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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...

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. Landowner permission may be required before taking off.

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Allington Castle, Maidstone (By SteveClark)

A lovely place to fly, a superb building to photo/video and so close to to Allington Marina - 2 for the price if 1. This TOAL site is not ideal with overhanging trees and a narrow path to use but is manageable. Car parking is about 400m away.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.29339, 0.511894 • what3words: ///brand.retrial.matchbox

Atwick Cliffs, East Riding of Yorkshire (By CutThroatJake)

Public footpath on top of the coastal cliffs at Atwick.
Coastal erosion taking its toll on the area.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.94359, -0.181332 • what3words: ///reporting.cluttered.gymnasium

Annan Harbour (By Gogs1)

The town of Annan lies on the Solway coast in Dumfries and Galloway in the South west of Scotland. The harbour, now sadly in decline, has a rich history rooted in fishing, trade and shipbuilding, including in years gone by the construction of 1000 ton tea clippers. Annan Harbour Action Group is now leading a multi million pound regeneration project to restore the harbour and reconnect the town with its maritime history.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.9817, -3.270892 • what3words: ///factoring.strut.asleep

Philipps House, Salisbury (By gasbag43)

Lovely location with far-reaching rolling parkland with tranquil views in the grounds of a Neo-Grecian house.

Philipps House (until 1916 Dinton House) is an early 19th-century Neo-Grecian country house at Dinton, overlooking the Nadder valley about 8 miles (13 km) west of Salisbury, Wiltshire.

The house was built in 1816. In 1916 the estate was bought by Bertram Philipps, who renamed the house after himself, then in 1943 he gave the house and grounds to the National Trust. The house is Grade II* listed and its parkland (known as Dinton Park is Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Although Philipps House only dates back to 1816, the parkland trees are evidence of a much more ancient landscape. Of particular note is the massive sweet chestnut near to the house.

Of particular interest (to me!) is the iron age hillfort hidden in the wood behind the house – Wick Ball camp – that I found when reviewing the location on the relevant Ordnance Survey map. The term ‘Wick’ often indicates the presence of a vicus – a Latin term for a settlement outside the walls of a Roman fort. Additionally, the term ‘ball’ often denotes a boundary, and is a shortening of the word ‘bailiwick”. I couldn’t see anything from the air so explored the wood on foot – the boundary ditch and earthworks are clearly visible up close but completely absorbed by the forest

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.08657, -1.995692 • what3words: ///hiked.link.succumbs

St Mary the Virgin church, Salisbury (By gasbag43)

The parish of Dinton lies alongside the B3089 nine miles to the west of Salisbury within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Church of England parish church is St Mary the Virgin, which was begun in the late 12th century. It is a Grade I listed building that backs onto the National Trust’s Dinton Park.

The north doorway survives from the earliest work, while the rest of the church is largely from the 13th and 14th centuries

It’s a picturesque church in its own right, but its proximity to Dinton Park’s rolling countryside as a backdrop that makes it a recommendation to visit

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.0842, -1.988053 • what3words: ///greyhound.terribly.badminton

Codford Circle, West Wiltshire (By gasbag43)

Codford Circle is a Neolithic enclosure, possibly a hillfort, located on the summit of Codford Hill, a chalk promontory of Salisbury Plain, near to the village and civil parish of Codford, in Wiltshire,

It dates from the transition between the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, and probably had a agricultural function, maybe for granaries. Hilltop enclosures are very unusual, with less than 30 recorded and only in England (though some may have been later been developed into more defensive sites, so disguising their origins). Most are found on the chalk downland of Wessex, Sussex and the Cotswolds, with a few in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire

The site is oval in plan and approximately of 3.6 ha (8.9 acres). It is surrounded by a bank 6.5 m (21 ft) wide and up to 1.6 m (5.2 ft) high, then a ditch 5 m (16 ft) wide and up to 0.5 m (1.6 ft) deep, although an area on the south eastern edge has been reduced by ploughing. Aerial photography shows signs of an inner ditch, possibly signs of a former palisade fence, and entrances on the east and west sides. The entrances on the southeast and northwest sides are later in date

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.16379, -2.026119 • what3words: ///enacted.punch.straying

ANZAC hill carving, West Wiltshire (By gasbag43)

The Codford area has had a long history with Anzac (Australian and New Zealand) soldiers and during World War I large training and transfer camps were established for the tens of thousands of troops waiting to move to France.

Codford also became a depot in 1916 for the men who had been evacuated from the front line and were not fit to return to the front.

Codford's 'Anzac Badge' was the idea of an Australian Brigade Commander during World War I who wished to leave a visible memento of his brigade when it departed. This consists of a gigantic Rising Sun badge (measuring 53 x 45 metres), carved into the grass of 'Misery Hill' (exposing the underlying bright white chalk) in 1916.

The initial work on the badge was started by the 13th Training Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces (AIF). The badge was then embedded with green, brown and clear beer bottles to make it shine bronze like the badge worn on the Australian uniform.

Maintaining the badge became the focus of punishment parades and as a result the spur on which it is carved became ‘affectionately’ known as Misery Hill by Australian troops

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.15362, -2.024145 • what3words: ///shovels.enchanted.unite

St Michael the Archangel church, Salisbury (By gasbag43)

St Michael's Church in Mere, Wiltshire, is a Grade 1 listed building. It has a rich history dating back to at least the 11th century, with evidence suggesting a Saxon church existed on the site.

The church is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel and features a striking 15th-century tower, visible for miles around. Over the centuries, the church has been expanded and modified, with significant additions and rebuilds in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries

The church is tucked away in a quiet part of town surrounded by cottages of Mere stone. The 15th century tower looks down on a churchyard with 12 yew trees clipped in the shape of skittles and known as the 12 Apostles

The backdrop to the church in this photo shows just a small part of the miles upon miles of lush rolling Wiltshire countryside that surrounds the village with a significant number of ancient earthworks – field systems and forts dating back to the Iron Age – in close proximity making Mere a great base from which to explore the area.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.08894, -2.271037 • what3words: ///famed.pictures.auctioned

Mere Castle, Salisbury (By gasbag43)

Castle Hill, also called Mere Castle, was a medieval fortification built by Richard, the Earl of Cornwall, in 1253 on a hill overlooking the town of Mere, Wiltshire.

It is a very prominent landmark, rising up on the north edge of the town and overlooking the settlement on one side, and the downs to the north

The castle was constructed in stone, with six towers, inner buildings and gates. It was abandoned in the 14th century and stripped of its stone and metalwork. Only earthworks remain in the 21st century

The site is protected under law as a scheduled monument owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and leased to the local parish council

The hill itself is picturesque, but the view from altitude (summit plus 120 metes) is of stunning Wiltshire landscape

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.09169, -2.27284 • what3words: ///flame.bead.napkins

Goddington Park, Bromley (By grandad1950)

aerial view of the 64 hectare Goddington park in Orpington in the London borough of Bromley. Extensive sports facilities and lovely parkland with trees

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.36705, 0.115153 • what3words: ///cages.signal.strict


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