Shuttleworth Collection

There are museums where an aircraft from 1909 stands behind a barrier. And then there is Old Warden. On the small grass airfield in Bedfordshire, on a quiet summer evening a Blériot XI rolls out of the hangar, the Anzani engine sputters, and the aircraft lifts off for a few meters – just as it did over a hundred years ago. The Shuttleworth Collection is not a collection of exhibits but a flying time trip: from the pioneer era through the First World War to fighters and trainers of the 1940s and 1950s. Anyone who wants to not just see historic aircraft but hear them and watch them fly will hardly get past this place.

A collector, an estate, a foundation

The story begins with a family from the agricultural machinery industry. Joseph Shuttleworth, co-founder of the firm Clayton & Shuttleworth, bought the Old Warden estate in 1872 and had a manor house built there. His grandson Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth, born in 1909, became one of the colorful figures of the British motoring and flying scene of the interwar period: he raced cars – including at Brooklands –, flew long distances as far as India and bought old cars and aircraft when most people still took them for scrap.

In 1928 he acquired an 1898 Panhard et Levassor – the cornerstone of the collection. In 1932 a DH.60X Moth and a Comper Swift, among others, were added, and in the mid-1930s the Blériot XI and the Deperdussin from the pioneer era. In 1940 Shuttleworth died as a Royal Air Force pilot during a night training flight, just 31 years old. His mother Dorothy founded the Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth Remembrance Trust in 1944, which took over the estate, the collection and an agricultural school. Today’s foundation descended from this Trust.

The collection opened to the public in 1963, and the first airshow followed a year later. In 1965 supporters founded the Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society, whose volunteers still help in the workshop and flight operations today.

Old Warden: an airfield made of grass

The heart of the site is Old Warden airfield with the ICAO code EGTH. Instead of concrete there is a grass runway on heading 03/21, instead of a terminal a few hangars and a spectator area at the edge of the field. Grass is ideal for the old aircraft: many have a tailwheel undercarriage, light construction and low landing speeds. Visiting aircraft may only land with prior permission, which is requested through the airfield.

For you as a photographer the small field has a big advantage: the aircraft fly slowly, low and in tight turns around the grounds. Even without a giant telephoto lens you get frame-filling pictures – provided you master slow shutter speeds with propellers. More on that below.

The collection: from 1909 to the fifties

According to the Trust, almost all aircraft in the collection are airworthy. Spread across six hangars, they stand alongside vintage cars, motorcycles, carriages and agricultural machinery. The table shows some of the best-known aircraft – not claiming to be complete and with no guarantee that each can be seen on a given day.

The Edwardian types

The pioneer aircraft are the real reason why fans travel to Old Warden from all over Europe. The Blériot XI of 1909 flew in 1910 at the Blériot flying school in Hendon, was sold as scrap after a serious accident, rebuilt and later restored by Richard Shuttleworth as his first historic aircraft. It is powered by a three-cylinder Anzani with 25 hp – it doesn’t fly turns, it jumps across the field in straight hops.

The 1912 Blackburn Monoplane has an even more adventurous history: put into storage in 1914, rediscovered in 1937 behind a haystack in a barn and restored until 1949. Powered by a seven-cylinder Gnome rotary engine with 50 hp, it shows itself in the air on flying days in suitable weather. The Deperdussin and several replicas from the pioneer era are also there.

These aircraft are extremely light and react sensitively to wind and turbulence. Whether they take off is often only decided on the day itself. If you travel for a particular aircraft, allow some leeway and don’t expect anything fixed.

First World War and interwar period

In numbers, aircraft from the First World War and the years after make up the largest block. The S.E.5a, the Bristol Fighter, a Sopwith Pup and the Avro 504K show how quickly aviation developed between 1914 and 1918. Added to these are sport aircraft and trainers of the 1920s and 1930s, including several de Havilland Moth types. Since 2022 an Avro Anson, a Blackburn B2 and a DH.60 Moth, which BAE Systems handed over to the collection, are part of it too.

If you want to tell the biplanes and monoplanes in the sky apart, you’ll find the most important features in the article Identifying vintage aircraft in the sky. A private flying group with de Havilland Tiger Moths is also based at the airfield – a type you almost always meet at Old Warden.

Second World War

The best-known Second World War aircraft came to Old Warden in 1961 through an exchange: for the Jet Provost prototype the collection received the Supermarine Spitfire Vc AR501 and the Sea Hurricane Z7015. In 1942 the Spitfire was assigned to Czechoslovak No. 310 Squadron at Duxford and escorted US bombers. It was airworthy from 1977 to 2005 and afterward spent a long time in a major overhaul – whether it flies in a given season is stated in the Trust’s announcements.

The Sea Hurricane is a naval version of the Hawker Hurricane. It was built in Canada, first flew in January 1941 and served, among others, with 880 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm. Later it stood as a teaching object in a college. From 1986 the team that had previously rebuilt the Spitfire restored it, together with the Imperial War Museum. On September 16, 1995 it flew for the first time after restoration. The Gladiator and the Lysander also date from this period, the latter especially rewarding for photographers with its slow flight.

The DH.88 Comet “Grosvenor House”

One aircraft deserves a section of its own. The red de Havilland DH.88 Comet G-ACSS won the great air race from England to Melbourne in October 1934. Flown by C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black, it took just under 71 hours. Afterward it served the RAF as a test aircraft, was written off after a hard landing, rebuilt and flew further records. In 1965 it came to the Shuttleworth Collection, and in 1987 it flew again after a long restoration.

In August 2026 the Comet was damaged in a landing at Old Warden. According to the Trust the one-piece wing has since been separated from the fuselage and is in the workshop, where it is being dismantled and examined. There is a basic agreement with the insurer on the repair, and the Trust is also collecting donations. It has not yet given a timetable for the return to the air – so don’t count on seeing it in the sky in the coming seasons.

The airshows: Old Warden’s flying season

The airshows are the reason most spotters head to Old Warden. The Trust holds seven flying days per season. The 2026 season is over; for 2027 these dates are announced:

Typical of Old Warden is the mix: besides the collection’s own aircraft, guest aircraft come, and the Trust stresses that every appearance depends on weather and technical condition. Admission under 18 is free according to the Trust, and at times early-bird tickets are available for adults. The regular day ticket is not valid on airshow days.

Away from the flying days there are further events on the estate, such as fireworks in autumn and winter, a remembrance weekend in November and the light installation “Shuttleworth in Lights” in December. For spotters these dates are less interesting, but for a family visit they are an option. How Old Warden fits into the European airshow calendar is shown in the overview Airshows in Europe; a comparable gathering in Germany is the Hahnweide vintage aircraft meeting.

Photography at Old Warden

Propellers need motion

The most important rule with vintage aircraft: a frozen propeller looks like a parked aircraft. So you need longer shutter speeds than with jets so that the blades blur into a disc. With the slowly turning engines of the pioneer aircraft you have to expose even longer than for a Spitfire. At the same time you have to pan cleanly with the aircraft. How that works is explained in the articles on propellers and shutter speed and on the panning technique.

Close, slow, low

The small field is a gift for panning: the aircraft fly slowly and relatively close to the spectator line. A telephoto zoom in the mid-range is often enough; you need a very long telephoto mainly for details and for formations at the edge of the field. At the flightline on airshow days you get close to the parked aircraft – use the time before the flying program for detail shots of engines, bracing wires and cockpits.

You’ll find a packing list for the long day at the fence in the checklist for airshow day, and general tips in the article Photographing airshows. What you actually see at the field and where best to stand is described in the spot guide to the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden.

Planning your visit: getting there and tickets

Old Warden is in Bedfordshire north of London, near Biggleswade. Getting there is easiest by car; on event days, according to the Trust, only the access via Alder Drive is open. Without a car you take the train to Biggleswade and for the last roughly three miles take a taxi (about ten minutes) or walk 45 to 60 minutes. From Bedford station it is about 20 minutes by taxi.

According to the website the day ticket costs £19.50 for adults, £17.50 for concessions, and admission is free under 18. Handy for repeat visitors: the ticket is valid for 30 days for any number of visits – but not on airshow and event days. Members of the supporters’ associations have free admission. Opening hours on ordinary days are typically 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with last admission at 4:30 p.m.; check the Trust’s calendar, as times can change seasonally.

The estate also includes the Swiss Garden, a landscape garden from the 1820s, and the Victorian Shuttleworth House. For spotters both are more of a break between hangar and flightline, but for companions a good reason to come along. If you want to lend a hand yourself, the article Volunteering at aviation museums has pointers on how volunteers work in collections like this.

Old Warden in the British museum network

Old Warden complements the other major collections in the southeast of England ideally. IWM Duxford offers the large aircraft from the Cold War and civil aviation and its own airshows with warbirds – more on that in the article on the Duxford airshows and in the spot guide to Duxford airfield. The de Havilland Aircraft Museum shows the history of the manufacturer whose Moths and Comet also stand at Old Warden. In London itself the RAF Museum Hendon is worthwhile, and further north the RAF Museum Cosford.

For scheduled traffic, London Luton Airport, which like Old Warden lies north of London, or London Stansted Airport are good options. That way you combine the pioneer era, warbirds and modern traffic over a long weekend.

Conclusion

The Shuttleworth Collection is one of the few places where aviation history is not just exhibited but flown. A 1909 Blériot, a Blackburn monoplane from a barn, a Sea Hurricane and a Spitfire with a Duxford past – all on one grass field where the aircraft fly as close and as slowly as at hardly any other airshow.

The price for that is unpredictability: wind, weather and technology decide what goes into the air on a given day. Anyone who accepts that, plans flexibly and has their shutter speeds under control will go home with pictures that cannot be made anywhere else.