A REAL piece of flying history was among the highlights of a Bank Holiday weekend of historical re-enactment at Caldicot Castle.

This Lancaster bomber – one of the iconic aircraft of World War II – was photographed as it completed a fly-past just a few hundred feet above the castle.

Thousands of visitors and re-enactors at the Fortress Wales event watched enthralled as the plane circled the castle three times before heading off towards Chepstow and the Forest on its way to Oxfordshire.

Some visitors got closer to the plane – one of only two surviving airworthy Lancasters -- with a view from one of the castle's towers in exchange for a donation to the Help for Heroes charity.

The plane, which is part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, started its day less than three-quarters of an hour earlier with a fly-past in Southampton.

The Memorial Flight is part of the RAF's number one flying group and includes other famous planes from World War II including six Spitfires and two Hurricanes.