{"id":222994,"date":"2026-07-26T05:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/222994\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T05:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:24:13","slug":"the-cotswolds-villages-living-in-the-shadow-of-the-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/222994\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cotswolds villages living in the shadow of the Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the otherwise quiet villages around RAF Fairford<\/a>, residents are used to July being a noisy month. At the height of summer, hundreds of jets normally thunder overhead to take part in the world\u2019s largest military air show.<\/p>\n

It can be a smelly time, too. When the wind is blowing the wrong way during the Royal International Air Tattoo<\/a>, the distinctive stench of aviation fuel can waft over the 6,000 homes nearby.<\/p>\n

District councillor Michael Vann says \u201cdisgusting\u201d plane spotters are also to blame. Erecting stepladders near the perimeter to get better photos of incoming aircraft, they wait for hours to get the best shots \u2013 but as there are no toilets nearby, some of them leave what he politely describes as \u201cunmentionable things\u201d behind on the grass.<\/p>\n

This year, however, the air show was cancelled to the great disappointment of the local tourism sector. The airfield, leased to the US Air Force 75 years ago, was too busy hosting American heavy bombers setting off on long flights to attack Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The resumption of Donald Trump\u2019s war<\/a> has now placed the area in Tehran\u2019s crosshairs. The Iranian regime said this week that any base used to attack its territory was a \u201clegitimate target\u201d<\/a> for its own forces.<\/p>\n

The UK says it has only allowed the US to carry out \u201cdefensive\u201d operations on flights from British locations. <\/p>\n

But a statement from Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a> \u2013 which the UK has proscribed as a terrorist organisation \u2013 singled out operations by \u201cB1 aircraft flying from Britain\u2019s Fairford airbase\u201d this week and threatened reprisals.<\/p>\n

This warning will be particularly concerning for the villages of Whelford and Kempsford, says Vann. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of them is at the end of the runway and the other is very close to where the bombers are parked,\u201d he explained, with some homes just 30 metres away. \u201cIt\u2019s cheek by jowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vann\u2019s colleague on Cotswold District Council, Tristan Wilkinson, says visitors are often surprised to see how close to the airfield people live and how accessible such a major military site really is. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe planes are very low when they come in to land, right over the roadway,\u201d says Wilkinson. \u201cYou can walk up to the perimeter fence and there\u2019s literally nothing between you and a B1 bomber and a cruise missile apart from a chain-link fence \u2013 although I\u2019m sure if you tried to climb it, you probably wouldn\u2019t get very far.\u201d <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t an issue the majority of the time. \u201cPeople understand they live near a military base and everything that comes with that,\u201d he says. \u201cBut Fairford is mostly dormant\u2026 Normally this is a base with very minimal activity, it might have a handful of flights a week.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s only when a major conflict like the war in Iran begins \u2013 when squadrons of B1B Lancers, B2 Spirits and B52 Stratofortresses arrive \u2013 that things suddenly change<\/a>. Their engines often roar throughout the night as they continually set off on operations and arrive back.<\/p>\n

\"AA USAF B-52 Stratofortress takes off from RAF Fairford (Photo: Leon Neal\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Until recently, this \u201cnoise and disruption\u201d has been the biggest concern for residents, says Vann, but that could now change. <\/p>\n

He says locals are mindful of the dangers posed by Russian agents in nearby Salisbury when they tried to assassinate former spy Sergei Skripal in 2018<\/a>, which killed local woman Dawn Sturgess and could have led to many more deaths.<\/p>\n

Worried that Iranian security forces could try to carry out similarly risky missions, local MP Dr Roz Savage wrote to the newly appointed Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, on Friday, saying constituents were \u201d understandably concerned\u201d.<\/p>\n

The former ocean rower, a Liberal Democrat who represents South Cotswolds, questioned if \u201cadditional security measures\u201d have been implemented, and if Gloucestershire Constabulary along with other emergency services have been involved. <\/p>\n

In response to the threat by Iran\u2019s regime, the Government says it \u201cstands ready 24\/7 to defend itself\u201d, with the Armed Forces \u201cready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said on Friday: \u201cWe are committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PlanespottersPlane spotters watch for US bombers along the perimeter fence of RAF Fairford. A local councillor says some of them leave \u2018unmentionable things\u2019 behind on the grass as there are no toilets nearby (Photo: Christopher Furlong\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Wilkinson says that security was raised at two community meetings this week, even before the Iranian statement. <\/p>\n

It was important \u201cnot to scare people unnecessarily\u201d, he said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t change our behaviour too much\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vann says there is no animosity to American pilots and personnel, even if locals disagree with the war in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, the USAF had been welcomed in Fairford. They drink at the local pubs, they get fish and chips. The ones who are here long term send their children to local schools, so they are on very good terms with the local community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a good realisation that the commander of the airbase does what he\u2019s told to do, and the commander in chief is Donald J Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

@robhastings.bsky.social<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the otherwise quiet villages around RAF Fairford, residents are used to July being a noisy month. At…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[63962,2328,63963,34,1986,179,12003],"class_list":["post-222994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-cotswolds","tag-defence","tag-gloucestershire","tag-iran","tag-iran-crisis","tag-military","tag-raf"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116984615223324310","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}