And it was all Yellow...

Another slightly different post today. But at least this one is actually in Glasgow!!

Coldplay came to town and I decided with 40,000 other Scots to go greet them.
The venue was Hampden which I have covered in a previous post...
http://glasgowtheday.blogspot.com/2009/07/o-flower-of-scotland.html

but was good to go back and see it as a concert venue instead...



Once again despite all the rain we have been having Hampden Park was gleaming in the sunshine.


The stage was bathed in sunlight as the kit was set up for the support acts.

Now I know the Scots have a reputation for drinking but I thought this guy was taking it too extremes coming to the gig with his very own tank of beer. Now that is a serious drinker!!

Turns out this is the people you buy your beer from!!

First support act up was White Lies. And they were really good. Someone to watch out for in the future.

http://www.whitelies.com/

As the sun began to set over the stadium and the crowd started to gather the second support act got going...

Jay-Z. Now Hip hop not really my thing but he certainly got the crowd going.

And showing some appreciation for the Scottish crowd always goes down well... :-)

Night had fallen. The crowd had gathered.

Time for the show... and was a light and sound spectacular as you may have expected...

With big screen effects and laser shows Chris Martin and the gang had the crowd singing along to all the favourites like Clocks, Fix You, In My Place...

And as they played Yellow giant yellow balloons were launched across the crowd. Somewhat reminiscent of the bubbles that would chase Patrick McGoohan in the Prisoner tv series from the 60's!!

A one point the band did come off the main stage to a small stage in amongst the crowd to do some tracks like Trouble and also a cool cover version of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean!!

And in Viva la Vida Coldplay now have a genuine crowd chant on their hands!! A chant the crowd would break into at any moment throughout the night!!

As an encore, (after being brought back on stage by more Viva la Vida chanting) what else could it be but The Scientist.

And finish it all off with a fantastic firework display from the roof of Hampden!!

And with that it was all over. And with the crowd still chanting Viva la Vida all the way home.

I had forgotten just how much fun stadium gigs could be. And Chris Martin mentioned a few times how amazing it was to have 40,000 Scots singing along. Also great fun to be one of those Scots!! :-)

So thank you to Coldplay for coming to Glasgow and making a crowd happy at Hampden Park!! After the recent disappointment of not getting to the World Cup was good to have something to sing about!! :-)

Be well, be happy!!

Come fly with me...

I had pondered whether to post this trip up as it's not actually Glasgow based. But it is a cool event in the Scottish calendar and a few people said why not. So why not?

As a birthday gift I was lucky enough to get tickets to go to the annual airshow at RAF Leuchars in Fife on September 12th. I used to go to airshows when I was a boy with my dad and have a real love of them. But just with life never gotten round to going back. So was just as excited as a wee boy again to be going this year.

I was not disappointed!!

Maybe also because after all the rain we have had the sun decided to shine down on a perfect flying day. Hope you enjoy seeing a wee selection of this year's show...

We got to the airfield about 9.30 am and this gave us a good chance to walk around and see some of the aircarft on the ground and also some of the aircraft flying in. Above is the mighty Vulcan bomber which is an incredible aircraft. It was to fly later but even on the ground the scale of this thing is impressive. This one is the only flying example and is only there due to the work of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust that got her flying again in October 2007 after 14 years on the ground.

Go here to find out more about this amazing aircraft:
http://www.vulcantothesky.org/

There was also a good turn out from the US airforce for the static display. F-15 and the huge B-52 bomber being the most impressive.
Hard to believe that the B-52 first flew in 1952 only 16 years after the first flight of the Spitfire!!
The F-15 Eagle was one of my favourite aircraft as a kid and I had a cool Airfix model of it. Still looks like a dangerous piece of equipment to this day.

Security obviously has to be tight with so much military hardware around but didn't realise they would call in Imperial troopers to control the crowds!! :-)

The airshow really is a big family event and has lots to do and see apart from just the planes.

But at 11am the main event got underway...

With the thud of the twin rotors of the huge chinook helicopter taking off the show began.

The Chinook circled up and up until it was just about recognoisable as a helicopter dot in the sky...

And then what appeared to be flares shot out of the back.

Very quickly you could see that it was actually the RAF Falcons Parachute team in freefall and trailing smoke.

And in the unusually blue Scottish sky thw red, white and blue chutes opened and the team swirled and danced around in the sky in a huge stack of parachutes. Fantastic.
A big cheer went up when they eventually touched down. A good start ...

Next team that caught my eye were the Blades Aeorbatic team flying the Extra 300 display aircraft. This was a stunning display and everything that an aishow should be about.

Just was fantastic to watch them paint their pictures in a blue, blue sky...

Up next was the Team Guineot wingwalkers. These twin biplanes danced round the sky with people standing on the top wing. Felt very 1920's and was a spectacular display...

And then you realised that they had been giving us a gentle introduction to the airshow as they cranked up the volume with the F-16 taking to the sky.

The sheer power you feel vibrating through you from one of these guys as it does it's routine is awesome. Ear defenders recommended!!!

And then it was the turn of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Just as loud and powerful as the Falcon but I got a special buzz from this one as I have never seen one of these in flight before. As it did it's improbable if not impossible manoeveours in the sky the engineer in me couldn't help but be in awe.

But will move on now to what was really the main part of the airshow which really began with the mighty Vulcan bomber took to the sky with a deafening roar.

As the airshow loadspeaker system painted Enya this massive black bat gracefully swooped down over the crowd.

And then for me it was the highlight of the show. It was always the highlight of every airshow I went to as a boy. And they are still the best...

The Red Arrows.

They started with a fly past in formation with the Eurofighter Typhoon which was a nice touch.
Then the split off to do their fantastic show...

Here they are in their famous diamond formation...

Low fly past streaming red, white and blue smoke...

4 aircraft crossover. Closing speeds of 800 miles per hour.

You know that they know what they are doing but your heart still skips a beat everytime they do this...

And then up and over to draw a heart in the sky...

The completed picture.

We are not worthy!! This is the pilot from Red Arrow 8 talking to the crows after the display with the aircraft in a row behind him.

How do you follow the Red Arrows ?

The only way you can with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight of Hurricane, Lancaster and Spitfire. Each one an icon aircraft in it's own right. And always helps to remind us all of the sacrifices made by others during wartime.

Special mention has to go to the Spitfire. Although it does somewhat unfairly overshadow it's fighting partner the Hurricane it has come to be such a symbolic aircraft. I still love seeing the one hanging from the roof of the art galleries. But to see one flying and actually almost as important to hear one flying is special. The sound of that Rolls Royce Merlin engine is something unique.

After the Battle of Britain memorial flight and actually part of it was the Mig 29 of the Polish Air Force. There were 16 Polish squadrons in the RAF during the Second World War. No 303 had the highest number of enemy kills of any squadron. So it was nice to see this recognised with the Polish taking their place alongside the Spitfires and Hurricanes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._303_Polish_Fighter_Squadron

I can't possibly go through all the displays at this year's show but everyone was impressive. Will give a mention to the Black Cats Royal Navy Lynx helicopter display team. Here they are putting the helicopters on their noses. Very impressive display and puts whole new meaning to the Lynx effect!!!

At 5pm the show was over for another year. We hung about at the end of the runway to see some of the aircraft depart for home. Here are the Red Arrows going home taking off in their usual 3 formation. We gave them a wave as they left...

And ifyou look closely at this close up of the third aircraft you can see that they in turn waved back!!

And lovely end to an amazing day!!

Hope to go back again next year. Can only hope that we get such perfect weather for flying next year!!

Be well, be happy!!

70th Anniversary of Invasion of Poland

It's 1st September 2009. 70 years ago today Nazi Germany invaded Poland, followed a couple of weeks later by the Soviet Union invading from the East. This is one of the main events that triggered the start of the Second World War. On the 3rd September Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany.
Warsaw capitulated on 28th September but the Polish government never surrendered and kept on fighting in exile throughout the war.
Many Poles in exile ended up here in Glasgow with many Polish soldiers living in barracks at Yorkhill.

I can't do justice here to the sacrifice, bravery and contribution made by Poland and it's people during the Second World War. Reading Norman Davies' "Europe at War: 1939-1945. No Simple Victory" is a great place to start if you want to read more. The Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain, the breaking of the Enigma code, the Warsaw uprising in '44... it is something we should all know about.

But today thought I would mark this anniversary with a few photos of places in Glasgow that are significant to the story of the Polish community in Glasgow.

Firstly this is St. Simon's Roman Catholic Church near Partick Cross. The is known as the Polish Church as between 1940-1943 Polish soldiers marched to the church from the Yorkhill Barracks for Mass every Sunday.

I stood inside here for a while today. It was so very peaceful and special.

Outside the church is this beautiful memorial with a brass plaque and shield carrying the Polish crest.

Here is a close up shot of the plaque so you can read the inscription which commemorates the soldiers coming to Mass here during the war.

"I was a stranger and ye took me in"

I have been near here so many times and never knew this was there. Worth just wandering down here for a few minutes if you are in the area.

Next up is the Sikorski Polish Club at Parkgrove Terrace.

Today it was overlooking a very flooded Kelvingrove Park.

This is a Society that forms a focal point for the Polish community in Glasgow.
I'll just point you to their web site to find out more.
http://www.sikorskipolishclub.org.uk/

The name Sikorski comes from the Poland's great wartime leader Generak Władysław Sikorski. To read more about this amazing man see below. It also covers a lot of the history of Poland during the war as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Władysław_Sikorski

On the wall of the Sikorski club is this plaque that commemorates the thousands of Polish prisoners of war massacred at Katyn in Russia by Soviet forces in 1940. The estimates of the numbered killed is about 22,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre

And finally this building up near St. George's Cross is the SPK Polish Club which is a Polish ex-service men's club.

http://www.sikorskipolishclub.org.uk/SPK.htm

I popped in there today though didn't have much as much time as I would have liked.

Has a fascinating gallery of photos of Polish armed forces photos through the years.

Will go back again one day to find out more when have more time.

I hope that this small tour today is only the beginning of me finding out more about the history of Poland and the Polish community in Glasgow. I will post up more as I find out.

Hope it also got you interested in reading the links and finding out more on this 70th anniversary.

Be well, be happy!!