Giants lurk among the hedgerows and rolling lowlands of the Cotswolds. They appear from behind trees unexpectedly, looming beside the rural roads.

But these are not creatures of myth – or relics from some bygone age. Instead, they are the flotsam created by our appetite for foreign holidays and our desire to visit far-flung places. This field in Gloucestershire, surrounded by English countryside, is where aircraft go to die.

Five Jumbo Jets, two Boeing 777s, a handful of Airbus A320s and 20 other large passenger aircraft lie scattered across a former RAF airfield. Some are clustered in groups while others sit alone, propped up on railway sleepers.