THIS IS FINDON
— www.findonvillage.com created
by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex,
U.K.
THE HINDENBURG FROM CISSBURY RING
Copyright Valerie Martin 2003.
The view from West Hill across to Cissbury Ring...... a
long time ago....... exact date unsure. |
If you climb Chanctonbury Ring and Cissbury Ring
(and walk
between them), you will have a picture of Sussex that will not leave you.
Nearly all of Sussex can be viewed with parts of Kent, Surrey and Hampshire too.
Cissbury Ring with Worthing and the English Channel beyond
in July 2004. |
Northward lies the Weald, its green fields sprinkled with
picturesque villages such as Findon —
and woods surviving from an ancient forest of centuries ago. Beyond on the
horizon rise the North Downs, their slopes dressed with extensive
woodland. The eye, sweeping round, is caught by Leith Hill, Box Hill
and the Hog's Back.
Westward rises Hindhead Beacon; then comes Blackdown, the
range continuing to Goodwood and beyond into our neighbouring county .... Hampshire.
To the south lie the blue waters of the English Channel.
To the east we can see Steep Down, Steyning's Round Hill and
the Devil's Dyke complex. Across the Weald gap between the South
Downs and Crowborough Beacon, Kent's far hills can be glimpsed beyond.
|
Photograph of the Western Western Escarpment of
the Iron Age Fort of Cissbury Ring taken pre 1936.
|
The giant German airship Hinderburg LZ 129 took
to the sky on 4th March 1936 and on 26th March commenced a propaganda tour as
one of Nazi Germany's finest airships. She was intended to reflect
the might of the German Reich and its leader, Adolf Hitler.
The propaganda tour brought it to West Sussex
four months later.
It was approaching 8 p.m. on a Sunday evening in
July 1936 that from vantage points in Findon, a spectacular sight was witnessed.
From the Portsmouth direction (some 36 miles away), there was a good view of the
Hindenburg from the downland and Cissbury Ring as she proceeded on her
course slowly along the coastline to the south of
Findon, from west to east.
At this distance, the watchers could not hear the
gentle purr of its mighty 1,300 h.p. diesel engines, nor make out the Nazi
Swastika emblazoned on its vertical fins or the red letters on the bow saying "Hindenburg". Everyone
was nevertheless in awe at her 135 feet diameter silver bulk as
she gleamed in the evening sunlight. The mighty zeppelin was almost
as big as the Titanic. She was the largest man-made object to ever to fly
and still holds that record. Tony Hammond recalls —
18th March 2003.
Valerie -
I well remember the Hindenburg passing over Worthing
in 1936.
Somehow the word got around that it was on its way and
it seemed that the whole town turned out to see it.
It passed very low over the sea just off shore, it was
so large that it virtually blacked out the sky. All the markings could
be clearly seen, and to this day I can easily visualise that gigantic
swastika on the tail and it still gives me the creeps......
Tony
Tony Hammond, East Preston, West Sussex.
|
Photograph of the Zeppelin Hindenburg over Worthing at 8.30
p.m. on Sunday 5th July 1936. |
| 29the December 2004
Hello Valerie,
Further on the German preparations for invasion, I well remember the Graf
Zeppelin flying from west to east just off Worthing beach in 1936.
It was assumed at the time that it was taking photographs.
And it was certainly closer than the 3 mile territorial limit.
Cheers,
Peter Trounce,
Toronto, Canada.
Where there is a foot of snow and it's c-c-cold.
|
The 803 ft. long passenger airship progressed over Worthing and
on to Shoreham Airport where a bevy of planes were awaiting the awe-inspiring
sight. They left the ground and buzzed around her like attendant
gnats paying homage. The biggest aircraft in the world ignored the
small fry and continued along the
coast.
Here is Cissbury Ring pre 1946.
|
The Hindenburg was too large and ponderous to be affected by any weather conditions and brushed aside the blustering
wind that evening. Finally, her tail was silhouetted against the
gathering bank of clouds and she could be seen to be swaying and rising slightly
as she rode out the strengthenly sou' westerly.
Within minutes she had totally disappeared into the cloud formation over Brighton and the
Hindenburg show was over.
This great zeppelin pioneered the first
transatlantic air service. One year after passing within four miles south
of Findon, the Hindenburg was destroyed on 3rd May 1937 in a firey disaster to go down
in aviation history.
As the Hinderburg approached a mooring tower at
the American end of the first of eighteen scheduled trips, she exploded and most
of the occupants died in one of the most dramatic air tragedies of all time.
Continue if you would like to read about
The Little Cissbury Miner
.
This is Findon
Village —
www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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