A Supersonic Outing. August 1979.

                               Sunday 26^th of August 1979 was a day I will always remember. I had heard on  my rounds of Liverpool that Concorde would be landing at Speke Airport and I really wanted to see this for myself. Heather and I packed the car up with a picnic and put Nathan in his baby seat. I knew that if we went to Otterspool Promenade we would be able to park the car and walk along the riverbank outside the perimeter fence and get a good view as it came into land. I wanted to get some photos on the SLR camera Dad had given me so my camera bag with all the lenses was an essential for me to carry. We arrived at the car park at about quite early at eight o’clock to make sure we had a parking place. It was due at nine o’clock I had been told. We walked along the edge of the river until we came to the perimeter fence. At times the bank had collapsed leaving only about eighteen inches of solid earth to walk on. This proved to be difficult at times with Nathan in a buggy. The crowds were getting quite thick and we could see that if we did not stop at a spot soon we would not get to see much. I found a spot near the middle of the new runway that had been constructed at the east side of the airport behind the industrial estate at Speke. This was eventually to be the main runway for the John Lennon Airport of today. 

                             There was a shout from the crowd as someone was listening on a radio to the control tower. “ She is coming in over the Wirral”. Every one stared into the distant cloud out over the river Mersey. The tide was low so the mud flats were exposed and lots of wading birds were feeding. Then through the cloud we saw the iconic shape of the swept back delta wings appear in the haze of the distance. We could hear the roar of the Rolls Royce engines as she throttled back on the approach to the runway. All the birds on the foreshore took off and headed south as she came over the runway lights. Concorde seemed to be floating as she came towards us. The nose was in the down position and she looked so incongruous instead of sleek lines she was bent in the middle or so it appeared. She touched down and the brakes were applied, the engines went in to reverse and the noise was unbelievable. You could feel the vibrations on your chest, she rolled on and on and it seemed like she would not stop before the end of the runway. 

                                     My camera jammed,  I had used up a 36 frame roll of film so quickly and I had to change it quickly as she got to the end and started to turn around. I was so excited I could not contain myself. I changed to the longest lense I had as she came back to the centre of the apron and parked right in front of us. The engines went quite, every one cheered and clapped as she stood right in front of us about four hundred yards across the tarmac. I checked my watch and it was just nine fifteen.  The apron was alive with people that had  come out to greet this first flight of a supersonic aircraft to Liverpool. The passengers had flown over to France earlier by the last flight out of Liverpool by a Comet and were returning with Concorde to Paris for the evening. I think the lord mayor of Liverpool was there but I could not swear to it. They started to check all over the plane to make sure it was ok before leaving. I was going through film so quickly I would need a third roll before it took off the way I was going. Loads of cameras were clicking all around us. This was really being recorded for posterity.

                                       The engines had to be tested, and they began to start them with a gentle whine as they turned over, suddenly there was a blast of smoke and flame from the engines on the right hand side, all the cameras went mad clicking and whiring. Someone screamed “It’s on fire.” I said no they were only flushing the fuel from the engine no need to worry. The engines roared into life after an hour and a half on the ground and she taxied down to the east end of the runway. She stood facing towards the river and the Wirral and we all stood with anticipation. The engines opened up and the roar was deafening, the air vibrated as she stared to roll down the tarmac towards us. The acceleration was incredible and she was up to us and past before you knew it. With all the grace of an eagle the nose came up and she rotated up into the air over the river. She climbed up over the Wirral and was over North Wales before you realised. All the audience just stood there and with utter disbelief turned and started to leave. It was just after eleven o’clock and we all made our way back down to the Otterspool promenade where the car was parked. I could not wait to get home and develop the films. We stopped and had our sandwiches overlooking the river. When we went  home I went up to the bathroom and set up my dark room. It was a couple of hours before I came out and the negative had come out really well. I still get these negatives out sometimes just to refresh my memories and to think that I actually was there.