Really! I never knew that

A Carswell Air Force Base B-36 crew escaped from their burning bomber Saturday by parachute a few minutes before it exploded and crashed into a field in Southern England.
The big plane was one of 16 flying from Carswell to England on a routine training mission.
The Associated Press reported from London that all fifteen men aboard the aircraft escaped. One member of the crew, Capt. Newton Benham Jr., 37, of Dallas, second pilot, suffered a fractured ankle when he hit the ground.
All other crewmembers were uninjured, the report said.
Officials at the airbase here said 17 men were on the plane. However, it was presumed that two of the crewmen either left the craft here before it took off or at Goose Bay, Laborador (sic), where it landed enroute.
Lt. Col. Herman Gerick, 34,was the aeroplane commander.
Crewmen from the stricken bomber parachuted into three southern counties - Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Wiltshire.
There were indications that frantic efforts had been made to put out a fire, which broke out before the aeroplane commander ordered the crew to abandon ship.
Wreckage from the plane was spread over several miles of sparsely settled farmland. Nobody was hit.
The other 15 bombers landed without incident at the Fairford base.
The crippled B-36 flew for over 30 miles after her crewmen abandoned her before exploding and ploughing into farmland near Lacock. The plane ripped through many trees before coming to a halt. The woods caught fire, but firemen quickly brought the blaze under control. Three engines were found about a mile from the main wreckage.
J.P. Hollick, an attorney who lives near the scene, told newspapermen:
"I heard the noise of a big plane obviously in difficulty. Looking out the window, I saw it going down in circles. It was all lit up inside. It might have been the electric lights or it could have been on fire. Bits were dropping off, so the impression I had was that the house was being bombed. I heard an explosion while the plane was in the air."
Air Force headquarters in Washington said that a special board of officers would be appointed to investigate the crash. Pentagon officers said they had no explanation of the crash and would withhold comment to await a complete probe.
The planes that completed the flight will remain in England a week and then return to Carswell.

The Rev Wilbert Vere Awdry (1911-1997) author of Thomas the Tank Engine books was related to the Awdry's (Sir John Awdry) who owned and lived at Notton House, Lacock back in the 1800's. Indeed the Awdry's used to throw really jolly parties at Notton House, Francis Kilvert attended one of these in January 1873, and he entered the jolly occasion in his diary. His extract is fairly long, but in brief, he went with Fanny and Dora arriving at 8 o'clock in the evening, almost the whole neighbourhood was at that party. There had been a Children's party with a Christmas tree at 5 o'clock. The ball started promptly at 8 o'clock with the harp, drums and fiddles starting up. At the ball Kilvert danced a Lancers with Harriet Awdry of Draycot Rectory, a quadrille with Sissy Awdry of Seagry Vicarage, a Lancers with Louise Awdry of Draycot Rectory, and a final Lancers with Mary Rooke of the Ivy. It reads as if it was a wonderful party in such a lovely setting in its time.

On Friday afternoon the 12th of March 1954, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother drove over from Spye Park, where she was staying with Captain Frank and Lady Avice Spicer, to the 700 year old Lacock Abbey and medieval village. Miss Matilda Talbot received her. Her Majesty, wearing a grey costume under a grey-blue check coat was seated beside Capt Spicer as he drove slowly through the village, to the delight of the villagers. The schoolchildren had been allowed out of school early, and as the car entered the street they were lined up. When the car proceeded towards the church they broke ranks and followed it to the church. The Royal visitor was shown around the 14th Century church by the vicar, The Rev J Frith. Her instinctive comment was 'What a lovely church', and she particularly admired the Lady Chapel, which contains some beautiful old stained glass. She also noticed a very fine 15th Century chalice. Before leaving the church she signed the visitors book.

In former times those who received parish relief had to wear a badge. It was the letter P, with the initial of the parish to which they belonged, in red or blue cloth, on the shoulder of the right sleeve. In Lacock the inmates wore the red letters LP on a blue background of cloth. Those who had to wear it detested the badge, after all they already had to suffer the indignation of being an inmate of the poor or workhouse in the parish, let alone walking around with the symbolic badge for all to see and ridicule.

Lacock is almost every director's dream when directing a period drama. It is a medieval village that does not possess TV aerials, overhead cables, telephone lines, satellite dishes, or even yellow road lines. A bit of dirt or sand over the tarmac roads, a few roaming sheep and one has time travelled back over hundreds of years. It has been used in many productions, some of the better known ones are Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Moll Flanders, Harry Potter, Tom Brown's Schooldays, The Lady in Black, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased and many, many others.

Lacock was sold in January 1539 to one of Henry VIII’s courtiers, William Sharington for £783. He left the cloisters as they are today but converted the upper rooms into a private house. He did however destroy the Abbey church and it is believed he used the stone from this to build the octagonal tower and the Tudor courtyard. The courtyard housed the stables, dairy, bakehouse, brewery, tack room, hayloft, general storage and it is believed some servants quarters.

Having poured a lot of money into the place William Sharington managed to lose it all, by getting involved in a plot with Thomas Seymour against Edward VI. Whereas Seymour was executed, Sharington managed to keep his head and managed to get all his property returned by paying a fine in the order of £13,000. Upon his death the property went to his brother, then to the brothers daughter, whom married John Talbot thereby introducing the name of Talbot which has been associated with the Abbey ever since.

The famous Lacock Abbey became the centre of attention whilst filming the first two Harry Potter films. Visitors came from all over the world, and still do to see where some of the scenes actually took place. Should you visit for your information and amusement the following scenes were filmed in the following places. The Mrs Norris cat scenes were filmed in the cloisters, Professor Snapes laboratory was filmed in the sacristy. The Nun's Warming Room was transformed into the classroom of Harry and his friends. The Chapter House is the area where Harry first saw his mother and Father in the Mirror of Erised.

During World War II Matilda Talbot had a container buried in the grass area of the cloisters which contained the original Lacock Abbey Magna Carta, which had been signed by King John on June 15th in the year 1215. Only herself and three other people knew of its hiding place, supposedly two gentlemen from London and a Lacock resident. After the war it was retrieved and she then took it with her on her lecture tour of the USA. It was then presented to the British Museum for safekeeping.

During the last war Lackham House was commandeered by the United States Army, becoming General George Smith Patton's HQ. Supposedly the current library and the librarians office were his private room and bathroom. After D-Day and Patton vacating the house it became a rehabilitation centre for wounded service personnel. After the war it became what it is today an agricultural training college.

According to the Wiltshire Buildings Records, Lacock has 185 buildings of either architectural or historical interest, of those 5 are listed Grade 1; St Cyriacs Church, Bewley Court, Bowden Park, The Tithe Barn and Lacock Abbey. There are also 13 Grade II buildings listed.

The town of Port Talbot in South Wales was a small port originally called Aberafan, which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The town however got its name from the rich Talbot Family then the patrons of Margam Abbey. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot was a wealthy landowner and a Liberal Member of Parliament. The interesting fact is that these Talbot's were related to the Fox Talbot family at Lacock - 'Talbot Village' just does not sound as nice as Lacock, so we should be thankful that Fox Talbot stuck to photography as a hobby perhaps and not the iron industry.

The Magna Carta was kept in the strong room just off the blue parlour in the Abbey Tower. It was a single sheet of parchment 19½ inches by 12½ inches, closely, but exquisitely written, so that it is, even today, quite legible, and the letters are beautifully formed. The Great Seal of Henry III shows, on one side, the king seated on his throne, and on the other side he is on horseback; it is of dark green wax and complete except for part of the edge being broken away. A piece of green silk cord is attached to the seal, and there is also a thin silk bag, now in two parts, in which it was formerly kept. It is marvellous to think that it has survived over 700 years. It is now housed in the British Museum, but a copy of it, which was presented to Matilda Talbot, is held within the Abbey for the public to see.

The Packhorse Bridge in Lacock spans the Bide Brook at the ford between St. Cyriac's church and Nethercote hill. It was built in the eighteenth century to enable goods to enter and leave the village even when the brook was in flood. In the Medieval era, this was the main roadway out of Lacock, it continued to the top of Nethercote hill and then down to a bridge over the river Avon at Reybridge. The ford is still used today by vehicular traffic mainly by those requiring access to the houses up on the hill or the daring tourist giving the children a treat, the big ones in the car and those younger ones outside invariably watching.

The name "The Sign of the Angel" derives from a gold coin. It was first minted in 1461 in the reign of Edward IV, its value was six shillings and eight pence. In 1526 during the second coinage of Henry VIII its value was raised to seven shillings and six pence, and then in 1544 to eight shillings. By 1547 its value had reached ten shillings, as a result of the extravagant spending habits of Henry VIII and an early example of inflation. It remained a ten shilling gold coin until production ceased in 1643 during the reign of Charles I.

Psycho James Saunders was jailed for life after two appalling rapes on children, the first in May 1985, was an 11-year-old, he threatened her with a steak knife then sated his wicked lust on her body. The second was a 15-year-old girl who he raped on June 2nd 1985 at knifepoint in woods near Lacock, Wiltshire. Saunders aged 36 was arrested the next day and tried at Bristol Crown Court. His nickname became Wolfman as he escaped from Broadmoor twice running away from the police all over different counties.