Star comment: Don't take Shropshire air bases for granted
Just a few miles apart in eastern Shropshire are two huge military bases which for over 70 years have been part of the landscape, economy, and life of the county.
RAF Cosford and Donnington depot have been there for so long that Salopians take them for granted.
They have survived the peace dividend with the end of the Cold War. Life without either of them would be unimaginable.
The air base is the slightly older of the two, forged as war clouds were gathering in the 1930s. It will be celebrating its 75th birthday in July – three quarters of a century in which Cosford has continued to be a vital cog in the RAF.
In some ways Cosford has hidden its light under a bushel.
It is not what you might call a glamour station, operating fast jets flown by Top Gun pilots, and becoming part of the national consciousness.
It is an air base that works hard and trains hard, as its primary role has always been to provide the essential technical skills which are required to keep the RAF flying.
Its benefit to Shropshire in terms of providing work and contributing to the local economy is enormous. And sitting cheek-by-jowl with the RAF site is the fantastic RAF Museum which is a world leader which draws in hundreds of thousands of visitors, along with their money of course, although entry to the museum itself is the biggest bargain you will find – as it is free.
Yet a dark cloud of uncertainty has hung over the RAF base for several years. First there was the farce of the "beauty competition" which pitched Cosford against South Wales in the fight to be the national training super centre. South Wales won, but then the whole thing fell through anyway.
In 2010 the Ministry of Defence put back proposals to house returning troops from Germany at Cosford.
The people at Cosford have been put through the mill, but are just getting on with things.
They and the base itself are jewels and deserve to be recognised as such.
