SO OFTEN for me and my wife Ann a trip away will centre around some novel or unusual method of transport.

One of the most unexpected delights of the Morning Star is the frequent appearance of steam train pictures among its pages. I don’t know who produces the regular supply of images of restored steam locomotives in wonderful locations but whoever it is, she or he gets my vote.

Many a trip away for the Frosty family involves going somewhere to ride a steam train — Ann just loves them — more than me in fact. I tend to favour vintage tramway or other more rare or obscure forms of Edwardian or even Victorian public transport.

Steam railways aren’t too hard to find. With Britain having so many preserved railways I don’t intend to fill this Ramblings with a list — even of my or Ann’s favourites.

According to the Heritage Railway Association (https://www.hra.uk.com/) there are are more than 150 heritage railways across Britain covering 560 miles of track linking 460 stations.

I’m sure you can find one near you or in a spot you particularly want to visit.

In today’s ramblings I want to tell you of one really memorable trip on a really curious and unusual means of transport of how Ann and I flew a Zeppelin airship. It really was a unique experience and strict Morning Star editors don’t usually allow me to use the “U” word.

We arrived in our Volkswagen motorcaravan at the Bodensee — Lake Constance — one of the most popular holiday regions in southern Germany and long time home of Germany’s airships including today’s Zeppelin NT, (New Technology).

The sightseeing flights always start at the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen. You can choose between a dozen different flight routes that fly over Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Airships can’t fly in storms and we arrived in stormy weather. When we reported to the Zeppelin hangar we were told to come back tomorrow.

Only one young woman on duty could speak English and she not only apologised but also organised a free shed tour — the over 30mph winds, she explained, were the reason flights were postponed.

The winds lasted three days and every day we went to the shed — airships always live in sheds — but to no avail. Each day this pleasant young woman apologised and suggested some ground-based diversion.

Then on day four we arrived at the shed to see a great silver cigar hovering above the field.

We couldn’t find our oh-so-helpful young lady to thank but soon booked in for our allotted flight. The gondola, hung beneath the great silver cigar holds just a dozen passengers and two crew.

The ship had just returned from its morning flight and we were soon directed in the, rather peculiar way of unloading and then loading passengers.

Because these are lighter than air-flying machines weight is crucial. What happens is that two passengers from the last flight come down the steps and two of the new passengers climb aboard.

This complicated balancing trick is repeated until all the old passengers have landed and the ship is full and ready with the new passengers.

Once aboard Ann and I marvelled at the cream leather luxury upholstery and fittings.

We marvelled even more to see who was piloting the great behemoth. It was our ever-so–helpful English speaking young woman who had been so apologetic over the last few days.

She apologised once again and then suggested that as some kind of recompense I might like to have a go in the co-pilot’s seat later in the flight. Would I? Too right I would.

The way these New Technology airships work is that the lift of the helium gas is carefully balanced with the weight of the ship and its passengers and crew until it actually weighs only a few kilograms.

The feathering fan propellers are driven by engines from Porsche sports cars. They swivel and can give both lift and forward and reverse motion.

The result is a quiet, smooth and majestic rise — like some luxury lift. Once the cruising altitude of about 300 meters is reached you can unbuckle, walk around, look over the pilot’s shoulder or enjoy the fantastic view from huge panoramic opening windows. The world is at your feet.

My new friend the pilot was true to her word and invited me into the co-pilot’s seat. I took the controls but to be honest they were so clever and so gentle it hardly seemed like flying at all.

The low altitude means you can see amazing details on the ground. The green Allgau region, castles and palaces on the or the spectacular architecture in the Vorarlberg region to colourful islands and unique views along the foothills of the Alps.

The German fondness for nude bathing made flying over beaches strange indeed.

All too soon we were back at the sheds and we were asked to stay in our seats as the ship was moored on to its overnight mast.

Zeppelin trips are still available subject to the latest state of Covid restrictions. They are not cheap — about £250 for an hour’s flight but I promise you it is a trip you will never forget.