Crowds flock to Festival of Transport

The sun shone – yes, let's repeat that, the sun shone on Audlem's Festival Transport and the crowds turned out in their thousands. Hundreds of vehicles turned up and the smiles of the drivers and passengers as they paraded through the village showed how much everyone wanted the day to be a success, after seemingly weeks of rain with many events around the country cancelled.

The much anticipated flying display by a Spitfire from the RAF Memorial Flight was an amazing highlight of the day. It flew in fast and low from the south – out of the sun – and circled round and over the village, looping and performing for many minutes before departing with a waggle of the wings eastwards.

While the invention of the motor car may have changed the world – and there were some wonderful early examples on display – historians could put forward an argument that the development of the Spitfire by Newcastle-under-Lyme man R. J. Mitchell was a critical point in the history of the last century. But for the Spitfire, Britain was near defenceless in 1940 after the retreat from Dunkirk. The plane, and its pilots – the famous 'few' – proved superior in the Battle of Britain, and the rest, as they say, is history. The sound of the Spitfire's Merlin engine yesterday over Audlem will have brought back memories for many.

Congratulations once again to ASET, the Audlem Special Events Team, on a splendid event. They managed to put on a superb Proms event in pouring rain only a month ago. Yesterday, the weather was so much kinder and thousands will have been grateful for their perseverance in laying on a successful Festival of Transport.

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