Gliding high over Oxfordshire

Today I was fortunate enough to be able to try my hand at GLIDING.
I was given a Red Letter Day gift from my employer Royal Bank of Scotland and opted for the gliding experience at Windrushers Gliding Club, in Bicester Oxforshire.
I have to admit I was pretty nervous when I woke this morning, but Liam, my sister Sarah and her daughter Faye accompanied me, this helped me settle a bit. I was however gobsmacked as we approached Bicester and saw a speck rising into the sky. My Mum's words came back to me, "Why can't you just do a spa day like every other woman?"
There was no going back, I was going to do it. After a short safety briefing during which I was told I would be wearing a parachute, (what! I did not think of that! Now I was scared!) we went to inspect the glider. Much smaller that I expected and very basic but there was no chickening out now. A small light aircraft was attached by way of cable and the "slack was taken up" and we jolted forward and soon gathered speed. The glider left the ground prior to the aircraft and we climbed to over a 1000 feet before the cable was released. It was an incredible feeling to be flying in such a small machine, very little sound just the air rushing by and the view over Oxfordshire wonderous. I was incredibly relaxed once airborne and enjoyed everyone of the 25 minutes we were gliding. Liam managed to keep his eye on us from down on the ground, we flew over the air field a couple of times. Eventually me made a rather bumpy landing and came to rest in virtually the very same spot that we had departed from, and all without an engine. It was a fabulous experience that I will never forget. Thanks RBS!