THE skies over Herefordshire Aero Club will be home to some of the most recognisable aircraft in history this summer as the Shobdon Food and Flying Festival helps mark the centenary of the RAF.

Flypasts by iconic Second World War planes will form the centrepiece of this year’s event after the team at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which is based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, agreed to pay a visit.

On July 1, crowds can expect a flypast by a Spitfire or Hurricane while the day before all eyes will be on one of only two Lancaster Bombers still flying in the world, and the only one in the UK.

Marcus Woof, from Herefordshire Aero Club, said: “We are thrilled that the BBMF has agreed to come and see us during what will be an incredibly busy summer for them.

"As Shobdon Airfield played a key role in the war as the home of a training school for glider pilots, we knew that we wanted to mark the RAF100 celebrations somehow and this is the perfect way. Let’s hope the weather is kind to us!”

The sixth annual event, hosted by Herefordshire Aero Club at Shobdon Airfield, promises to be the biggest yet with several thousand visitors expected to descend on the village.

As the event’s reputation has spread, many visitors now fly in from all over the country to enjoy parachuting, trial flights and tours around static vintage aircraft.

In addition, almost a hundred of the region’s top food, drink and artisan craftspeople have also been assembled with visitors able to sample everything from local meats, cheeses, ales and wines to flavours from Thailand, Japan, India, the Middle East, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and more.

Event Sponsor, Glenn Jones from Discover Bestparks, said: “This is the fourteenth year we have held a Food Festival in Shobdon and it’s always fantastic to see the whole village come together. As a business which has a base in Shobdon, we are thrilled to support an event that has the local community at its heart.”

Sailboat rides on Discover Bestpark’s Pearl Lake will be running on both days of the Festival. A packed line up of demonstrating chefs including Great British Bake Off favourite, Val Stones, live music, children’s entertainment and a gala Rat Pack tribute evening starring ITV weather presenter Des Coleman complete the schedule of what promises to be a fantastic weekend.

Tickets are £8 on the gate for adults with U16‘s £2 and U5’s free. Tickets to the Rat Pack Returns evening can be bought by emailing shobdonfoodfestival@gmail.com.

For more information visit shobdonfoodandflyingfestival.co.uk.