Cambridge – Day 2 (2026)

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We’re spending a couple of days away with great mates, John and Trish. It’s probably our last big get-together with them before they jet off for a new life in Australia in early 2027. Yesterday, we spent time at the Madingley American War Cemetery, took a wander around Cambridge City Centre and ended the day getting slightly lost on our way to a non-existent Firework Display. Still, on a positive note, we all enjoyed a superb Curry!!

Today, after breakfast, we headed for the War Museum in nearby Duxford. Of course, today, being Remembrance Sunday made it a more poignant visit, and the Museum had arranged some special events as part of the annual national reflection.

Imperial War Museum, Duxford

IWM Duxford, officially known as the Imperial War Museum Duxford, is Britain’s largest aviation museum and a former Royal Air Force (RAF) Base.

It was a welcome return for us to Duxford. We’ve both been here quite a few times before and have always been impressed – today was to be no different. It was, as expected, really busy and extra Volunteers were on duty in their bright red uniform to help keep the day running smoothly.

Today was poignant as it coincided with Remembrance Sunday – and it showed! On arrival, just 30 minutes after it opened, the car park was already 95% full. After purchasing our tickets, our first stop, based on the advice from one of their helpful Volunteers, was grabbing the local (free) minibus to the American Hangar.

It was now getting close to 11am and it felt appropriate to postpone our Hangar visit for a while, whilst we joined the growing crowds at the War Memorial.

Remembrance Service

This was a full-on Service, with plenty of hymns, prayers and words from the local Padre. The music was expertly played, and Wreaths were layed bringing the whole event together in the way you would expect for this very special day of reflection.

American Hangar

The Hangar was the busiest I’d seen it in all the years I’ve been coming here. The Coffee Shop was doing a roaring trade with pretty much all the seating taken, together with a good-humoured queue waiting in line. We did consider taking a break here, but it was simply too busy, and our unplanned attendance at the Remembrance Service had ‘stolen’ about an hour of our time.

The planes on display here were as impressive as always. There was plenty of variety, and the Volunteers were kept pretty busy either running impromptu discussion groups or generally, filling everyone’s knowledge gaps through various Q&As. It might have been my imagination, but it seemed to have more planes than when I last visited here with Roy back in July 2022.

We took the walk back in the direction of Hangar One (more about that later) to look at the aviation-based machinery there. Elsewhere, one of the special events today was a flypast of both a Spitfire and a Hurricane and whilst soaking up the rooms along the route – including the Battle of Britain Room – we kept an eye open for any clues as to the planned flypast. We spotted a lonely Spitfire that had been relocated to the tarmac, but more importantly, we saw another Spitfire paired with a Hurricane together near the runway – a good sign in preparation for later! 👍

There was plenty on display here to remind everyone of that period of our history. We also learned that there is a large-scale project in the making that will increase the number of permanent displays (all planned for 2029).

Hangar One

We eventually got to Hangar One mindful that the planned flypast was imminent.

Again, plenty on show here, where we even had the opportunity to get on board the prototype Concorde. Sadly, we’d missed the ‘one-off’ live nose-drop demonstration, but even though I’d been on board here before, I never get tired of seeing this aeroplane close-up. To me, visually, it still looks years ahead of its time and something that Gerry Anderson might have dreamt up. After a wander through the plane, we headed outside. Next stop? The ‘star attraction’ – the Spitfire and Hurricane, flying together.

Spitfire & Hurricane

It’s fair to say we weren’t the only ones looking forward to this, and even though the temperature had dropped,and in the distance it was slightly misty, quite a crowd had gathered! 👏👏. We got ourselves in a prime position for photographs (in keeping with about 50 others) and prepared for the action. The engines burst into life… the planes jockied for position as if teasing us… they slowly positioned themselves on the runway… and off they went, with that familiar roar of the Merlin engines drowning out everything else! They disappeared along the tarmac and…

TURNED AROUND AND CAME BACK! 🤔

Although we didn’t find out until later (take note Duxford – an announcement would have been helpful, at the time) this unique flight had been cancelled ‘due to the weather’. This was a major disappointment to us and everyone else who’d assembled, potentially freezing their fleshy bits off waiting! 😵‍💫🥶

With the temperature dropping, it was time to call it a day and head off to our late lunch in nearby Duxford.

What a fantastic day out! Duxford Air Museum is an absolute must for anyone interested in aircraft history, or just looking for something a little unusual to do. There’s so much to see that you could easily spend the whole day wandering around, and believe me, you’ll want to! The collection of planes is amazing, from huge bombers to beautifully restored fighters, and being so close to them really brings history to life. The atmosphere is brilliant, the Volunteers and Staff are friendly and knowledgeable, and there’s plenty to keep everyone entertained. Despite our many previous isits, we always discover something we’d not seen before; apart from the disappointment of the ‘no-fly’ event mentioned earlier, it’s a very worthwhile visit.

Go visit!! 👍👍

Lunch! John Barleycorn Pub

Off to our well-earned Lunch!

Well not quite! 😱. We thought the car park was quiet! On arrival in the Pub, inside, it was deserted, and the three staff looked as shocked as we were! Apparently, they had no hot water, but more significantly, no record of our booking either (mainly because they didn’t have any booking page on their website!). Cue lots of heads exploding – mostly ours! They were good enough to recommend another eatery not far away, as we recovered from the confusion. Still, it had a nice Pub frontage and we got the obligatory group photo! 😂😆😂😆. Nope! We still haven’t got our head around that one (cue: the theme from the X-Files!) 👽👽

Back on the road, we headed for the Pub’s recommendation – Provenance Kitchen in nearby Whittlesford. Remembrance Sunday… Sunday Lunch… No prior booking… what could possibly go wrong?

Well, as things turned out, nothing went wrong at all! Phew!!! 😍. They found us a table immediately, even though it was very busy. The service was swift and the food plentiful. In fact, the bucket plate of vegetables that came with our Roasts was a meal in itself. In a perfect example of ‘going beyond the brief’, I had a problem locating the wifi password, and one of the waiting staff offered me a connection to their own personal wifi hotspot on their phone instead – I wasn’t expecting that!! 👍

What the frontage lacked in beauty was more than made up for by the overall experience – and plenty of people seemed to feel the same, as I overheard numerous comments to the waiting staff by patrons as they left. What a find that one was!! 👍👍.

Time to head home! A trouble-free journey followed, and we dropped John & Trish back at theirs. We said our goodbyes and headed back to ours for a cuppa. A great weekend with our friends, now all we had to do was unpack, catch up with the post and emails, and eventually, put our feet up! John & Trish: Thanks for a great weekend!! 😍😍