tried & tested

Myself and my family were kindly gifted a pass into the Family Air Show held at Shuttleworth which was held in August and is repeated annually. Shuttleworth hold a number of events between May and October all of which are suitable for the whole family, some of them are evening events and there is an option to camp or bring a motor home into the grounds.

The Family Air Show was a daytime event, if you got there early enough you could park just metres away from the fence of the runway alternatively you could park in the main car park and bring along a chair or picnic blanket and set up in the grassed areas in front of the fence. There was some fantastic vintage style rides (all free) including a helter skelter slide, small and large merry go round and swing boats. Inside one of the hangars there was some activities going on for older children and young at heart adults such as a drawing competition and paint and build a model aircraft. There were atleast a dozen stalls selling crafts, aircraft related items aswell as a book signing and food (including an extremely busy ice cream man as it was a super hot day) Just in front of the hangers were some fabulous vintage cars to view as well as some vintage buses taking passengers for a ride. 

               
There were plenty of places to get food including the cafe, shack, cream teas in the Hangar and a few food carts.You could also take a picnic along as many people did, there are a couple of water refill stations dotted around the grounds too. 

         
During the events Shuttleworth House, Swiss Gardens, Woodland Walks and The Hangars are open for you to enjoy. If your lucky you may spot one of the peacocks, we managed to spot both. Also there is a whole selection of parks in the play area, I think there were nine or ten different play zones within the play area.

 
The Air Show itself was absolutely brilliant and had not only us but the children completely entranced, we loved watching the parachute jumpers and the game where the aeroplanes released flour sacks to hit a target. The noise wasn’t too bad, I had expected it to be louder so had packed ear defenders but didn’t end up using them. 
There were a number of entertainers dotted about to add to the fun, they included motorcyclists and funny acts on bikes. The afternoon completely flew by (literally) and before we knew it, it was time to go. 

       

There are still a few shows left to see this year and there are definitely some tickets available. 
Tickets do vary in price but are generally around the £40 mark per adult and children under 15 being free. 

(If you are considering booking an evening airshow I highly recommend it, we had taken both children to an evening show last year with the youngest being under a year old and my other being two years old  it was magical, the fireworks and illuminated aeroplanes.) 

I would like to thank Shuttleworth for inviting us to an amazing day, we look forward to returning.