Lost Grand National tradition that thousands paid to experience
Many will remember this 'stunt' from the 80s and 90s
A lost Grand National tradition once saw thousands from Merseyside pay to be a part of it.
For years, the famous Concorde would fly passengers and celebrities over Aintree as part of the Grand National celebrations. In the 80s and 90s, the ECHO chartered the supersonic jet - but the Concorde was no stranger to Liverpool after visiting the city many times from its maiden flight in 1969.
Carrying only 100 passengers, racegoers and celebrities alike would board the special flight and then land in Speke, before hopping on a double decker bus to take them to Aintree racecourse. In 1988, history was also made when 1,000 ECHO readers flew on Concorde from Liverpool Airport - the highest ever number of passengers to fly on the craft in a single day, with the newspaper becoming the first in the world to charter two of the jets at the same time, the ECHO previously reported.
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As part of the ECHO's How It used To Be series, we previously spoke to Arthur Johnson who at the time was the newspaper's feature writer about his memories and what the experience was like. Prior to the Grand National tradition, Arthur, from Crosby, heard of another paper chartering Concorde for a special occasion and suggested doing something similar in Liverpool, first doing a flight from Paris. He previously told the ECHO: "It was a stunt really than a money maker."
These images, courtesy of our archives Mirrorpix, show the event in 1988, from photos of Concorde to celebrity guests like Faith Brown, Barbara Windsor and Bread actor Peter Hewitt and of course ECHO readers who went on the trip. A number of these photos have been unseen for years.
After landing, guests were taken on an ECHO double decker bus to Aintree to enjoy the races. The Grand National returns to Aintree for a three-day racing event this week, culminating with the British racing calendar's most famous race.
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Concorde at Speke Airport, Liverpool. April 9, 1988
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Captain Viv Gunton on the Concorde
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These images were taken ahead of the 150th anniversary of the first Grand National
(Image: Mirrorpix)3 of 24![Concorde at Speke Airport, Liverpool, Saturday 9th April 1988, ahead of the 150th anniversary of the first Grand National.
The Echo brought two Concords into Liverpool to give the airport a record boost, flying the most passengers on the big bird in one weekend. One Thousand readers bought seats to sample of Concorde experience.]()
The Echo brought two Concords into Liverpool to give the airport a record boost, flying the most passengers on the big bird in one weekend.
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