Southeast

Great Britain

2001

In 2001, the band traveled to Great Britain’s southeast corner to perform at several locations. We started in Molesworth, site of a WWII fighter base. After a few local concerts there, we headed up the road to Cambridge, home of literally dozens of Universities and Colleges. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Here’s a view out of the airplane as we pass over the southern edge of Great Britain.

The English Channel is to the left.

We stayed at Mildenhall Royal Air Force Base, England. It was much like the American bases.

This sign told the story of our lodging rooms on Mildenhall.

Here’s a view of the South-east English countryside from the bus.

One of the first concerts we played was in Kings Lynn.

This is the Corn Exchange building near the harbor.

You thought I was kidding?

It really is the Corn Exchange.

We had some time to walk around Kings Lynn for a while to get supper.

This looks like the place! The Hogshead Pub.

Welcome to the Hogshead Pub. Lots of Ale and Fish&Chips.

As it turns out, there were pubs on every street corner.

This one is “Ye Olde Maydens Heade”.

We performed at Molesworth, a Royal Air Force base in WWII. This was a reunion of the fighter/bomber group that was stationed here. They loved our Glen Miller music and uniforms.

We even had our version of the Andrew Sisters.

Many of the Molesworth troops came in their 1940s outfits.

One member of the Royal Air Force stationed at Molesworth in WWII even showed

up in his 1937 Morris 8 Series II touring car. Sweet!

This picture was on display at Molesworth along with the very interesting (and true!) story.

On 23 January 1943, while on a bombing mission over Germany, the B-17 “Beats Me” was hit by bombs from a B-17 above it. The plane turned over, but the pilot managed to right the crippled plane long enough for everyone to bail out. As the “Last One Out” (as the painting is captioned), SSgt Charles Roth, the radio operator, stopped at the waist gunner’s station and shot at an attacking German FW-190 fighter plane, hitting it several times. Just then, the B-17 started a steep nosedive to earth. SSgt Roth bailed out as the smoking FW-190 fighter circled. He was convinced the German pilot would shoot him out of the sky for revenge, but the pilot flew by, saluted, and flew off. Amazing, and true!

Oundle was another town our tour. The band performed at the church in the center of town.

A view of the church where the band performed in Oundle.

Along the side of the church were these OLD gravestones (from the 1700s-1800s).

This is the band during sound-check inside the church at Oundle.

Where’s the piano? Waaayy back in the left corner behind the pillars.

After the sound-check, we were free to walk around Oundle.

It was exactly how I always pictured English towns.

I’m pretty sure we’re in England.

OK, now I know we’re in England.

Across the street from the church is this private school. Very English!

As I walked around Oundle, I noticed several old horse

hitches still attached to the stone walls.

We also performed at Thetford, and I walked around that town also.

I wonder how long it took to grow the vines up the side of this house?

This is a common construction method in England. Many stone houses use this dark type of stone, which is broken in half, and the broken side is faced out on the stone wall. It is very attractive.