FAMILY and friends of Mr Peter Williams, attending his memorial service, were awe inspired by the Vulcan XH558 aircraft, which flew over Bishopswood and Kerne Bridge on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Williams played a vital role in the history of the aircraft. By investing in his friend's, Eddie Forester's business, Aerobytes, which developed the Flight Data Monitoring package, he set in motion a chain of events which ensured the future of the flying Vulcan.

The flyby coincided with the Vulcan's Diamond Jubilee tour, in which the aircraft visited important locations in the history of the development of the plane, and proved a fitting tribute to Peter whose memorial took place at Bishopswood Village Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Peter, and his wife of 14 years Linda De Zaaijer, have lived in Bishopswood for five years after falling in love with the area while visiting on a holiday. Linda said: "It was a beautiful memorial, and the weather was so clear, I'm sure he was smiling down on us. When the Vulcan flew over, it was very low.

"You could hear it, and then feel it, and it was incredibly emotional to see it. We were whooping for joy. It was a wonderful tribute."

The flyover was the culmination of a humanist memorial ceremony which included the playing of some of Peter's 'desert island discs', including Supertramp and Queen, and the reading of tributes, stories about Peter's life, and poems.

Peter led an eventful life. He was born in Ilford, in London, in 1949, but his career first in IT and then as an airline pilot, saw him travel the world. Described at the memorial as "an attractive man with a zest for life, fast cars, motorbikes and all things dangerous", in 1988, Peter used the money from his job in computer programming to pay for lessons and a commercial pilot licence. He became a Captain in 1992, going on to work for several airlines and achieving his dream of flying into New York.

Mr Williams died aged 63 in Zurich, on July 12, 2012, several years after being diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a rare debilitating movement disorder that occurs from damage to certain nerve cells in the brain.

Robert Powell