Oasis barn - Aviation museum week

4 Miles

• The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, recognised as East Anglia's Aviation Heritage Centre.

• The collection comprises 66 aircraft (including cockpits), and more than 30,000 smaller artefacts.

• 11 aircraft and 6 cockpits are displayed outdoors

• Everything else is on view within themed buildings for the Royal Observer Corps No. 6 Group, the 446th (H) Bomb Group USAAF, RAF Bomber Command, RAF Air-Sea Rescue & Coastal Command, and local aviation from the pioneer years to the present day.  

• There are also numerous exhibitions on special subjects including WWII Decoy Crews, Boulton & Paul Norwich, RAF Link Trainers, aerial photography, radio/radar/electronic counter measures, the Home Front, and Luftwaffe wreckology.

• Facilities include a Shop, Archive & Library, snack area (NAAFI), picnic tables, and a raised boardwalk to the river through a Willow plantation - the Adair Walk

6.5 Miles

• During its short four year run of active service the airfield played host to some of World War Two’s most influential participants.

• Halesworth Airfield was mainly used as an American base. Both the 56th Fighter Group and the 489th Bomb Group stayed here.

• Towards the end of the war and afterwards the base took on a rescue and training function before finally closing in February 1946.

• The Halesworth Airfield Museum houses an extensive collection of World War Two memorabilia, including many items specific to the airfield.

• Walking through the museum visitors get the feel of what life was like in the 1940s for the servicemen who stayed there.

12 Miles

• Seething Control Tower Museum is housed in the restored Control Tower of the former RAF Seething. This airfield was home to the 448th Bomb Group of the United States Air Force and was given the identification Station 146.

• The unmistakable wartime control tower is the main building and houses exhibits and photographs, and associated memorabilia over two floors, all connected with the airfield and the 448th Bomb Group. 

• Up the narrow staircase once trodden by hundreds of American service personnel are collections of photographs, of the aircraft which flew from Station 146, of the buildings in which they worked, rested, and played, and of the men and women themselves.

• There are personal stories and diaries of the airmen, following their history through the years providing an insight into the part Seething airfield played during World War Two.

• Tucked away behind the control tower a former war time Nissen Hut provides space for more exhibits and is a reminder of the type of building which once provided accommodation and offices at the airfield. It is easy to imagine tired and weary airmen dragging themselves back to their bunks after returning from another mission over occupied Europe.

17 Miles

• The Parham Airfield Museum comprises of the

  • 390th Bombardment Group Memorial Air Museum

  • Museum of the British Resistance Organisation

• Determined enthusiasts restored the decaying building as a museum in tribute to the endeavours of the 390th Bomb Group, 8th US Army Air Force & other Allied airmen operating from bases throughout East Anglia, during the Second World War

• Exhibits include a unique and rare collection of recovered Second World War aircraft engines, parts of Allied and German aircraft, uniforms, numerous photographs, documents, combat records, paintings and memorabilia relevant to the U.S 8th Air Force, the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe of the Second World War.

19.5 Miles

• Bressingham has been the official home to the Dads Army Appreciation Society's collection since 2000.

• The exhibition comprises a recreation of Walmington on Sea the fictional home to Captain Mainwaring and his men.

•  Jones' butchers shop and the church hall feature heavily in the scene, whilst you can get a glimpse of Frazer's Funeral Parlour and the Swallow Bank.

• Bressingham was happy to lend to the BBC some of its historic collection to feature in the show, Traction Engines and Rollers feature in episodes but probably the most memorable exhibit in the Bressingham collection is the Fire Engine.

• The Television Series 'Dad's Army' ran from 1968 to 1977 with a total of 80 episodes - and you can still catch the repeats to this day, over 30 years after the filming of the very first episode. Who can forget the inimitable characters played by Clive Dunn, Arthur Lowe, John Laurie, John Le Mesurier, Jim Beck, Ian Lavender, Arnold Ridley, Frank Williams, Edward Sinclair and Bill Pertwee!

• Some of the vehicles at Bressingham Steam Museum were used in the series including the Leyland fire engine in 'Brain versus Brawn' (episode 50, 1972). The steamroller 'Boxer' and traction engine 'Bertha' were also used in the show.

• In Officially rated 4 star / gold accommodation