Prison is 150m to the north. The North Warehouse separates the prison and docks. The photo was taken pointing south-south-west.

Gloucester Docks form the most inland port in the country. Elizabeth I granted Gloucester the status of customs port in 1580. The first customs house was at the Old Quay which stretches north from the lock at the North Quay. The house still stands and still wears the royal coat of arms.

Tolls were collect for many years before 1580. The ‘Old Quay’ was in its day a new quay! The river Severn split into three sections at Gloucester and re-joined further up river. The split in the river was the reason why the Romans built a fort here – it was the most southerly crossing point into Wales.

The most easterly arm of the river came much closer to the city lapping St Mary de Crypt – actually it was the other way around; the church was sited close to what was the river. This was the site of the Roman Quay. The bridge that crossed the river here (Westgate St) was ‘Foreign Bridge’, at the end of Westgate was ‘Westgate Bridge’ crossing the middle arm. The western arm was crossed at ‘Over Bridge’

The eastern arm silted up in the C14th hence the need for a second Quay. River traffic increased in the C18th. The development of the Main Basin and ship canal saw the decline of the second quay after which it became known as the Old Quay.

In 1793 Parliament gave the go ahead to build a ship canal to negate the difficult to negotiate tidal section of the river.

By 1797 the Main Basin had been dug, the canal took another twenty years the last years being influenced by Thomas Telford.

The hole – 16’ deep was dug by hand.

The Barge Arm, an extension of the basin was added (1824) before the canal was linked up (1827), to allow smaller barges to keep out of the way of ships.

In 1849 the Victoria Basin was opened as the port became busier. Warehouses continued to be built until the 1870’s.

Corn from Ireland and Europe, sugar from the Caribbean, timber from Scandinavia were main imports, salt from Worcestershire exported.

Imagine 30 tall ships, barges and other small craft manoeuvring around the docks. Warehouses being filled ships loaded, trams steam engines horses vying for space among the barrel and boxes piled high, imagine the dust from Corn Mills and timber yards the smoke and soot from fires and engines mixing with the sweet talk of labourers and seamen. Welcome to C19th Gloucester.

During the C19th Gloucester flourished through the canal and railway Ages and continued until the rise of motorways and container ships in the 1960’s

https://www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk/studies/historydocks.htm

View and discuss this location in more detail on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.86395, -2.252449 • what3words: ///spice.tinsel.healers

The originator declared that this location was not inside a Flight Restriction Zone at the time of being flown on 20/11/2022. It remains the responsibility of any pilot to check for any changes before flying at the same location. Landowner permission may be required before taking off.

Where to fly your drone

Filter ()
Wintersett Reservoir, Wakefield (By skysnapper13)

Wintersett Reservoir is a large, popular carp fishing lake in West Yorkshire, England, part of the Wintersett Fisheries complex, offering silver membership for its quality carp and other species, alongside walking trails around it and nearby Anglers Reservoir. It's known for quality fishing with large carp, features extensive fishing swims, and is surrounded by woodland, with ongoing improvements to access tracks and facilities.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.62889, -1.432217 • what3words: ///nightcap.estimate.options

Twmbarlwm Hillfort, Caerphilly (By gasbag43)

Twmbarlwm, also known as Twm Barlwm, Twyn Barlwm or locally known as "the Twmp" (translation: hump) is a hill situated 2 km (1.2 mi) to the northeast of Risca in South Wales. It is 419 m (1,375 ft) high and is a well-known landmark throughout the region.

It commands extensive views across the Motorway 4 corridor and out over the Bristol Channel.

At the top of the hill, near its summit, are the remains of an Iron Age hillfort, believed to have been built by the Silures, the Celtic tribe that inhabited the area before and during Roman times.

There is also a Roman signal point and a substantial Norman motte-and-bailey castle incorporated into the eastern end of the for. The area is a scheduled monument.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.62703, -3.096079 • what3words: ///outermost.gourmet.eggs

Ford Green Hall, Stoke-on-Trent (By D0c.Col)

Ford Green Hall stands quietly in the north of Stoke-on-Trent — a rare survivor from a time long before pottery kilns, factories, and industry reshaped the city.

Built in 1624 during the reign of King James I, this historic farmhouse was once the home of Hugh Ford, a yeoman farmer whose life was rooted in land, labour, and self-sufficiency. For nearly two centuries, the hall remained at the centre of a working farm, witnessing some of the most turbulent moments in English history, including the English Civil War, the execution of King Charles I, and the beginnings of industrial change.

Ford Green Hall is a beautiful historic building on the edge of the Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve— its architecture, interiors, surrounding farmland, and the quiet rhythms of rural life that once defined the area. It also reflects on the hall’s later history, including its survival through industrial expansion, flooding from the nearby Ford Green Brook, and its preservation as a historic house museum.

Blending calm narration with aerial footage, historic imagery, and atmospheric reconstructions, this video offers a gentle journey through four centuries of local history — reminding us that Stoke-on-Trent’s story began long before industry, shaped by land, labour, and ordinary lives quietly lived.

There is a carpark right next to the hall, but it is so close the road that there are loads of opportunities to park and film from. There is a petrol station opposite the hall so I'm confident that you could get a drink and a snack if you're feeling dry and peckish! The Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve looks superb, but I ran out of time to explore. I do know that it stretches back a fair way and you end up at the Whitfield Colliery Heritage Museum!

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.05491, -2.1696 • what3words: ///skips.actors.coast

Shamley Green, Waverley (By grandad1950)

Views across the two large greens in the centre of the charming Sussex village of Shamley Green complete with village pond and a cricket club.

Lots of room to fly but not a lot of parking space

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.18398, -0.524184 • what3words: ///repelled.left.respond

Side Pike & Lingmoor Fell, South Lakeland (By DavrosTG)

Fantastic views easily accessible from multiple locations straight off the road.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.43731, -3.099599 • what3words: ///overdrive.farms.paddle

Clawson Hill oilfield, Melton (By bryand)

Another part of the Nottinghamshire oilfield, but unlike Eakring, this time with working Nodding Donkeys.
Parking close by, but probably prudent to ask the farmer if anyone is around to ask.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 52.82104, -0.922398 • what3words: ///diplomats.flops.tracks

The Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon (By Rustyo200le)

The now abandoned Oasis Leisure Centre in the heart of Swindon.

There has been many attempts and draft plans submitted to bring this once thriving leisure centre back to life but unfortunately nothing as of yet seems to get started.

We parked in the entrance to the old car park which is now gated off and took off in the car park. We did get confronted by security who politely asked us not to fly over the building but had no issues with us flying otherwise.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.56744, -1.790128 • what3words: ///ties.agents.bunny

St Quintins Castle, Vale of Glamorgan (By gasbag43)

Llanblethian Castle, also known as St Quentin's or St. Quintin's Castle, was likely built by Gilbert de Clare in the early 14th century. Its key remains include a twin-towered gatehouse and a northern curtain wall. At its centre is an earthen mound with remnants of what may have been an earlier keep.


The site features ruins such as a rectangular keep stump, a semi-octagonal tower at the southeast corner, traces of a similar southwest tower, and an ivy-covered gatehouse flanked by polygonal towers.


Features include cross-shaped arrow loops, a spiral stairway leading to now-ruined rooms, and parts of the bailey walls, though much of these walls have collapsed or are buried.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.45748, -3.456552 • what3words: ///richly.decks.cabbages

Candleston Castle, Bridgend (By gasbag43)

Candleston Castle is a 14th-century fortified manor house, in ruins since the 19th century.

It comprises a D-shaped courtyard about 30m across with a very ruined wall 1.1m thick rising 2m to the wall walk from the inside but rather more above the ground outside, plus a two storey hall block and tower on the east side

Candleston's original long and narrow rectangular structure lay across the western end of a low narrow promontory, suggesting a defensive position.

The castle is believed to be named after the Norman family of Cantilupe, thought to be its first feudal tenants.

As you can see from my photos, its pretty overgrown, but beautifully located in a heavily wooded area with lovely views to be had of the surrounding area from the air

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.48285, -3.626754 • what3words: ///meanders.exams.unscathed

Newton Beach, Bridgend (By gasbag43)

Newton is the most easterly beach at Porthcawl and is a ten minute walk from the picturesque village of Newton (several nice pubs!).

It is a long sand and rock beach backed by the very extensive and scientifically interesting Newton Burrows and Merthyr Mawr sand dunes. It is popular with windsurfers, jet skiers and power boat users so best to time any flight away from peak periods

There is a pay car park, but off season, I’ve always found it possible to park on the road no more than 100 metres from the beach

To the top right of the image in the distance you can see Dunraven, Monknash and Nash Point along the coast – all great drone locations

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.47914, -3.662567 • what3words: ///sweetly.inefficient.secondly


Show All Locations

Our Recommended Retailer

Grey Arrows Drone Club recommends purchasing drones and drone accessories from Leicester Drones Ltd, our partnered retailer of choice, where our Club members are eligible for a discount on most purchases.

Service provided by