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Queen Elizabeth Country Park added to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in South East by AeroJ on 11/08/2024

The South Downs contains a good few spectacular locations along its length, and Butser gets a lot of attention for being among the tallest and most open of them.

But the neighbouring peak of Butser is a slightly lower, almost entirely tree-covered hill where we find QECP, Petersfield's main big out-of-town country park, which deserves a pin on the map because it will occur to many to try and fly here, but we should be aware of the challenges in advance...

Parking is expensive if you bring the car, but bikes (and EUCs) get in free if you are up to the 400 ft climb to the top of the hill with another mile or 2 to go to the fly site once you get there ! Toilets and cafe facilities open within normal park sort of hours (also expensive !). The Park does not have any 'no drones' signs (as of Aug 2024), and I believe it's fine as long as you don't hang around the busy picnic and pizza oven areas at peak times. These border the closest TOAL field right next to the car park and make that one the least preferable of the 3 or 4 available - the others don't generally have stationary groups of people in them !

There ARE spectacular views available here, just not as many as you'd think ! It is MAINLY about the trees and sheer amount of them ! And it's quite a challenging place to fly for number of reasons I will briefly mention below.

All 3 of the potential fly sites are right at the top of the hill and are variously sized fields that adjoin the main gravel track running all the way along the main ridge from the upper car park to Wardown, which is the highest point of and end of the hill. The best place to fly from is undoubtedly the largest field, furthest from the car park (about 1.5km walk), and just before the hill drops off into the Wardown viewpoint (which is almost entirely obscured from view by trees from the ground). THIS is the view we want though and is a stunning vista back towards the town, in which we have imposing Butser on the left, the chalk quarry and town in front, and the A3 carving between the 2 hills, and vast, lush tree canopy in the foreground. This looks AMAZING in Autumn.

But the Achilles heel, so to speak, of this site is the fact that each of these TOAL fields are surrounded by tall trees, seriously limiting the amount of horizontal travel we have, even at some height without losing VLOS. The ONE exception is if you get your UV to follow the main track all the way along the hill ridge, which will give a long continuous shot with clear views of craft all the way along if you follow it on foot and lovely wooded drop-offs on both sides once you get about 100 ft above the tree-line.

We do get some RAF traffic appearing low over those trees on occasions, so good to notify them of any flights you may be intending to make here in advance. We also have to watch out for excess wind, which may seem calm at ground level, but can become suddenly huge as soon as you emerge from the canopy, where you are subject to a powerful prevailing wind that gets channelled along the A3 between the 2 hills. Although updrafts from this do get diffused by the woodland to some extent, some skim above it and can catch you, making descent a bit sketchy if you try it in the wrong places or need it in a hurry, so this is actually quite a challenging place to fly because you don't have much chance to see things coming and winds are unpredictable and powerful ! My advice is 'don't run low on power here - land well early'. The main risk is being blown out of VLOS for craft that can't handle big wind. I will only fly my M4P here on the very calmest of days.

A valid question to ask might be why you would fly here, when there is even bigger hill Butser right next door, which is a relatively easy-fly, vastly wide open space, with amazing all-round visibility wherever you fly on it, and I would have to agree !

QECP is for specialists, who want tree-lined ridges in certain lights, (and ones tall enough to poke through clouds occasionally) and who want to actually fly IN the woods where there are helpfully widely spaced and nicely managed trees and a number of interesting things to film including assault courses, bike trails, epic drop-offs and several crafty type play areas with rope swings and bridges and what-not. Looks great in golden hour. FPVers would have a ball in the woods if the light was right...

Land owner permission not required.

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

Co-ordinates: 50.97363, -0.967226 • what3words: ///logs.marching.relations

The originator declared that this location was not inside a Flight Restriction Zone at the time of being flown on 10/08/2024. It remains the responsibility of any pilot to check for any changes before flying at the same location.

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Hellingly Country Park, Wealden (By grandad1950)

A large public open space with lots of room to fly.
In addition to being home to Uckfield Cricket Club there are extensive woods and paths to explore.
A modern play area for children and lots of other sports facilities. Easy parking at the community centre.

Land owner permission requirements unknown.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.88766, 0.268003 • what3words: ///trade.list.palettes

Solway Firth /River Esk, Gretna (By Trainman)

Very quiet place , small car park . Some hard standing for take off and landing .

Land owner permission requirements unknown.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.98407, -3.070014 • what3words: ///quaking.consults.mondays

Hornsea Mere, East Riding of Yorkshire (By MickeyMoo)

Hornsea Mere is owned by Wassand Hall. It is opened to the public for numerous activities. Not sure if drone flying is allowed from the sailing club. The sailing club carpark is only opened during the day. I parked on Hull Road and took a public footpath to capture the footage. Beautiful walk in summer.
Be aware that this is a SSSI site for birds so be alert, careful with your flying.

Land owner permission requirements unknown.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.90177, -0.177792 • what3words: ///repelled.accompany.starch

Ingbirchworh Reservoir, Barnsley (By MickeyMoo)

Parking is limited to side streets. There is a picnic area.There is surrounding footpath around the reservoir. I launched my drone from the far point of the dam wall. Be careful, road traffic use this way. Quiet at most times. Plenty of dog walkers, so be careful not to spook our four legged friends.

Land owner permission not required.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.55225, -1.677336 • what3words: ///claw.clasps.confused

Scout Dike Reservoir, Barnsley (By MickeyMoo)

Can be busy on Weekends and Bank Holidays. Parking for disabled. There is a pathway around the reservoir perimeter. I took off from the car park. Beware, Yorkshire folk are not shy about coming forward and asking about your hobby. Very friendly folk.

Land owner permission not required.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.53999, -1.64609 • what3words: ///palms.activates.audio

Bexhill Down, Rother (By grandad1950)

A large multi use open space to the north of Bexhill on Sea. Lots of space to fly.

Good views across the town, the downs and the coast.

Land owner permission requirements unknown.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.84768, 0.461782 • what3words: ///dimes.cuts.discouraged

St Thomas à Becket Church Ruins, Calderdale (By Bilbo)

Parking spots can be found in the village but the streets are narrow, so I recommend parking on the road just before the schools as you enter Heptonstall.

Land owner permission requirements unknown.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.74893, -2.021518 • what3words: ///tangling.brimmed.salt

Levisham, Ryedale (By D0c.Col)

The village is recorded as a very small settlement in the Domesday Book of 1086.The name of the village was first recorded in 1086 as Leuecen, and it derives from Old Norse, meaning the farmstead of Leofgeat's people. It is believed to have moved location due to the Black Death in the 14th century. The Church of St Mary, a grade II* listed building which dates to the 11th century, is now isolated from the current village, and is thought to mark the site of a Deserted Medieval Village. The church fell into disuse in the 1950s, though burials continue, and the main place of Anglican worship is the Church of St John the Baptist, which is in Levisham village, some 2,600 feet (800 m) away from St Mary's.

Between 1974 and 2023 the village was part of the district of Ryedale.

The Shirehorse Inn, is an excellent place to call in during a circular walk along the Tabular Hills, and Skelton Tower and the Hole of Horcum beckons in the distance.

The Horseshoe Inn, does a great Sunday Lunch and parking is easy anywhere down it's main street.

Land owner permission not required.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.30445, -0.721143 • what3words: ///private.maddening.posts

Egerton Park Bexhill, Rother (By grandad1950)

A fine park just a couple of minutes from Bexhill On Sea beach. Good facilities including a lake, tennis club, bowls club, play areas for kids and a good cup of coffee at the Cafe.

Lots of space and plenty to photograph but I expect it could get busy on a sunny weekend

Land owner permission requirements unknown.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.83766, 0.464158 • what3words: ///loses.play.ruins

Holy Trinity Church, Leven, East Riding of Yorkshire (By CutThroatJake)

A casual request to the Church Warden, a neighbour, confirmed the church has no problems with drone flights outside of service times.
All the green area shown is church land.

Land owner permission obtained.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.89189, -0.31769 • what3words: ///bravo.succumbs.radar


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