RAS Trip to Newhall Mains, Lossiemouth, the Orkneys and Glendoe

It is hard to imagine a more idyllic setting than Newhall Mains as the starting point for this year’s Royal Air Squadron foray to RAF Lossiemouth and onwards around Scotland. Sitting on the Black Isle just 8 miles north-west of Inverness, the hotel has recently been beautifully restored by Euan Ramsay and his family; it boasts the ‘Ultimate Airfield’ with 630m of immaculately prepared grass runway just alongside. An advanced party of 9 (Pedro and Sophie Fernandes; Chris and Jan Harper; Philippe Cotrel, Pauline Sibille-Tribou; Richard Hubbard; Alex Norman and Patrick Caruth) gathered there on 5 June and were brilliantly hosted throughout. The cuisine and bar at Newhall Mains are fabulous – these, and the superb rooms, make it very well worth a visit or a weekend away. We hope to see more of Euan Ramsay at future RAS events too.

A total of 12 RAS machines arrived at RAF Lossiemouth the following day. Andrew Holman-West undoubtedly had the most exciting inbound journey. Having pre-arranged his flight to be ‘embellished’ by the RAF Lossiemouth Typhoon force, he practiced rock-solid ‘terrain masking’ techniques and used the stealth characteristics of his Yak 3 to avoid interception throughout his flight through Scotland. It seems that he was only ‘found’ once he pulled up from low level to make his approach.

Our party of 20 members and guests were extremely well looked after by Squadron Leader Geraint ‘Kingers’ Kingman, his team and all on No 6 Squadron. We visited the recently-opened Atlantic Building for capability briefs on the RAF’s new P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and on the E7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft which is due to arrive at RAF Lossiemouth in 2025. We were able to practice our rifle shooting skills in the Small Arms Training facility, fly the P8 and Typhoon simulators, and to get ‘up close and personal’ to a Typhoon aircraft. Chris H was seen to shed a tear when he found one of the last (now-grounded) Jaguar aircraft in the corner of the same hangar.

That evening we were joined for a very convivial and most enjoyable supper and drinks in the Officers’ Mess by Group Captain Jim ‘Rosie’ Lee, his senior executives and an array of his junior officers. But the highlight of our stay was our flying 40 RAF Lossiemouth personnel – including officers, NCOs, junior ranks and civilian staff – in our aircraft the following morning. Many of this cohort had ever been in an aircraft before, almost none had ever had the opportunity to see their base from the air. There can be little doubt that RAF/RAS relationships will have been enhanced by this visit. The Chief of the Air Staff (ACM Sir Rich Knighton) told me how pleased he was to learn that our programme had gone well – and we have already been invited to visit RAF Coningsby in spring/summer 2025.
Following the successful completion of flying station staff at RAF Lossiemouth four aircraft headed further north and landed at Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands in a very stiff and cold north westerly wind. We abandoned Alex Norman’s G-NACA at Lossiemouth with a flat front oleo but Alex and Patrick Carruth found lifts elsewhere. Peter Fernandes swung past Glendoe to pick up Greville Vernon and we were joined later in the evening by the Goslings who had battled all the way from Popham into the strong headwind. Not only this but what made their efforts even more admirable was that it was on the back of a comprehensive round Britain trip with the Flying Farmers which included hosting at Stones Farm.

With a decent quorum we settled into a very comfortable evening at the Ayre Hotel in Kirkwall where our pre ordered dinner did not disappoint. We were met early on Saturday morning by our excellent guide, Lizzie Linklater, in her minibus and we set off on the most remarkable tour of the island. We started by driving past the spot in Scapa Flow where HMS Royal Oak was sunk by the German submarine, U-47, on 14th October 1939. The U-Boat had skilfully managed to sneak past the defences that comprised the scuttled German fleet from the First World War, torpedoed the Royal Oak, and managed to escape from the flow which the Royal Navy had thought impregnable.

We then embarked on exploring some of the very ancient monuments and dwellings starting with the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar which are shrines not dissimilar to Stonehenge. We moved onto the UNESCO World Heritage site of Skara Brae which is the best preserved group of Neolithic houses in all of Western Europe dating back an astonishing 5,000 years. This site remains a place of discovery. It was covered by sand centuries ago and was recently exposed following a storm in 1850.

The bitterly cold wind resulted in us rushing around the site and we found some warmth in the 17th Century mansion, Skaill House, with its rich historical contents. From there it was back to Kirkwall and the St Magnus Cathedral where we saw the bell from the Royal Oak, its white ensign, and the book of condolences for the 835 who perished that night. Construction of the cathedral started in 1137 and took 300 years to complete when the Islands were ruled by the Norse Earls prior to their annexation by the Scottish Crown in 1468.

After a quick and delicious pre ordered lunch at the Kirk Café we drove to the enchanting Italian Chapel on the Island of Lamb Holm. The chapel was built by Italian prisoners of war who were incarcerated on the Island. The building is an old Nissan hut, and the artefacts were all made by hand by the prisoners. On this part of the journey, we were also able to see the Churchill Barriers which were put in place following the sinking of the Royal Oak in order to strengthen the defences of Scapa Flow. We were also shown the remains of some of the WW1 scuttled German fleet.

It was then back to the airport for our flight to Glendoe. Peter Fernandes took Alex & Patrick to Lossiemouth for them to retrieve their plane and nurture it back south. We were spoilt by the Vernons in their beautiful lodge and on Sunday morning after a delicious breakfast we departed.