Castle Donington:
Landscape of Noise, Landscape of Leisure

When you walk along the High Street of Castle Donington, pass by the church and enter the residential areas, you could be in any lovely Georgian and Regency village in the Midlands. However, on a quiet afternoon you may suddenly catch the sound of motor cars and airplanes. Two steps from the village in the south you have East Midland Airport and Donington Park side by side, the former the first stop for international travel from Leicester, Nottingham and Derby and the second one of the main sites of motor racing in England. One person’s noise is another person’s reminder of easy access to motor sport, travel and/or plane spotting. Race tracks convey ideas of speed, danger and adventure. Airports allow old-fashioned daydreaming in a modern context and pining for far away lands even if one may choose never to leave. Both create distinctive modified landscapes, pleasing to the lovers of machines but not necessarily for traditionalists.