But these great pictures taken by photographer Paul Rowland show the beautiful sight of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Lancaster bomber as it made its way across the skies of South Yorkshire on Saturday.
Paul captured the aircraft in photos as it made its way over the Harthill Carnival in the afternoon, and also captured the spirit of the carnival with some fantastic pictures of people enjoying the event, on both the floats in the village street, and on the ground at Spen's Field, Woodall Lane, where the event took place. Both can be seen in the gallery of 10 pictures below.
The Lancaster had originally been scheduled to go on to fly over Beighton Gala too, but it developed a fault, and had to return to base shortly after what was a shortened visit to Harthill, in Rotherham.
Harthill Carnival Society said after the event: ”The Lancaster flypast should have had an extra pass but there was an engine failure problem and had to return to Coningsby. The pilot called us once landed, they got back to base ok but sends his apologies.”
1. Over the trees
The Lancaster disappears over trees after its appearance in Harthill, shortly before it had to return to base with a fault. Photo: Paul Rowland | Paul Rowland Photo: Paul Rowland
2. Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster pictured during its brief spell over South Yorkshire, seen from the Harthill Carnival. Photo: Paul Rowland | Paul Rowland Photo: Paul Rowland
3. Veteran of the skies
The Lancaster bomber, pictured flying past the Harthill Carnival on Saturday afternoon, shortly before it had to return to base. Photo: Paul Rowland | Paul Rowland Photo: Paul Rowland
4. Parade
The parade at the start of the Harthill Carnival: Photo: Paul Rowland | Paul Rowland Photo: Paul Rowland