Thatâs quite a well known Spitfire in this areaâŚcertainly if youâre in my age-group as it was kept in a hanger at Eastleigh Airport during the 1950s. Although Iâm a post-war âbaby boomerâ I was still raised with the sound of the Spitfire in my earsâŚthis Spitfire as we lived under the Eastleigh flight-path in Harefield. The private owner of this reconnaissance Spittie used to exercise it every Saturday afternoon over our house during the summer months. 
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Whilst looking for some more info on the Spitfire above, reg G-AIDN I stumbled on this absolute gem of a find, Iâve only had a chance to skim through, but loads of references to Woolston, Eastleigh Airport, Hursley Park which I didnât even know about and people from the area.
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Great stuff, love it!
Thanks for that EricâŚlooks like G-AIDN isnât the one that used to fly over our house but one of the others modified to two cockpits at Eastleigh.
As kids in the late '50s early '60s we would spend many a Saturday at Eastleigh Airport and Eastleigh Railway Sheds (at the end of the runway).
You could ride your bike into the airport unhindered right up to the end hanger where the Saunders-Roe facility was located. At the time they were building and maintaining little Skeeter helicoptersâŚ
They would fill them upâŚrun a few checks and test fly themâŚwith us sat on the grass outside the hanger watching.
Then it would be up to the Railway Sheds for the rest of the afternoonâŚthrough a hole in the fence, over the railway lines, in between engines in steam, through the sheds with engines being prepared for duty. Occasionally someone would shout âOi 'op itâ but we just ran behind another engine and carried onâŚthey werenât bothered, nobody considered what we were doing was in any way hazardous. I suppose we were about 10, 11, 12 years oldâŚwe didnât tell our parents exactly where weâd been though.
This is the placeâŚEastleigh ShedsâŚ
At any one time there would be around 100 steam engines in and around the sheds.
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Campbell Road Bridge was my Plane Spotting and Train Spotting Haunt in my young teens!! Ideal spot in the 70âs. I paid it a visit on one of my last trips, barely any view of the airport and barely any trains in the diesel depot or works.
Yep I can still smell the steam trains as they thundered under Campbell Road BridgeâŚit was a great place to get that heady rush of, sight sound and smell. The Sheds were always easy to get intoâŚThe Works on the other side of the road was a different matter. There was always one clever arse who claimed he knew how to get into The Works but we all knew if you got caught there youâd be made into a pork pie and never seen again. There was always The Works Open DayâŚthe only day of the year you could legitimately get into the inner sanctum. 
Originally posted by @lifeintheslowlane
Originally posted by @ericofarabia
Campbell Road Bridge was my Plane Spotting and Train Spotting Haunt in my young teens!! Ideal spot in the 70âs. I paid it a visit on one of my last trips, barely any view of the airport and barely any trains in the diesel depot or works.
Yep I can still smell the steam trains as the thundered under Campbell Road BridgeâŚit was a great place to get that heady rush of, sight sound and smell. The Sheds were always easy to get intoâŚThe Works on the other side of the road was a different matter. There was always one clever arse who claimed he knew how to get into The Works but we all knew if you got caught there youâd be made into a pork pie and never seen again. There was always The Works Open DayâŚthe only day of the year you could legitimately get into the inner sanctum.
I was post steam, more interested in aviation, but took up train spotting as well to while away the time waitng for any aircraft to pitch up on our Air Band Radios. Nowadays itâs all FlightTracker24 or whatever from the luxury of the sofa and pop out at the appropriate moment to spot a 747 33000 ft high 50 miles away!!
Earlier I posted a few engravings from a book called âVestiges of Old SouthamptonââŚthe book is from 1891 with engravings by Frank McFadden. I found an original copy in Baltimore in the US, bought it and it arrived today. The bookâs in reasonably good shape, nothing a good bookbinder canât handle. Everything is there including the 12 superb engravings so Iâm a happy bunny today. The engravings themselves are loose in the book which is a blessing as tomorrow Iâm going to get them digitally scanned with a view of having them reproducedâŚso watch this spaceâŚIâll be giving Sotonian.com discount.
Hereâs the front coverâŚ
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OK moving on from my last post Iâve now had a chance to scan the 12 etchings from âVestiges of Old Southamptonâ and had some of them printed at A3 size. When I picked them up from the printers I was surprised at how well they have reproduced. I think theyâre just about the best engraving of old Southampton Iâve ever seen. The proportions are bang on and as they were based on photographs taken by Frank McFaddenâs friend Thomas Hibberd James they are accurate in detail too.
Iâve had a batch of 10 printed off of 3 of themâŚif anyoneâs interested you can view and order them here: http://vwjudsonregister.tripod.com/1891-southampton-prints.htm
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Ordered. Loving these!
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^^^ Just sent you a PM Sim.
I was looking through a pile of my dadâs Southampton books the other day when I found a soft-back book of Victorian photographs by Thomas Hibberd JamesâŚthe man on whose Frank McFaddenâs etchings are based.
Iâll scan a few of the pictures so you can compare the photos and etchings.
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This great stuff, amazing!
I have to say I spent more time looking at the scene belowâŚ1922.
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If you read about Frank McFaddenâs etchings of Old Southampton in some of my previous posts you might remember me saying they were factual representations. Thatâs because they were based on photographs taken by his amateur photographer friend Thomas Hibbert James. Here are a few for comparisonâŚ
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The above photos and etchings posted by lifeintheslowlane are stunning in their quality and detail, and provide a very interesting glance back in time to 1891. Thanks for sharing, John.
Can you, or anyone more familiar with the city than I am, tell me if the Platform Tavern pub featured in one of the posts is the same pub as the one on Town Quay that exists today, or is it a different one somewhere else?
Looks like the back entrance to the Platform to me. Hasnât changed much apart from the trike.
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