The Orwellian Nightmare Unit...

The traffic snarled up and eventually came to a halt. I parked my car, grabbed my cameras and went to see what was happening. The road was blocked by police and fire engines.

More sirens rang out as a police car pulled across to block the road, while yet another fire engine arrived. I couldn't see smoke, so I assumed it must be an accident of some kind.

The air ambulance circled overhead obviously searching for a suitable landing spot.

It swung low over the rooftops, skimmed the rear gardens, and positioned itself to land at the junction of two roads.

It sunk below the outline of the suburban skyline and out of sight.

This is when the trouble started...

A policeman approached me. He asked if I was affiliated with the press, and what was I taking photographs of. I politely explained that I was just a local caught up in the traffic taking some shots of the air ambulance overhead. He then began ranting on about seizing my cameras as evidence! He was rude, aggressive and intimidating. I was shocked. I was told that I wasn't allowed to take photos. Although I was incandescent with rage, I didn't want to be arrested, or have my cameras taken, so I retreated into a side road.

With the cameras tucked under my coat I returned and attempted to blend in with the crowd. Just in time to witness another photographer suffer similar treatment. This time the police were trying to use anti-terror laws to stop him taking photos. He knew his rights, stood his ground, and informed them that they had no right to seize his camera, or prevent him from taking pictures. He was threatened with arrest for a public order offence and manhandled to a car by the policeman! Credit to the guy, he stated his case clearly, he had committed no offence and was well within his rights to take photographs on a public road. They reluctantly let him go.

Out of sight, the turbines of the helicopter whined into life. The thudding of the rotors grew louder as it emerged above the roof tiles. The police were distracted so I took the opportunity to snap a few shots...

After the helicopter left, I made conversation with the other photographer. I could tell he was very annoyed by the police. He was amazed at their ignorance of the law and of the public rights. We'd both encountered this abuse before, and I'm sure I will again.

It turned out that the incident was just a traffic accident. There was no reason to evoke anti-terror laws. I didn't hinder or obstruct anyone in any way. I didn't intrude on the casualties privacy. There was simply no reason to stop anyone from taking pictures. What was particularly hypocritical was the professional video camera crew (full size on the shoulder TV camera, plus sound man) that were shadowing the emergency services at close quarters filming the casualties from barely 6 foot away!

The police are misusing, and abusing these anti-terror laws as I suspected they would when I wrote a blog post about them when they first came into existence last year. (Read it HERE)

I will continue to take photos and strive to prevent the spread of this new branch of the police... 'The Orwellian Nightmare Unit'.

Cosford airshow...

The Cosford airshow is a yearly event. People travel countrywide to spectate. The resulting chaos locks up the roads for miles around. I long since gave up queueing, and instead, have found a convoluted route through the maze of country lanes to get to within 5 mins walking distance. This way I miss all the traffic, park for free, and no, I'm not saying how you get there! Once there, we don't go inside, but instead head to a grassy mound known to die hards and locals alike. The air force give us the wink and allow us to watch for free....

Where we watch is at the far end of the airfield. The view is partly obscured by an embankment and the occasional tree, but it means that often on their approach aircraft fly right over your heads (it is outlawed to fly over the crowd in Europe, too many people got mashed!). Also this is where the Chinook sits to warm up.....grab everything, it's taking off!

Military aircraft were pretty thin on the ground, (not sure that expression works with aircraft) probably due to all the war and stuff. Still, ladies glued to bi-planes will have to do.

Could they get any closer?!

The glue comes unstuck and she clings on for dear life!

The Red Arrows are always popular. Fly with precision and crash with style.

One year, down south, they managed to clip a 20ft mast on one of the yachts in the harbour! He lost his no claims bonus and everything.

The Red Arrows display was cut short because some one in a microlight chugged their way into the military airspace! Did he not notice it was busier than normal? He was lucky he didn't get knocked out the air by jet wash. Ushered away with a specially adapted large rolled newspaper, the show continued.

Flying in tight formation was their forte, but when I went to press my shutter button...Whoosh! A spectacular split, peeling off in every direction. It's a conspiracy. That can be the only explanation. They know when I've just switched the camera off, and they know when I'm just about to press the button!

The gorgeous looking Spitfire. During the second World War these were manufactured at a site about 4 miles from where I live. The test pilots were apparently quite reckless and often flew through the hangers!

The 'Eurofighter', or it's preferred name, the 'Typhoon' shot past with an exhaust note that jibbled your innards about.

What were they thinking calling it a 'eurofighter'? It sounds like something you would put down to kill cockroaches! 'Typhoon', now, that's a proper name, you could do some damage with one of those....

Upside down, at low level, with the afterburners on, now that's fun. "I'll just see if I can get it through that hanger!"

This plane spent most of the time being blurred or getting small quickly. It was very fast and agile. A lot of the time I didn't know even where it was until it had past!