Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome — Attraction in Maldon

This is one of those places where if you could award your own number of stars, it would be a 6 star review at least. It is a little gem of a museum staffed by friendly, helpful and knowledgeable guides. The people in the Airmen's Mess (Cafe) are really nice but there, the fact I had missed breakfast, meant that my questions were limited to the food, which is very good. Of course we also bought things in the shop, our visit was just before Christmas. It is extraordinary that so much of a WW1 Home Defence airfield remains intact. It has been restored in some parts and some buildings are still in course of restoration. There are several WW1 aircraft there, one genuine and two "new build" ones. The genuine one is an Avro 504, the two "new build" ones are a BE2 and an Albatros DVa. The latter two were built in New Zealand by "Vintage Aviator", specialists in building new "old" aircraft. A replica Fokker Triplane is being built in another hangar where several modern aircraft are resident. One thing I like about this museum is that it is on a live airfield. I am sure in the summer it is glorious to see old planes in the air. The museum itself is amazing with well thought out exhibits. It is a proper museum, the exhibits are all well contextualised and I went away having learnt some really interesting things. I particularly liked the focus on the role of women in WW1. Look at the text below the Daily Mail masthead on the photo below, the Mail has a tradition it retains to this day. It is a good half day visit and worth every penny. In fact it is worth making a donation over and above to keep this...

Went for the Air Show which was excellent with a number of interesting planes. The Museum is really coming on well now with some very interesting displays. Two downsides: the PA seemed to manage to make the music too loud while the announcements remained largely unintelligible. Secondly the cafe was chaotic. For some incomprehensible reason there were two queues, one hidden inside, with no signage to indicate what each was for, resulting in several people being sent to queue again after already waiting outside for ten minutes or more. Choice of food was poor with no vegetarian options visible, tea was pallid and tasteless even after leaving it to brew. I realise the people working there were volunteers, but their level of competence and organisation left much to be desired. I should also mention that the person taking payments might learn to say 'please' and even smile, not just snap '£14.60!' (or whatever) with an air of slight annoyance to each customer. I had to remain cheerful and polite toward an often disparaging public for many years in various roles, admittedly it's sometimes hard but certainly for an occasional day should not...

Visited here today in a group of 13 people on 12 bikes for a tea stop. They were kind enough to have the place ready for us and they understood that we would not be in a position to enjoy the guided tour etc. However the "staff" were more than happy to explain bits and bob's to us and their enthusiasm was contagious.

It is a beautifully preserved historic site. One of 3 created in 1916 to fend off the threat of zeppelins and the only one remaining as it was. One became Southend Airport and the other in Goldhammer was labelled after the WWI.

We had coffees and cake in the "Other Ranks" Mess building, they have a wide range of home made options, all of which were outstanding. The treacle tart I had was big and lush mmmmm!

I would imagine its a great family day out especially if the children are of an age where they can understand how important it all was. There is no doubt the information will be delivered in the most easily understood way to suit all. Thank you for a great tea stop and I am sure we will be...