Castle Eaton

Castle Eaton Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England at Castle Eaton in Wiltshire. It carries a minor road between Cricklade, 4 miles to the southwest, and Kempsford 11⁄2 miles to the east. The iron girder bridge with brick piers was built in 1893 with materials supplied by iron founders E Finch & Sons of Chepstow. It was described by Fred Thacker in 1920 "The present deplorable iron trough ... The Conservancy is often blamed for its hideousness; their responsibility amounts only to acquiescence; I understand the Swindon District Board was the actual artist". It was strengthened in 2001. The bridge it replaced was of timber with stone piers and stone causeway.

Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford (IATA: FFD, ICAO: EGVA) is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. While being an RAF station, Fairford hosts United States Air Force personnel. Since 2019, the base has played host to a Lockheed U-2S Dragon Lady detachment from the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. It is the USAF's only European airfield for heavy bombers and routinely supports Bomber Task Force (BTF) operations. Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for United States Air Force B-52s during the 2003 Iraq War, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the first Gulf War in 1991. RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK. As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a shuttle landing (the runway is 3,045 m (9,990 ft) long), it also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the airfield. The runway is rated with an unrestricted load-bearing capacity, meaning that it can support any aircraft with any type of load. RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), an annual air display. RIAT is one of the largest airshows in the world, with the 2003 show recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest military airshow ever, with an attendance of 535 aircraft.

Kempsford is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) south of Fairford. RAF Fairford is immediately north of the village. The parish, which includes the hamlets of Whelford, Horcott, and Dunfield, had a population around 1,120 at the 2011 census.

The Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin at Kempsford in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England was built in the 12th century. It is a grade I listed building.

Marston Meysey, pronounced and sometimes also spelt Marston Maisey, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, lying 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Cricklade on the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The parish includes the hamlet of Marston Hill. Marston Maisey is the spelling for the civil parish, but not for the village on Ordnance Survey maps. The village has a pub called the Old Spotted Cow, and not far away is RAF Fairford. The nearest major town is Swindon.

The River Ray is a tributary of the River Thames in England which flows through Wiltshire. The river rises at Wroughton to the south of Swindon and runs in a generally northern direction, passing to the west of the town via Shaw. Near Roughmoor it is joined from the west by the Lydiard Brook. The river joins the Thames on the southern bank near Calcutt, east of Cricklade, just upstream of Water Eaton House Bridge. Its length is about 11.5 km (7.1 mi) from its source to the Lydiard Brook, and 10.3 km (6.4 mi) from there to the Thames.The river has been subject to a restoration project run by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. The final stage, completed in December 2007, was to build a tunnel near the Great Western Way at Rivermead to allow the nine species of fish to travel the length of the river without obstruction.

Hannington Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England. It carries a minor road between Kempsford in Gloucestershire and Hannington Wick in Wiltshire. It was built of stone in 1841, replacing an earlier wooden bridge.The bridge comprises three small skew arches, with a causeway at either end with flood arches. The river is navigable to it for rowing boats from downstream Lechlade but the bridge is difficult for boats to negotiate as the river is fast and shallow.

Whelford is a village in the civil parish of Kempsford, in the Cotswold district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Whelford lies in the Cotswold hills on the River Coln, 2 miles (3.2 km) south east of Fairford. In 1864, a chapel of ease was constructed in the Early English architectural style. In 1870-72 it had a population of 178.

Ermin Street or Ermin Way was a Roman road in Britain. It linked Glevum (Gloucester) and Corinium (Cirencester) to Calleva (Silchester).At Glevum, it connected to the road to Isca (Caerleon), the legionary base in southeast Wales. At Corinium, it connected to the Fosse Way between Isca (Exeter) and Lindum (Lincoln). At Calleva, it connected to the Devil's Highway to Londinium (London) and the Kentish ports, as well as to other routes to points in the southwest. The road has been assigned the Margary number 41. Much of its route of the road is now covered by the modern A417, A419 and B4000 roads.

Fairford is a market town in Gloucestershire, England. The town lies in the Cotswold hills on the River Coln, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Cirencester, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Lechlade and 9 miles (14 km) north of Swindon. Nearby are RAF Fairford and the Cotswold Water Park.

Hannington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, two miles northwest of Highworth, and now part of the Borough of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Hannington Wick (north of Hannington village) and Swanborough (south, on the border with Highworth parish). The nearest town is Swindon 5.5 miles (9.2 kilometres) and the County town of Wilshire, Trowbridge, is 29.5 miles (47.6 kilometres). The River Thames forms both the northern boundary of the parish and the county boundary with Gloucestershire. John Marius Wilson of the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales in 1870 described the village of Hannington as:A village and a parish in Highworth district, Wilts. The village stands 2 miles W by N of Highworth, 2 S of the river Thames at the boundary with Gloucester, and 7 NE of Swindon Junction r. station; is a pretty place, built in the form of the letter Y; and has a post office under Swindon.

Royal Air Force Down Ampney or more simply RAF Down Ampney is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.8 miles (2.9 km) north east of Cricklade, Wiltshire and 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. The airfield operated during the Second World War from February 1944 until February 1947.Down Ampney was part of a group of airfields dedicated to air transportation, alongside RAF Broadwell and RAF Blakehill Farm.