Blog Archives

You may have noticed a lot of activity on Bovingdon Airfield recently, some of which is for the new Sam Mendes’ World War I film 1917. The film will begin production next April, for U.S. release December 2019 through Amblin’s distribution partner Universal. Mendes wrote the original script with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Mendes will produce with his Neal Street Productions partner Pippa Harris.
It will mark Mendes’ first directorial feature since back to back James Bond films Spectre and Skyfall. It also brings him back with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin. It was Spielberg who worked closely with Mendes on his feature directorial debut American Beauty, which won five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. Mendes followed by making two more for Spielberg’s DreamWorks: Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road.

An airbus pilot had to take ‘evasive action’ to avoid a drone above the skies of Bovingdon.
According to the Airprox boards’ report the A319 pilot reported that they were being vectored for RW27R when they saw in front and slightly above what was thought to be a helium party balloon with string dangling underneath, as is commonly seen in the FIR. As they got closer it became obvious that it was a black quadcopter drone of fairly large size with some sort of underslung camera system. As they passed underneath and slightly to the left they could see a green-blue light being emitted from the underslung assembly. The object was moving in the windscreen and it was assessed that they were not on a collision course, hence no avoiding action was necessary.

Cause: The drone was being flown above the maximum permitted height of 400ft such that it
was endangering other aircraft at that location. The Board agreed that the incident was therefore best described as the drone was flown into conflict with the A319.

Risk: The Board considered that the pilot’s overall account of the incident portrayed a situation where safety had been much reduced below the norm to the extent that safety had not
been assured.

Bovingdons’ very own, David Barnes, will be appearing as a judge on BBC Ones’ talent show All Together Now on Christmas Eve and then throughout January and February 2019. Geri Halliwell, also a local girl, is head judge.

David, who went to Bovingdon School and Cavendish School is better known as Dave The Bear, a Singer, Compere, Burlesque Legend and Heartbreaker.

The Bear has been performing all over the world since 2009 and last year alone was nominated for a London Cabaret Award for Best Alternative Act and a British Comedy Award for his work on TV’s 8 Out of 10 Cats and winner of Peoples Choice Award at The Vienna Boylesque Festival 2015.

This week saw the close of the Green Dragon Pub in Flaunden. It is rumoured to have been bought by a local and will re-open in the new year with a new owner and manager. Lets hope they don’t change it too dramatically.

The Green Dragon is located in the rural idyll that is Flaunden, a picturesque village on the Chiltern Hills where south-west Hertfordshire meets Buckinghamshire. You will find Flaunden deep within a triangle formed by Chesham, Hemel Hempstead and Watford. And, as centuries-old tradition dictates, you’ll find The Dragon – as it is affectionately known locally – virtually adjacent to the village Church of St Mary Magdaline.

Next year’s most anticipated non-Disney release Wonder Woman 2 is being filmed over the next couple of weeks on Bovingdon Airfield. Wonder Woman was the phenomenon of the summer, and now we’re getting more. But exactly what will that ‘more’ be?
We know we’re probably getting a movie set in the 80s, which gives Diana Prince a new love interest while having her face off against the red threat of Russia. Here, we learn that the working title is Magic Hour. And by all accounts, this is in direct reference to the movie’s main villain.
The crew is expected to return to the original scene of the crime, shooting at Warner Bros. Studios UK who regularly use the airfield. The iconic location was used both for last year’s adventure and Justice League, as well as the Harry Potter movies.