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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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Birleys Sports Field, Canterbury (By grandad1950)

A large sports field with extensive facilities and a lovely old church hidden in the trees

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.29087, 1.083089 • what3words: ///fever.truth.badly

Middle Falls, Craven (By markas)

Not many people have heard of this waterfall compared to the more well-known waterfalls in Yorkshire, and you won’t see many photos of it as it’s a little off the beaten track in Upper Warfdale, however its quite near a roadside parking spot, and can actually be seen on the drive, but few actually park up and walk right up to the waterfall.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.21232, -2.084683 • what3words: ///reassured.willpower.skimmers

Swanbourne Lake, Arun (By winglider)

Beautiful part of the countryside very close to Arundel. A beautiful park and lake that is open to the public. Parking is very limited in the summer when it gets very busy. There is a tea room and toilets at the entrance.
Unfortunatly they did not want me to TOAL on their property so found a spot by the road.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.86196, -0.556248 • what3words: ///rinses.sketch.prospered

Porthcawl - Sandy bay and Trecco Bay Look Out Tower, Bridgend (By stubbyd)

Lovely open beach and area that I can't believe I haven't previously added.

At this hour it is generally empty, but with the introduction of one of two beach front saunas it has become popular with the early morning "sea dippers" (don't know if there's an official term for what these nutters do).

Also included a shot of the old Coney beach fun fair which is slowly being dismantled [thankfully]. This is meant to be replaced by a development of houses, shops, etc.

There is a large choice of parking, but the closest and easiest is the car park of the Hi Tide Inn, the same Inn that hosts the annual Elvis festival, and is literally right on the edge of Sandy Bay itself.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.47858, -3.693852 • what3words: ///schematic.abruptly.studio

Cliffe Castle, Bradford (By Rick2522)

Cliffe Castle is a beautifully restored Victorian mansion and museum set within large landscaped parkland on the western edge of Keighley, West Yorkshire. The grounds include wide open lawns, ornamental gardens, glasshouses, fountains, and long tree-lined paths — all surrounded by gently rolling hills and views across the Aire Valley.

For drone flying, it offers a great mix of architectural detail, open space, and scenic landscape, ideal for both cinematic and aerial photography.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.87495, -1.913091 • what3words: ///plank.united.remove

Sturry Road Community Park, Canterbury (By grandad1950)

A fairly wild community open space near canterbury with lots of room to fly

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.29203, 1.110955 • what3words: ///dolly.cabin.photo

Hall Garth Park, Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire (By CutThroatJake)

Hall Garth Park in Hornsea is a large green space that offers locals and visitors a beautiful place to relax. Just a short walk from Hornsea's town centre, this well-maintained park features lush lawns, mature trees, and flower beds. It’s the perfect place for a leisurely stroll or picnic.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.91265, -0.169516 • what3words: ///detection.petulant.variously

Lower Town, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire (By stubbyd)

Nestled along the rugged Pembrokeshire coastline, Lower Town Harbour offers a tranquil glimpse into Wales’ maritime past.

This charming tidal harbour is surrounded by colourful cottages [reminds me of Ballamory], fishing boats, and rolling green hills that meet the sea. At low tide, the boats rest gently on the mudflats, revealing the textures and tones and along with the wooded hills and the open bay then I think it offers a lot for photography enthusiasts be they land or air based.

Lower Town has free parking - I didn't check for how long but more than enough for a drone flight or two.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.99573, -4.969473 • what3words: ///prevented.glass.countries

Ruperra Castle, Caerphilly (By pete-the-geek)

This is a stunning Grade 2 listed building. It is unfortunately privately owned and you are not permitted to TOAL nearby. It has been devastated by fire and is in a state of disrepair.

The whole surrounding area is managed by the Ruperra Conservation Trust. On the top of the hill to the North, is a historic Hill Fort and some more modern transformations are still visible via another short walk up the hill which makes for another great location to fly around

Parking is some distance away with a 1km walk to the TOAL site that I used, which is a track that is also a bridalway. It provides a couple of spots that give you good line of site but beware, the surrounding building are private residences so the residence may have objections to overflights. It is also an equestrian business so there are horses and riders frequenting the area.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.57003, -3.127177 • what3words: ///occurs.design.boost

Pen-y-Lan, Newport (By pete-the-geek)

This is a great area to fly for sunset views. It is possible to see from Cardiff to Newport and being elevated above the surrounding area it gives good views. In good weather, you can also see across the Severn Channel to England.

Be careful of the 2 wind turbines.

There are a couple of pull-ins where you can fly from and good views of the drone while flying.

As it is rural, it is possible to easily fly heavy drones there but as you have to take off on the road side, care must be taken to ensure adequate distance from the occasional vehicles.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.55633, -3.077139 • what3words: ///surnames.because.myself


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