Chicksands RAFB and the Chicksands Priory

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Without any doubt, the best assignment of my military career was my very first one. I was stationed at Chicksands, RAFB from October of 1992 until June of 1995. During this time I was able to travel all over England and Wales; I absolutely loved the UK, and sincerely hope to have the opportunity to go back again.

While stationed at Chicksands, I took many tours of the priory. Military personnel used to be able to rent the building overnight, and a group of us once spent a spooky and memorable night there. There were many tales about the medieval inhabitants of the structure, but I never put much stock in their veracity. 

Today I was searching for information on Chicksands on Google and discovered this 45 minute long YouTube episode of the British program "Time Team," which focused on trying to rediscover some of the forgotten history of the Chicksands Priory.

Time Team S09-E04 Chicksands,.Beds

I also have a Pinterest board, where I've posted pictures discovered online related to my favorite British Air Force base.

Bedford and Chicksands UK

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Largest Anglo-Saxon Treasure Ever Found!

This is an exciting story. Amazing stuff! One of my memories from the 3 years that I lived in England is of the large number of older men that could be seen scouring the countryside (usually alone or with a dog of some kind) with their large and unwieldy metal detectors either early in the morning or late at night. What an ultimate uber payoff for this guy!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6847081.ece

Another similarly peculiar memory from England is of the "plane-spotters" that were always parked outside the fenced-in Air Force bases' runways. They were busy jotting down tail numbers and unique plane information, trying to piece together what was happening I guess. I believe that I read somewhere that information from these amateur observers is what led to the revelation that the government's secret rendition flights were happening. Bravo!

Moral of this post... even when you think what others are doing around you is a bit odd, when you can't understand what they get out of it... there might be an unimaginable payoff just around the corner.

Now if the folks that wore ten gallon hats, leather chaps, cowboy boots with spurs, fake pistols, and checkered cotton shirts to the Garth Brooks concert in London in the mid-ninety's wind up getting anything out of dressing in that fashion to go to another American country music concert... I'll be really impressed.

~ All that said... I really enjoyed living in England for 3 years. I was privileged to get to know many wonderful Brits, and I will always have especially fond memories of participating in music nights at the pubs! There were so many things to fall in love with, and just a few to be amused by, and I think that a little bit of light amusement is healthy for the soul.