It is blissfully quiet here tonight, usually loads of planes all the time. I shan't miss the one that goes over around 1 am, nor the one that starts it all off properly around 4.30 every morning as the trans atlantic flights come over, every 20 minutes or so....I'm realising just how many planes go over now they have stopped!

Danuta- can you smell the ash there yet? Supposedly it is falling now in Scotland and can be smelt ( rotten eggs) in Aberdeen.

The planes fly over us ( N. side of the Thames valley) as they come in to land, they go out to about Henley, turn and then we see them flying into Heathrow on the S. side of the valley, so we get the pleasure of seeing and hearing each plane twice, super. As they go over us they drop their wheels so we have the pleasure of the noise of that as well as the engines! The planes that go in to the runway from the West over Windsor pass over us, on the days when they use the Kew approach we are fairly quiet. We also have a small light aircraft airfield a couple of miles ot the North and there are some stunt flyers based there who practice, but only on those really gorgeous Summer weekends when you just want to enjoy being outside in the garden in peace .Then there are the helicopters ....and the military heading for Northolt .... some days it drives me to distraction. But occasionally we get interesting fly-pasts on their way to London, a Spitfire does set you up for the day. The ones that get me are the really early morning red-eyes arriving from the USA, I don't think they are landing at Heathrow, I think they are just going over and descending ready to land at Schipol. The first one goes over around 4am, and as there is a plane that goes over around 1.30, being a light sleeper some nights I wonder why I bother going to bed  ! I was lying there last night listening to the big, dark, soft SILENCE....... aside from the snoring from Andrew