Photos of Great Gidding from the air.
Jubilee Wood and allotments
Jubilee Wood, allotments and Main Street
Main Street crossroads
Chapel End
Main Street and Jubilee Wood
Photos: Paul Crank
War is over… Let’s Celebrate.
Enjoy VE Day’s 70th Anniversary… Gidding style. A celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2, 40’s themed, with hog roast, music and dancing, singalong, competitions, etc… something for all the family.
‘Glen Miller’ style band
Yes, 7pm on 4th July at the Village Hall for a Gidding Forties Evening, when it will all be kicking off. The event will be featuring a live ‘Glen Miller’ style band, dancing, a hog roast, competitions, prizes and a sing-along and maybe some good old fashioned party games… a fun village night out for all the family. It promises to be a great evening and we’d love to see some of the younger families in the village there, so there’s a half price offer for children under 12.
Prizes for the best dressed
The theme is the 70th anniversary of VE Day and the end of the Second World War in Europe (Gidding time). So get your 1940’s gladrags on and prepare to celebrate in civilian dress, service uniform, spiv’s trilby and co-respondent shoes, land girl dungarees, factory worker’s overalls? Or even for those of you stuck in the past the clothes you usually wear. There’ll be prizes for the best dressed. Of course you can just come as you are – the more the merrier.
The live music and dancing will start not long after you arrive at 7.00pm, with the Hog being carved from 8.00 onwards, until it has all gone! It promises to be a great evening and open to all. Bring the whole family, those who may remember the day as well as those just learning about the War at school.
Real 40’s grub
The food, while perhaps not rationed as it was all those years ago, will include those things everyone at the time must have dreamt about and will feature a hog roast, with lots of accompaniments and, of course, trifle, jelly and blancmange for ‘afters’ – real 40’s grub!
There is also a possibility (if we can attract some Americans GIs) of Nylon Stockings and Hershey Bars.
Hog roast and jelly • Swing band • Bar
Dress code: 1945 demob, uniforms or land girls (prize for most authentic/best costume).
Tickets: £15 per adult, (£7.50 children under 12) from the Village Shop.
Location: Great Gidding Village Hall
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2015-07-04
Video by Bruce Jordan of repairs to St Michael’s Church steeple, Great Gidding, April 2015.
The Fox & Hounds is a Grade II listed pub in the quiet village of Great Gidding.
A real gem of a village pub with a strong local trade. A range of menu options are available with an emphasis on authentic Thai curries cooked freshly in-house. Local guest beers are always available alongside Guinness and lagers.
Opening hours: Tues – Fri: 17:00–00:00; Sat – Sun: 11:00–00:00.
Address: 80 Main St, Great Gidding, Cambridgeshire PE28 5NU
We also hold regular events at The Fox & Hounds. Please check the Events page or phone John for further details.
Telephone John Chiswell on 01832 293298 for more information.
For those of you who might have missed it here’s some photos of today’s partial solar eclipse.
Partial solar eclipse at 9.22am
Partial solar eclipse at 9.25am
Partial solar eclipse at 9.31am
Partial solar eclipse at 9.35am
Gidding saw a partial eclipse with an obscuration of 86.06% and the total duration was from 8.26am to 10.42am.
If anyones got other/better photos of the eclipse please send them over to paulcrank@thegiddings.org.uk and we’ll add them to the site.
Well everywhere is still very wet underfoot. If you are riding on bridle ways, please keep off the very wet ones until the ground dries out. Otherwise it creates heavy poached areas & puddles get walked around rather than through. This causes more churning as riders stray onto crops. Areas never recover & get spoiled for year round use.
Whilst out & about, I’ve been noticing more & more litter on verges, especially cans. So please if you come across any, pick it up & pop in a bin.
Be safe – be seen
Don’t forget ‘hi vis’ jackets or tabbards when it’s dull- Be Seen. Whether you’re riding, cycling or walking, have fun.
I have to say that cycling on these blustery days is great for calorie busting!
Rachel
6.2.15
A short video of the children playing Jingle Bells on the handbells.
Sleigh bells ringing, hot dogs roasting, mulled wine simmering – what a magical Christmas wonderland was seen in Great Gidding Village Hall on Saturday 15 November. Many thanks to all who worked so hard to put this all together – the decorations, food and drinks providers, stall holders, poster and ticket designers, sleigh manufacturers, team of young hand bell ringers and Santa and his trusty Elf.
We raised a superb total for the St Michael’s Church Restoration Fund – still being counted at the time of writing.
Thank you again to everyone who supported this Christmas event.
Report by Mary Read, Fundraising Committee.
Following three weeks of intensive, in depth and incisive analysis of Mince Pies, yes Mince Pies! we now know the identity of the Champion Mince Pie maker.
But first a little background. Since mid autumn Thursday evenings at the Fox & Hounds have been the centre of the culinary universe. What started out as a simple Pork Pie tasting has morphed into weekly food challenge. Pasties, Sausages, Bedfordshire Clangers and Scotch Eggs have all been subject to the judging panel. Remarkably some of the finest food presented has been submitted from the gnarled hands of the Farming, Undertaking and Electricians community.
Well done to all those who have taken part and watch this space for further challenges in 2015
David Roughton enjoying the limelight as Mince Pie Champion
Bruce Jordan has kindly given to us a collection of cuttings and letters that he has gathered together whilst researching and collecting information in relation to the US bomber ‘Bam Bam’ that crashed just outside of Great Gidding in 1944.
UPDATE
These details have just been released after a 70 year ban on publication the previous story in the Memoriam is – well just a story. The happenings afterwards were, of course, provided by the survivors.
B-17 crashed a quarter of a mile southwest of Great Gidding
In June 1944 the weather in the UK was awful, so much so that D Day was put off for 24hrs. It was essential that the German airfield at Nantes was quickly put out of action due to its close proximity to the landings. The US 8th Air Force was tasked to do this operation. (June 10th 1944 Mission 177) At Molesworth ILt Sam Oliver joined the line of B17s heading for take-off unfortunately he ran off the taxi-way and became firmly stuck in the mud.
He was ordered to leave his plane (The Floose) and take Bam Bam the stand-by aircraft. When on board, note this plane had already done 42 missions, the crew reported to control that there was a very strong smell of fuel inside. They were told that as the aircraft had been standing for some while it could be expected and would probably ventilate as they got going. When they joined up with all the rest they again reported to control saying that the smell was worsening all the time… then nothing Bam Bam had exploded. It is thought that they were about to request a return to base.
The B17G crashed one quarter of a mile southwest of Great Gidding, Huntingdon, England. Four crewmen escaped the other six died in the crash.
PREVIOUS STORY
B-17 crashed a quarter of a mile southwest of Great Gidding
The B-17 went down on June 10th 1944 shortly after take-off, just after joining the formation on a mission to attack an airdrome at Nantes, France. There apparently was a control disfunction and when last seen, her left wing dipped down and the aircraft went into a dive. Pilot 1Lt Sam Oliver managed to pull it out and climbed to the level of the formation but there was a second plunge followed by an explosion, apparently caused by the bombs, and the tail was blown off. The B-17 crashed a quarter of a mile southwest of Great Gidding. Oliver and five others were killed. Four managed to bail out and survived.
Crewman who died now have a memorial in St Michael’s Church
Bruce has lived in Great Gidding, about half a mille from the crash site, since 2001 and when he became aware of the World War II mishap he was distressed to discover that it had gone unmarked over the last half-century. Due to Bruce’s efforts the 358th Squadron crewman who died in the incident now have a memorial in St Michael’s Church and the names of the 303rd Bomb Group crewmen who died will be read out in church services every November, along with the names of all those in the village of Great Gidding who lost their lives in the two World Wars.
The Crash Site As It Was And As It Is Now
The B-17 Bam Bam crash site in Great Gidding on the day (June 10th 1944).
The B-17 Bam Bam crash site in Great Gidding as it is now, (April 2007).
Google map showing exact position of crash site in Great Gidding.
The crewmen who died
1Lt Sam Oliver, Pilot, Buried in Cambridge American Cemetery
Sgt Robert Scalco, Left Waist Gunner
S/Sgt John Kissling, Radio Operator
2Lt Stanley R Shankweiler, Co Pilot
Sgt Americo R. Imbrogno, Right Waist Gunner
T/Sgt Francis H. Russell, Ball Turret Gunner
And those who survived
1Lt Earl D. Metko, Navigator
1Lt Earl D. Metko was substitute navigator on the 10th June mission. He was blown out of Bam Bam, when it exploded, with only one riser of his parachute fastened. He had an injured shoulder and was hospitalised. He became Lead Crew Navigator and completed his 30 mission combat tour on 22nd March 1945.
T/Sgt Whitney Haskell, Engineer
T/Sgt Whitney Haskell was the third person safely to eject. He managed to exit from the nose escape hatch. He had only one riser attached to his parachute harness. He lost consciousness but regained his bearings as he was free falling outside Bam Bam. After a futile attempt to buckle the 2nd clip he pulled the chute ripcord which immediately and safely opened. He came down in a tree and was rescued by the farmer and his wife who then took him straight to hospital. He flew on fourteen additional missions, after the 10th June crash of Bam Bam, as a Lead Crew Engineer. He completed his 30 mission combat tour on 9 April 1945 and died in 1991.
2Lt Harry Chapple, Bombardier
2Lt Harry Chapple had both risers fastened to his parachute harness but was unconscious during his fall except for just before impact. The explosion propelled him through the plexiglas nose causing over 40 rents in his gabardine flying suit and fairly serious cuts in his scalp and eyelid. He was hospitalised for several weeks after returning to Molesworth. He flew on three additional combat missions after being released from hospital. He left the 303rd on 22nd August 1944, later becoming ill with Parkinson’s disease and he died on 11th June 2000.
S/Sgt Wayne Humphries, Tall Gunner
S/Sgt Wayne Humphries was the last of the four men to exit from Bam Bam. He managed to reach his parachute and clasp it to his chest after the explosion severed the tail compartment from the B-17. He fell out of the B-17 just off the tail wheel in a tumbling mode. He managed to buckle both sides of his harness to the chute clips and pull the rip cord. He was able to drift clear of the remnants of Bam Bam and made a successful landing. He flew on no other 303 BG(H) missions after his 10th June 1944 bailout. He was transferred from the 303rd on 18th July 1944 to the 9th Air Force in France and flew additional combat missions in an A-20 ‘Marauder’ low level twin engine attack bomber. Following WWII he returned home to Shelley, Idaho and lives in a house next to his daughter Stacia Herndon.
Letter of thanks
The archive contains grateful letters of thanks from relations of the crew.
Visit of S/Sgt Wayne Humphries’ granddaughter in February 2023
Thank you for your time and dedication Bruce.
2014 has seen an apparent successful breeding season for Barn Owls in the Gidding Parish. At one location I tried to film some evening activity with a new time lapse camera, really just to understand the potential of this type of camera. So it was with surprise and great delight that on reviewing the film that a Barn Owl had decided to land on the camera and use it as a perch for quite a few seconds. If you look carefully another Owl can be seen in the Ash tree.
The camera is a Brinno TLC200.
Video: Michael Trolove