Whilst I know you will be keen for my thoughts on the Conservative leadership campaign which continues this week, in the period of time between my writing this article and you reading it the line up of contenders will change dramatically - so I will save them for next week. Currently I am backing my constituency neighbour, Kim Badenoch, the MP for Saffron Walden, who is doing brilliantly from a standing start just last week.
While the political heat is on the leadership contenders, so too is the meteorological heat, with record temperatures being seen across the UK. There’s been an eerie silence across the constituency, with far fewer people driving to and from work and school, as many people are urged to stay at home and keep in the cool.
Even the skies are clear of small aircraft, with the exception of occasional fly overs by the Essex Police helicopter or the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. I was given the chance to see both these aircraft close up earlier this month when I spent a very happy morning at North Weald Airfield, in the company of Epping Forest District councillors, Nigel Bedford, John Phillips and Holly Whitbread.
The airfield, which started life as a First World War aerodrome and was opened again during the Second World War, is one of the key business bases and employment areas within my Brentwood and Ongar constituency. Its war history is beautifully remembered in the North Weald Airfield Museum, while many people needing temporary accommodation from the Council are housed in the former Officers’ Mess, Norway House. Bryn Elliott and Peter Gardner kindly gave me a tour of the museum, and its certainly somewhere I will visit again.
I was hoping to catch up with the crew of the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance on the airfield, but they were off and away on another emergency before I got the chance to say hello. The EHAA Trust moved to the airfield in the last year, and its building and facilities are outstanding.
The Essex Police helicopter is stationed a short walk from the air ambulance base and, like the air ambulance, is a regular sight over Brentwood and Ongar. David and Paul, two of the specially trained helicopter police officers, do everything you see on the TV programmes and more, and it was a fascinating chance to see some of the Essex Police crime-busting technology up close.
