Portent

Another relaxation of the “no commercial websites” rule. (Given that so many websites, including portent carry adverts its also a bit of a loose restriction!). I’ve always liked classic aircraft though most featured here are well before my time.

Classic Flight, part of the Air Atlantique group offers flights on classic aircraft as well as hiring out aircraft for films, air displays, training etc. Though they have a large range of aircraft- including the first British Jet Fighter the Meteor, the flights are limited to a DC 3 (Dakota), a Devon, Twin Pioneer, de Havilland Dragon Rapide and a Percival Prentice. I’d imagine getting insurance to take commercial passengers in anything else, like military jets would be prohibitive in price, if it all possible.

They have a fascinating range of aircraft, many ex military and many made by British firms. I used to work at British Aerospace in the 1990s and once saw a family tree of companies that merged. Nearly every British aircraft manufacturing company ended up in British Aerospace, just as every British car company (near enough) ended up in British Leyland.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Slavery of course was abolished over 200 hundred years ago but various forms of it still exist, even in Britain today.
This exhibition, which is currently at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (and moving to Edinburgh in August-October 2007) highlights the plight on those who are trafficked or brought into the UK as unpaid domestic servants. It has photos by Panos photographers Karen Robinson and David Rose and you can see some on the website.

There is also a petition asking for the British Govt to ratify and implement the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against trafficking in Human Beings. This was signed up to in March 2007 but until something happens…

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Popularity: 2% [?]

Just like the Library of Congress Exhibition, the British Library has it’s own mini exhibition website which is about Britain. The main British Library covers most of the world. This isn’t on the main British Library website which is at www.bl.uk (one of the rare .uk Top Level domains!) but at www.collectbritain.co.uk and consists of over 90,000 images and sounds.

The picture shown is part of the a map. The Library has a pretty restrictive copyright policy so I’ve just shown a small taster of a map rather than a complete image.

The site itself comprises three sections- Collections, Exhibitions and Themed Tours. All are very well done and clearly laid out. The 19 Collections covering regional dialects, 1500 very old photographs of Victorian Britain, 1000 maps of London streets etc. The Five virtual exhibitions range from Mike Philips views on the British Caribbean collection, sacred manuscripts to Samuel Grimm’s sketchbooks about Northumberland. The themed tours use Flash to explain the story of the Trigonometrical Survey of England and Wales that became Ordnance Survey, 17th century gardening in Sayes Court at Deptford and the old East End.

Link to Collect Britain Website

Popularity: 4% [?]