Free downloads
You may know that Jim suffered two strokes recently. As he fights back towards fitness, Jim produces short articles on the history of some of the military facilites in and around Fakenham, as well as some musical memoirs. These are free to download as pdfs:
- A Bombs at Sculthorpe
- The ‘special building’.
- Aircraft on Loan
- Interesting arrivals at Sculthorpe.
- Allies at Odds
- The gradual takeover of Sculthorpe from RAF to USAF.
- America next the sea
- How Wells missed out.
- Barns Hall or Barons Hall
- The Gwynns and Fakenham.
- The Big Stuff At Sculthorpe
- Heavy aircraft at Sculthorpe.
- Bombing up at Sculthorpe
- The bomb loading pit at RAF Sculthorpe.
- Books by the Thousand
- Printing in Fakenham
- Crash
- Vampire Mk5 crash, 1955
- Chapel Tales
- Fakenham’s methodist chapel and Jim’s family connection
- Connections
- When Jim’s interest in RAF Sculthorpe started
- Coxford Heath Decoy Aerodrome
- The decoy aerodrome near Tattersett.
- Coxford Heath Pt 2
- More on the decoy aerodrome near Tattersett.
- Decoy to confound
- RAF North Creake.
- Fake News
- Counter-intelligence
- Fakenham and the Great Western Railway
- The link between GWR and Fakenham‘s print industry
- Fakenham blockhouse
- Protecting Fakenham’s pump
- Fakenham pump
- The once important utility of Fakenham’s centre
- Fakenham's Old Mill
- What does this mound of ivy conceal?
- Fakenham's Railways
- From 1849 to the 1960s.
- Feeding The Printing Presses
- John Garrood’s invention for the print industry.
- From The Garden To The Sky
- Jim’s early days of plane spotting.
- Harpley Dams
- How Mr Wilson’s quarry helped to buid a railway and then helped to win a war.
- Harpley Dams update
- Further information comes to light.
- Hills and Holes
- The terrain of Fakenham.
- Hobnobbing with well-known musicians
- Some of the professional musicians that Jim has met over the years.
- Ink Under The Fingernails
- Jim’s career in the printing trade.
- Jets
- The arrival of jet-engined aircraft at Sculthorpe.
- Jiu-Jitsu, the still secret operation
- A risky operation from Sculthorpe.
- Letter from Fakenham
- Fakenham’s postal service.
- London, Fakenham & Reading
- The story of printing in Fakenham.
- Musician’s Tales
- A few anecdotes recalling Jim’s musical adventures.
- News From Fakenham
- Local newspapers past and present.
- Off-duty at Sculthorpe
- Sports, leisure and entertainment for personnel and families.
- Off the Rails
- Jim recalls a minor derailment on the Fakenham East level crossing.
- Peace camps at Sculthorpe
- Remembering the presence of CND at the base.
- Play It Again Sam
- Experiences with recording.
- Project Ruby
- Joint testing programme.
- Rectory Tales
- Fakenham’s rectories.
- Reminders of the Second World War
- Remembering some of Fakenham’s defences.
- Residents of Sculthorpe
- Aircraft types stationed at the base.
- Roads around the aerodrome
- Lost and rerouted roads through the years.
- Sculthorpe co-locations
- How various nearby stations and facilities were linked with Sculthorpe.
- Sculthorpe and the Local Economy
- The contribution of RAF Sculthorpe to the local area, its economy and people.
- Sculthorpe at Home
- Open days at the base.
- Sculthorpe: Lots to see
- Sculthorpe as a standby airfield
- Sculthorpe Opens For The Third Time
- Change of use, 1967 into the early 1970s
- Sculthorpe - The Early Days
- The construction and early years of RAF Sculthorpe.
- Sculthorpe Timeline
- 1942-1971.
- Security at Sculthorpe
- Protecting the base.
- Schools in Fakenham
- Education through the years.
- Speculation about Sculthorpe
- Many ideas were discussed for the redundant base.
- Spying from Sculthorpe
- RAF Special Duties flight, 1954.
- Spotting at Sculthorpe
- Jim started spotting planes at RAF Sculthorpe as a schoolboy.
- Spotting days
- More on Jim’s aircraft spotting.
- Tankers
- The KB-50 and derivatives at Sculthorpe.
- The Air Ministry at Fakenham
- Aerodrome repair depot in Fakenham used during World War 2.
- The Methodist Story in Fakenham
- The long and varied history of Fakenham’s Methodist chapels.
- The Red Barn Mystery
- Sugar beet storage or something more sinister?
- The Story of The Electrons
- Fakenham’s first beat group.
- The Turkish Affair
- How the US Airforce came to Sculthorpe.
- The Wensum by Fakenham
- Bridges, mills and a change of course.
- Uninvited guests at Sculthorpe
- Some unusual arrivals.
- Uniforms
- Army uniforms
- US Military arrival at Sculthorpe
- Activity in 1946/7.
- What next for Sculthorpe?
- Life after the USAF.
- What’s in a name?
- The origins of some of Fakenham’s place names.
- White Horse Street
- How it changed over the years
- Who Built Victorian Fakenham?
- Local builders of the time.
Other essays
- Records - Don’t always believe what you hear
- Jim’s thoughts on who played what.
- More Label Mysteries
- Manufactured bands of the 60s and early 70s.