Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

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5944
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by 5944 »

It's not about the size of the individual group. It's about the fact 15,000 people will be on one site for an extended period of time, all standing in one spot for several hours, and all using the same facilities. At Shuttleworth, you've been confined to your own little box for the flying, though free to roam around the rest of the time. At Duxford, there will be no restrictions on movement. Yes, you're meant to keep 2m away from another group, but can you honestly see that happening on the fence? Didn't someone work out that you'd get 600 people along the fence if everyone was spread out evenly? That's not going to happen. Everyone will be bunched up together shoulder to shoulder as usual. Half the site will be taken up with food vans and tat stalls, so everyone will be crammed together.

I can see why Duxford have gone for the approach they have, thinking restrictions would've been eased by now. But I personally think Shuttleworth's approach has been much better. The emphasis is on the venue to make changes, and by the sounds of it, Duxford have done very little.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by UKTopgun »

Agree. Credit to Duxford for trying, but the OW model of drive in was always a better bet. Conventional shows just will not happen this year imho, sadly Headcorn included (and I was tempted by that)

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Airwolfhound »

I went on the ticket website this morning and bought a ticket for the Friday (I'm a premium member of Duxford). A bit annoyed they are now charging for Friday's rehearsals as part of the overall airshow weekend, always enjoyed going in on my FoD membership basically for free. It says the slot time is 12pm - 9pm ? I'll probably arrive earlier, if can't get in will go and sit over at Fowlmere for a bit before entry is permitted. Would just be nice to get a day off and out of the house for a bit :-) Looking forward to it (which will probably mean it will be cancelled..........).
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Pen Pusher »

Airwolfhound wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 12:31 pm
I went on the ticket website this morning and bought a ticket for the Friday (I'm a premium member of Duxford). A bit annoyed they are now charging for Friday's rehearsals as part of the overall airshow weekend, always enjoyed going in on my FoD membership basically for free. It says the slot time is 12pm - 9pm ? I'll probably arrive earlier, if can't get in will go and sit over at Fowlmere for a bit before entry is permitted. Would just be nice to get a day off and out of the house for a bit :-) Looking forward to it (which will probably mean it will be cancelled..........).
You do know it's a 3 day air show and Friday is an air show day?. Thursday will be the arrivals and practice day if it happens.

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LinkGaz56
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by LinkGaz56 »

Just looked on Duxford website, show cancelled. A great shame but I guess we all knew it was coming.

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LN Strike Eagle
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

It is with great sadness that we have taken the decision to cancel the Duxford Battle of Britain Proms and the 80th Anniversary Battle of Britain Air Show 2020. We were looking forward to the Air Show as much as the thousands of visitors who had bought tickets for what promised to be a brilliant weekend.

We have been working tirelessly with our partners including Public Health England and South Cambridgeshire District Council in order to explore all avenues for hosting the event. However, we take our responsibility for the safety of our visitors and local community very seriously and feel it would be irresponsible to continue with the event in this rapidly-changing climate.

We are devastated to have to take this decision, and want to thank our visitors, supporters, partners neighbours and staff members for their incredible support over the past few days and weeks. IWM, like many other museums across the country, is under significant financial pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic so it is a huge blow to have to cancel one of our biggest events less than a week before it takes place. We are confident that our visitors, partners and supporters understand we would not have taken lightly a decision of this magnitude.

We are hugely sorry about the disruption that this cancellation will cause for everyone. We will be in touch with everyone who has purchased a ticket to offer refunds and options to donate your ticket to IWM or consider membership opportunities with access to a host of benefits including free entry to all IWM sites and much more for a whole year.

We promise to return with a packed programme for our next Air Show season and will release details about our 2021 programme in due course.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support for IWM.
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Pat Murphy
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Pat Murphy »

Arse. Oh well. Back in 2021 folks.......

austinp
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by austinp »

Absolutely gutted.

I was hopeful, especially as it drew closer and closer.

But with the recent Government guideline revisions, I am not surprised at this.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by elterwater »

Ah balls...

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by keithjs »

Pat Murphy wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 1:38 pm
Arse. Oh well. Back in 2021 folks.......
Do you really think so? I very much doubt it... Ah well, that's more money for Shuttleworth then.
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jasonT1981
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by jasonT1981 »

Bah, gutted but kinda expected.

Anyway, I am now left with the choice of if I should travel or not. My hotels are non refundable so I will take a loss for the weekend as well as train tickets. Don't really want to be stuck at Stansted for 3 days with nothing to do. :/ If, like it looks Covid is rising, I think I should just cut the losses at stay at home.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Airwolfhound »

Pen Pusher wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 12:38 pm
Airwolfhound wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 12:31 pm
I went on the ticket website this morning and bought a ticket for the Friday (I'm a premium member of Duxford). A bit annoyed they are now charging for Friday's rehearsals as part of the overall airshow weekend, always enjoyed going in on my FoD membership basically for free. It says the slot time is 12pm - 9pm ? I'll probably arrive earlier, if can't get in will go and sit over at Fowlmere for a bit before entry is permitted. Would just be nice to get a day off and out of the house for a bit :-) Looking forward to it (which will probably mean it will be cancelled..........).
You do know it's a 3 day air show and Friday is an air show day?. Thursday will be the arrivals and practice day if it happens.

Brian
You do know that I didn't otherwise I wouldn't have written what I had ?????

Anyway, doesn't really matter now does it, but thanks for pulling me up on it, always appreciated ;-)
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Lightningkid70
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Lightningkid70 »

jasonT1981 wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 2:00 pm
Bah, gutted but kinda expected.

Anyway, I am now left with the choice of if I should travel or not. My hotels are non refundable so I will take a loss for the weekend as well as train tickets. Don't really want to be stuck at Stansted for 3 days with nothing to do. :/ If, like it looks Covid is rising, I think I should just cut the losses at stay at home.
Just a thought, Duxford would still be open anyway wouldn't it, but no show would go ahead. Surely they wouldn't close the site for the weekend?
If you've booked flights & a hotel, you might still be able to visit the museum anyway, plus there's the dehavilland museum open as well?

It's something I would check out?

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Pat Murphy
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by Pat Murphy »

keithjs wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 1:45 pm
Pat Murphy wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 1:38 pm
Arse. Oh well. Back in 2021 folks.......
Do you really think so? I very much doubt it... Ah well, that's more money for Shuttleworth then.
Well for all our sakes lets try and be positive and hope we will be eh? :neutral_face:

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by iainpeden »

jasonT1981 wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 2:00 pm
Bah, gutted but kinda expected.

Anyway, I am now left with the choice of if I should travel or not. My hotels are non refundable so I will take a loss for the weekend as well as train tickets. Don't really want to be stuck at Stansted for 3 days with nothing to do. :/ If, like it looks Covid is rising, I think I should just cut the losses at stay at home.
As lightningkid says, Duxford should be open as usual, the de Haviland museum at Salisbury Hall is nearby ( south of Luton - inside the M25) as is the RAF Museum at Hendon. The Newark museum is about an hour and a half north of Duxford and I'd recommend the tramway museum at Crich north of Derby - you could do the latter pair in a day. Hendon and the dH museum is another day and Duxford takes a day too.
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LN Strike Eagle
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

There's also North Weald you could visit too, and Stansted has the odd interesting movement - there have been a few IL-76s this summer and there was an AN-12 last Sunday.
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jasonT1981
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by jasonT1981 »

Thanks guys, decided to contact hotel and see if I could get a refund, they will let me re-book for another date at no extra cost, as will the flights thankfully.

Had the older covid restrictions been in place I would have been more comfortable but with the tightening of them I just will rebook the dates of flights/hotels for some point next year. I had planned on finding a place on my own even if it meant at back of the crowd for the airshow, however with the new regulations I think I'd be a bit uncomfortable in museums etc.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by DirtyFokker »

Sad for all concerned :slight_frown: .... especially the disappointed children, and the traders who rely on these events.

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - 18th-20th September.

Post by NAM Updater »

iainpeden wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 4:33 pm
jasonT1981 wrote:
Fri 11 Sep 2020, 2:00 pm
Bah, gutted but kinda expected.

Anyway, I am now left with the choice of if I should travel or not. My hotels are non refundable so I will take a loss for the weekend as well as train tickets. Don't really want to be stuck at Stansted for 3 days with nothing to do. :/ If, like it looks Covid is rising, I think I should just cut the losses at stay at home.
As lightningkid says, Duxford should be open as usual, the de Haviland museum at Salisbury Hall is nearby ( south of Luton - inside the M25) as is the RAF Museum at Hendon. The Newark museum is about an hour and a half north of Duxford and I'd recommend the tramway museum at Crich north of Derby - you could do the latter pair in a day. Hendon and the dH museum is another day and Duxford takes a day too.
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by timuss »

Gutted is an understatement but it kind of felt inevitable after the restrictions of this week, now to try and see if i can get a refund from my hotel that could be a challenge.
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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by catwomanofkent »

We were booked in as traders for this show. Been chasing up the passes and set up info etc. Nothing from Duxford, then found it was cancelled yesterday (not emailed us beforehand). Short notice for us, as some have had to order stock. If they had left the traders all on the Historic Zone as it was in previous years they would have more space at the side of the American Museum, they could have moved some parking somewhere else.
We don't sell 'tat' either. Can only think of one 'tat' stall there! We were very popular with the public and will miss being there, but we were expecting it, as the staff were not forthcoming with information. We've missed Duxford and hope to be back in 2021!

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by Pen Pusher »

Oh no :scream: The Duxford Autumn Quilt Show has been cancelled as well. :cry: :cry: :cry:

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by UKTopgun »

Mods - 'thread drift' !

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by Mike »

Night Shoot next to go?

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Re: Battle of Britain Airshow 2020 - Cancelled

Post by BobL »

Night Quilt Shoot?

Everyone fell asleep...
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