A Warm Welcome to Autumn and Winter at SMGWA

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With just eight weeks of open days remaining before the winter shut-down, Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome is gearing up to offer a warm welcome to its final events of 2025 – with family activities, Christmas crafts and festive lunches on the menu.

On Saturday 18 October, families are invited to join in with fun additional activities included in the normal admission price, linked in with the Museum's Feeding the Nation: Fighting Without Flying exhibition which opened in the spring. Celebrating the site's World War Two history as a working farm, drop-in family activities from 11am to 3pm will include making honey biscuits from a WW2 recipe. Youngsters will also be invited to explore Potato Pete and Dr Carrot, key figures in the Dig for Victory campaign, including cooking with the root vegetables grown on the site's allotment.

Then, during half-term, families are invited to a Woodland Nature Activity Day on Friday 31 October, centred around the Aerodrome's protected woodland areas. Throughout the day, Nature Guides will help families to discover some of the site's flora and fauna, with activities including a leaf trail, fungi hunting, bark and leaf rubbing, a mini-beast safari, learning about hornets, autumn arts and crafts and even dissecting owl pellets to find out what the local birds of prey have been having for their dinner! Nature activities will be running throughout the day on a drop-in basis, included in the standard admission price.

Now the weather has turned cooler, Stow is once again hosting Sunday Roasts in The Airmen's Mess café, every Sunday until 7 December. Served from 12 noon (until it runs out) there is a choice of two meat roasts or a vegan nut roast, served with seasonal vegetables, delicious roast potatoes, and trimmings such as Yorkshire puddings, stuffing or apple sauce. Two fantastic winter warmer desserts are also available. Large and smaller appetites are catered for, with main courses costing £10.95 for a small Sunday Roast and £15.95 for a large portion. Two courses cost £14.95/£19.95. Admission to The Airmen's Mess café and Museum shop is free except on major event days.

Or for something special, how about Christmas lunch in the historic atmosphere of the 1917 airmen's mess? Two or three courses, including roasted pumpkin soup from vegetables grown on the WW2 allotment, hand-carved roast turkey, salmon with lemon and dill or spiced vegetable pie for main course, and Christmas pudding or sticky toffee pudding for dessert, followed by mince pie and coffee. Available on Thursday 20 November and Thursday 4 December, from £40 a head.

On a more sensitive note, Sunday 9 November sees the traditional Remembrance Parade at Stow, when a wide range of dignitaries, members of the Armed Forces, Veterans and uniformed organisations will pay their respects at the Aerodrome's war memorial. There is no admission charge for the ceremony, but the free tickets must be booked in advance.

Finally, Saturday 29 November is the date for Christmas at Stow, a festive event featuring craft stalls, children's activities and music centred around The Airmen's Mess café. Full details coming soon, but put the date in your diary!

Ian Flint, Chief Executive Officer of Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome, comments: "Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome is a great place to visit as the weather gets colder, as our fascinating exhibitions and aircraft hangars are all undercover. You are guaranteed a warm welcome in The Airmen's Mess café, especially on a Sunday when our delicious roast dinners are becoming a local favourite, and we are expecting a sell-out for our superb Christmas lunches."

Normal opening hours for Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm. The final opening day of the season will be on Sunday 7 December, with the Museum reopening mid-February.