After many years of intention without actually physically going… we finally embarked on a trip to the Mach Loop. We knew we were taking a chance with the weather in January, but my hope was that the view distance would be optimal in the cold winter air.

The more I read about the location, the more it seemed to taunt me with tales of the Mach Loop having its own micro-climate which made this lottery even more risky.

We had a really clear run all the way through North Wales. Passing through our yearly childhood summer destination of Bala, we knew we were close. Due to the low cloud on arrival we were the only folks there (they obviously knew something we didn’t ).

We drove up the farmers track, through the two gates, and parked in the small lay-by at the top. Wellington boots donned…. we headed up to the ridge of CAD East. On first arrival to the summit we could see low clouds to the west but it was fairly bright and not thick, dark clouds.

Within half an hour, the weather started to close in. It was very clear instantly that this was a permanent situation which wasn’t going to improve. After some discussion we decided to try and salvage some sort of aviation hit for the day,

So off we went to RAF Valley.

Upon arrival we could see a Hawk performing circuits of the airfield. Culminating in ‘Touch & Go’s’.

We were lucky enough to witness a Hawk awaiting clearance for take off. The navigator giving me wave prior to heading off which was a lovely moment.

So here are a selection of my images I captured in the final hour of natural light.