THE Manager of a Ludlow retirement village will be following in the footsteps of a resident when she takes to the skies in a way that is certainly not for people without a head for heights.

Lodge Manager Gill Eades from Churchill Retirement Living’s Betjeman Lodge development in Ludlow will be following in the footsteps of trailblazing apartment owner Maggie Neaves, when she takes on a sponsored ‘Wing Walk’ for Hope House Children’s Hospice this July.

Ms Eades daring venture is nothing new for 82-year-old Maggie Neaves, who took on the challenge herself way back in 1968 and was featured in the national newspaper headlines.

She was a British European Airways stewardess at the time, and volunteered to fly standing on the wing of a Tiger Moth aeroplane to help raise money for charity, as part of a press day at Wycombe Airport.

“It was all very exciting and we flew around and over the M40, which was new at the time,” she recalls.

“I wore my full British European Airways stewardess uniform, so it was quite a spectacle, and there was another plane taking photos. It was in various national newspapers at the time, and I still have a copy of a cartoon from The Sun and a photo of me posing with a tea tray on top of the wings!

“I wore goggles but there was no other safety equipment back then. I remember the rush of air up my nose being quite painful, so my advice to Gill when she does her wing walk would be to protect her nose.”

Ms Eades wing walk will take place at Rendcomb Airfield in Cirencester on Wednesday, July 6. She’ll be joined by other people raising money for Hope House Children’s Hospice, helping to provide vital support for seriously ill children and their families.

“We recently hosted a coffee morning here at Betjeman Lodge to raise money for Hope House Children’s Hospices, as it’s a local charity that means a lot to me and our owners,” Ms Eades said.

“After speaking to people from the charity, I was inspired to do more to help them raise money, and so I agreed to take to skies with a sponsored wing walk. It was only sometime later that I discovered Maggie has been there and done it already in impressive style!”