Local landing grounds

AA Aviation section

Click or tap to see a larger image
From 'Aeroplane', 18th May 1932
Courtesy of Aviation Ancestry, ref 13977

There was growing interest in private flying in the late 1920s and some members of the Automobile Association (AA) were beginning to join flying clubs and possibly also buying their own planes. As a result, in 1929, the AA formed an Aviation Section with the object of surveying landing grounds and providing information about facilities, changes or obstructions, they also went on to produce the first air-route maps. The AA Aviation section continued in operation until the outbreak of the Second World War.

Starting in September 1931 the AA operated a weather information service primarily for the benefit of 'private air pilots' but it was also used by motorists and farmers. The operation was based at Heston Airport (formerly 'Heston Air Park') near Hounslow and used information supplied by the Air Ministry. Reading the advert from 1932 it can be seen that there were eight broadcasts transmitted each day, six weather reports for the current day and two forecasts for the following day. In addition there were two daily reports for 'Continental routes'. This service was taken over by the Air Ministry in 1933. See a larger version of the advert by clicking or tapping on the thumbnail image.

Click or tap to see a larger image
From 'Aeroplane', 13th December 1933
Courtesy of Aviation Ancestry, ref 65764

AA Register of Landing Grounds

For an annual fee, members of the AA could subscribe to receive the AA Register Landing Grounds. Each landing ground listed was inspected on a monthly basis and for each one the register contained a small plan and O.S. map reference of the site together with details of the landing ground surface, facilities such as hangars and warnings of potential hazards.These hazards could be either permanent (overhead power lines, high trees etc.) or temporary in nature (such as cattle grazing or haystacks). Details of how to obtain essential services such as fuel, road transport, telephone, nearest railway station and where to stay the night were also included and these varied from year to year to reflect any changes of ownership, facilities and contact details. The monthly Flight magazine also included current landing ground information. The AA produced a map showing Civil Aerodromes and A.A. Landing Grounds in Britain seen left. A larger version of the advert can be seen by clicking or tapping on the thumbnail image. It is felt that the map gives an indication of the general location, rather than the exact position, for each site.

As a slight aside, and to maintain a railway interest, the March 1937 issue of the Great Western Railway Magazine carried an article about internal air services within Great Britain. At the time, emphasis was being given to expand both civil and private aviation within the country, although it is interesting to note that the article stated that all the regional airlines were operating at a loss. The article was illustrated with a full page map showing the major routesClick or tap link to see the map, airlines, and airports as at June 1936.

~~~~~~ ooooooOOOoooooo ~~~~~~

It may be surprising to learn that there were a number of landing grounds in the vicinity of Culham during the 1930s and several of them are included below with some details being taken from a contemporary issue of Flight magazine. Our selection does not include Kidlington which was originally established in 1935 by Oxford City Council to act as a municipal airport, any of the many later military airfields which were established in the area, or temporary sites used for only a short duration for pleasure or balloon flights and travelling Flying Circuses. Whilst our primary interest is the 1930s, it is interesting to note that, at the time of writing, there are still a number of operational private landing grounds or airstrips in the vicinity. These are mostly located at, or are associated with, farms such as Landmead Farm at Garford (with 3 landing strips), Melhuish Farm at North Moreton and Manor Farm at Drayton St.Leonard (with two hangars).

As a starting point, information on 1930s landing grounds was obtained from various Flight magazines or the AA Registered Landing Grounds list of 1933, and then updated with the results of further research where available.

Banbury(map ref:SP 42 43)

1933 - Operated by JL Walker, Golden Villa, Banbury, Oxon. Fuel & Transport: County Garages. Hotel: Whately Hall. Telephone: AA box. Nil hangars LG: 340yds

This landing ground was available throughout the 1930s. Permits to land valid for either 1 or 3 months were issued by the AA and varied in cost between 5/- to 15/- and 10/- to 30/- respectively depending on the power of the engine. Little is known about this landing ground, but it is understood to have been used by Alan Cobham in 1932 and 1933 as part of his National Aviation Days tours.

Chilworth (Wheatley)

1933 - Operated by AB Scribbans, Lower Chilworth Farm, Wheatley. Fuel: Pigeon Pie Filling Station. Transport: Tiddington Garage. Hotels: Brimpton Grange Hotel. Telephone: at transport cafe. Hangars unknown. LG: 550yds

Chilworth seems to have become quite a busy place as two new companies were established there in 1935, as recorded in the issue of 'Flight' from the 11th July.

• OXFORD FLYING SERVICES LTD. Private company. Capital, £2.500 in £1 shares.
  Directors: Harold V.Kimberley-Atkinson. Geo.W.Woodhouse. Registered office. Chilworth Aerodrome, nr. Wheatley, Oxon
• FLYING HIRE LTD. Private company. Capital, £100 in £1 shares.
  Objects: To operate aerial transport of all kinds, and to manufacture and deal in aircraft, aerodrome equipment, etc.
  Directors: Harold V.Kimberley-Atkinson, Geo.W.Woodhouse. Registered office: Chilworth Aerodrome, Chilworth, nr. Wheatley. Oxon.

We have found several aircraft which were registered to various owners operating out of Chilworth, all being previously owned with most surviving to be later sold on.

• G-AAAF Avro 504K - H.V.K.Atkinson at Chilworth, and then Flying Hire Ltd., Chilworth. Withdrawn from use in the January of 1936
• G-AABE Blackburn L.1B 'Bluebird III' - George Hugh Charlton at Chilworth on 4th March 1936, written off on 22nd March 1936
• G-AADL Avro 594 Avian IV - Aylesbury Airport Ltd., Chilworth, sold on
• G-AAHN Avro 594 Avian IV - G.H.Charlton, Chilworth, and then J.E.Coxon t/a Chilworth Flying Club, and then transferred to Aylesbury Airport Ltd., sold on
• G-AAPK Desoutter - I J.E.Coxon t/a Chilworth Flying Club, and then Aylesbury Airport Ltd., sold on
• G-ABVS General Aircraft Ltd. Monospar ST.4Click or tap to see and read about this plane on the set of the 1936 film Things to Come - Flying Hire Ltd, Chilworth, sold on
• G-ABWR Spartan Arrow - Flying Hire Ltd, Chilworth, sold on

CFA (Chilworth Aerodrome) letterhead from 1936
Courtesy of Peter Chamberlain

It is interesting to see some of the above aircraft changing hands whilst remaining registered at Chilworth as it perhaps gives an insight into the plans and ambitions of their respective owners. The letterhead from 1936 announces that J.E.Coxon and G.H.Charlton are joint owners of Chilworth Aerodrome. J.E.Coxon also traded for a time as Chilworth Flying Club before setting up Aylesbury Airport Ltd. using Chilworth as his base whilst the new aerodrome was being prepared. In he event, it is likely that he never left Chilworth as the venture at Aylesbury did not come to fruition as planned. H.V.K.Atkinson went on to be a director of Flying Hire Ltd. possibly with G-AAAF being their first plane.

There was a fatal crash at Chilworth on 16th August 1936 when a DH.60 Moth stalled on take-off. The plane's occupants were fellow employees at the Fairey Aircraft factory at Hayes and had borrowed it from nearby Hanworth Aerodrome. Despite reportedly indulging in some stunt flying on the flight over, it was learnt at the inquest that the pilot, Malcolm Freeman, did not possess a pilot's licence. Both he and his passenger, Albert Donnelly, were in their late 20s. Questionable activities continued as a newspaper report of the time reveals that oOne of the directors of Flying Hire Ltd., Harold Kimberley Atkinson, was fined £50 for altering a certificate of airworthyness and £50 for altering it. Frank Harley was fined £5 on each count of both using an altered certificate and assisting in altering it. A pilot, Walter Oswald Cadie was also cautioned for flying an aircraft without a certificate. As with many similar landing grounds, Chilworth closed in September 1939 and the land reverted to agricultural use.

Clifton Hampden (Culham)

1933 - Operated by Major GWG Allen, The Elms, Iffley, Oxon. Fuel & Transport: The Railway Hotel Garage, Culham Station (500yds). Hotels: The Railway Hotel. Telephone: Mr. Tremlett, Fullamore Farm 50yds). One hangar. LG: 500yds

The landing ground ceased to operate towards the end of 1939 and all traces were lost when it and much surrounding land was requisitioned for the development of a Royal Naval airbase. See our Clifton Hampden landing groundClick or tap to go to the Clifton Hampden landing ground page page for much more information about it, the later airbase and Major Allen himself.

East Hanney

From 'Aeroplane', 10th February 1926
Courtesy of Aviation Ancestry, ref 6020

Two brothers, Frederick James Vernon Holmes and John Duncan Vernon Holmes, were born at East Hanney in a house called 'The Mulberries'. Both had established flying experience during the Great War and in April 1919 they bought a war surplus Avro 504K biplane G-EACL for £600, converted it into a three seater, and teamed up with Alan (later Sir Alan) Cobham to form the Berkshire Aviation Company. The company started giving pleasure flights on 27th May. According to Alan Cobham in his book 'Skyways' published in 1926, the firm possessed the one aircraft, an old Ford car, £50 worth of petrol and £200 in cash. That aircraft was damaged beyond repair when it overturned on landing at Mayfield in either the August or September of that year. It seems that Alan Cobham stepped into the breach and a replacement was quickly obtained enabling the company to carry on until the insurance money came through. Believed to be G-EASF, it was at first registered to Cobham & Holmes Aviation Co., then to O.P.Jones and finally to F.J.V.Holmes t/a Berkshire Aviation. The company soon ran into temporary financial difficulties however, by some accounts brought on by a long spell of particularly wet weather, and Alan Cobham left them in May 1920 (he later became a very famous pilot and pioneer aviator, going on in 1936 to set up Flight Refuelling Ltd.). The business recovered and rapidly expanded the fleet of planesAircraft known to have belonged to the fleet at some time

Avro504Ks G-EACL G-EAIB G-EBCK G-EBFV G-EBHR G-EBIN G-EBKB G-EAKX G-EASF G-EBOB G-EBQR G-EBSL G-EBSM G-EBVW G-EBXV G-EBYW

Avro 536 G-EAKN

DH.53 G-EBHX ‘Humming Bird’ becoming firmly established on the pleasure-flight and stunt circuit.

G-EBFV circa 1923
Unknown photographer, author's collection

This photograph was taken by an unknown photographer at an unknown location in about 1923 and shows two eager passengers sitting in G-EBFV waiting for their flight to start. Either the pilot, or his mechanic, stands ready to swing the propellor and start the engine. This Avro 504K was just one of a number of these aircraft flown over the years, all converted from single-seat fighters to carry passengers in an open cockpit behind the pilot. Written below the passenger cockpit is F.J.V.Holmes E. Hanney Wantage and so this image must date from a time before the business added Berkshire Aviation Tours to the side of their aircraft in late 1923 or early 1924.

Flying was done all over the country from farmer's fields rented by the day. During the winter the company's machines were overhauled in a barn at Yew Tree Farm, which was located on the south side of the Steventon road just outside East Hanney, and flown from the adjacent field. Spares were readily obtained from the RAF surplus store in nearby Milton. It is believed that some flying also took place from 'The Common' at Lyford which was close by. Whilst the base of operations was at East Hanney, judging by the advert from 1921, they look to have branched out with an office or an agent at least at Castle Bromwich Aerodrome. There were a number of pilots and even a parachutist with the company during its existence, Geoffrey R.Beck
Undated postcard signed Geoffrey R.Beck Pilot
Courtesy of T.Hunt, Clifford Stanley Kent
Undated postcard signed C.S. Kent
Author's collection
Noted on the back are two flights, but not the location
Friday March 26th 1926. First flight.
Saturday March 27th 1926. Second flight., Lionel Louis Leleu
Undated postcard signed Lionel L.Leleu
Author's collection, and Robert Millar Stirling
Undated postcard signed Yours Sincerely R.M.Stirling
Author's collection
Noted on the back is the description of a flight, but not the location
Sunday May 15th 1927. 7.25 p.m.till 7.40
Looped the loop four times
Spiral curve
Tail dive & Head dive (about 200 ft) estimate
Bert., amongst othersOther known pilots

Eric Watt 'Jock' Bonar, Albert Victor Heaton, Fred & John Holmes, Oscar Philip Jones, A.N.Kingwell, L.J.Rimmer, A.L.Robinson, Francis George Monkhouse Sparks, J.C.Taylor

Parachutist Pat O’Hara. The pilots became celebrities through their aerobatic displays and autographed postcards of them were much in demand. Hover over a name to see their postcard. John Holmes gave up flying in 1923 and soon afterwards the company took the title of Berkshire Aviation Tours, then in 1926 moved all operations to Witney.

One unusual aeroplane owned by the business was the prototype DH.53 'Humming Bird' (G-EBHX) which was first flown at the beginning of October 1923 and along with its sister aircraft 'Sylvia II' (G-EBHZ) was entered into the first Daily Mail Light Aeroplane Competition, held at Lympne in 1923 to find the most economical British aeroplane. The DH.53 was a strut-braced, low wing monoplane and was fitted with a low power 750 cc Douglas motorcycle engine. Berkshire Aviation purchased 'Humming Bird' from deHavilland after the competition. Alan Cobham then flew it to Brussels for the 1923 Aero and Automobile Show despite it being winter-time. He faced strong headwinds on the return flight, and after finding himself in exceptionally low cloud, he realised that in fact he was in steam having been overtaken by a slow-moving freight train on the rail track he was following. He abandoned the little aircraft and caught the next train and ferry home! The plane was sold on to E.W.Kennet of Walmer in Kent in the September of 1939 and eventually went into storage. It was returned to flying condition by de Havilland apprentices at Hatfield in 1960 and was passed on to the Shuttleworth Trust but was sadly lost in a fatal accident in the summer of 2012. In all, fifteen examples were built, and one fuselage still survives at the deHavilland Aircraft Museum.

Even without the added dangers involved with stunt flying, early aviation could be a risky business. The Times from Friday September 13 1929 carried a report titled 'AIR PILOT'S COURAGE' which told about the loss of a Berkshire Aviation Tours aircraft the previous day. An Avro 504K (G-EBKB) developed engine trouble shortly after taking off from Scarborough racecourse. The pilot, Albert Victor Heaton, had intended to put down on the sand at North Bay but the sands were crowded and instead he ditched into the sea with a dead engine about 300 yards from shore. Pilot and passenger were quickly rescued by boat and although the plane was later recovered it was found to be beyond economical repair. The passenger, James Exley, might have suffered some acute embarrassment as he was the plane's mechanic.

Haddenham (Aylesbury Airport)

Aylesbury Airport letterhead from 1937
Courtesy of Peter Chamberlain

John Coxon ran Chilworth Aerodrome but he also had thoughts of setting up a bigger and better airfield. He approached Aylebury District Council and proposed a new airfield on land that was available just outside the village of Haddenham. He formed a new company, Aylesbury Airport Ltd., to acquire the land and quickly engaged Hunters of Chester to start preparatory work. His plans included a control tower, hangars and floodlights, he even had thoughts for an aircraft factory next to the railway line with its own stop (almost where Haddenham & Thame Parkway station was opened in 1987). For whatever reason the development did not progress very far at all and, never having been used as an airfield, the land was put up for sale in 1937. The company was wound up once the land had been sold in February 1939.

It is interesting to note that the Hunters' advert from 1938 lists 'Aylesbury Airport Ltd.' as one of the civil airport contracts which they have completed. In the light of little other information it might be inferred that they had been contracted to do the the ground clearance and levelling, which was completed, with work on the buildings and infrastructure to be a separate contract with another company but which never went ahead. It is quite possible therefore that the airfield surface was left ready for use and the abandoned site lay ready and waiting for a new operator.

Two friends, Thomas Cholmondeley Tapper and Dennis Fox, decided to set up a flying school on an airfield of their own. Finding the abandoned land at Haddenham they bought it and some adjacent farmland, completing the sale in early 1939. The Bucks & North London Flying Club was formed and C.T.F. Aviation was incorporated on 1st June 1939 with the hope of opening for business in the autumn. Six Piper J-4 Cub Coupes were ordered for the pilot training. These high wing monoplanes were an ideal economical trainer having an enclosed cockpit with side-by-side seats. The first Cub was registered as G-AFXS on 28th of August 1939 and was hangared in a small building situated on the north side of the airfield. There were three more Cubs awaiting collection but all civilian flying was stopped on August 31st 1939 and the airfield was requisitioned by the Air Ministry in the November to become known as RAF Thame.

In 1939 a portion of land was leased from C.T.F. Aviation by Hordern Richmond Ltd. and a factory making wooden propellors was established. They diversified into making press tools, assembly jigs and helicopter rotor blades, also glass-fibre and paper laminates. That company merged with another in 1954 and the Haddenham factory closed in 1956 with the opening of a new one in Gloucestershire. Today, Hordern  Richmond
Click or tap to go to the Hordern Richmond web page produce aviation inspired accessories including pens made from original decommissioned WWII Spitfire Propellers and are still closely associated with the manufacture of aircraft propellers for both historic and modern aircraft under the auspices of the Hercules brand. Hercules  Propellors
Click or tap to go to the Hercules Propellors web page , also in Stroud, was established in 2008 to both make new and to refurbish original wooden propellors. They are able to make authentic Spitfire propellors using the original 1942 design drawings believed to have been lost in the 1950s, but which were incredibly rescued from a skip in 2015. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) granted a certificate of airworthiness for their unrestricted use in November 2020, with the first flight from Biggin Hill being scheduled for a few months later.

Flying continued for a number of years in the form of glider training by the Upward Bound Trust. Use of the airfield was arranged with Airtech Ltd. and the charity was formed in 1965, their main aim being to instruct young people between the ages of 16 and 21 to fly gliders. Facilities were slowly enhanced and, in conjunction with the development of the Business Park, a new hangar was built and opened in May 2009. The whole site later became the subject of major mixed use development however, and all flying ceased at Haddenham with the final launch on 9th December 2019.

Oxford - Stanton St. John (map ref:SP 56 08)

1933 - Operated by VW Tomkins, New Inn Farm, Stanton St. John, Oxon. Fuel: Pump adjacent to hangar or from City Motor Co (Oxford) Ltd. Transport: City Motor Co (Oxford) Ltd. Hotels: Randolph, Beaumont Street, Mitre, High Street. Telephone: in hangar. One hangar. LG: 460yds

This landing ground was operated by the farmer on land owned by New College. A landing fee of 2s.6d. (2/6) was charged and could be paid to Mr. Tompkins or to the New College estate office. The landing ground operated from 1933 until September 1939 with the land reverting to agricultural use.

Wallingford (map ref:SP 64 89)

It has been hard trying to piece together the rather complex and surprising story of Wallingford and its associated airfields. We therefore decided to broaden our date range to cover all the flying sites that we found and present here, in roughly chronological order, what we believe to be a good overview.

The Royal Flying Corps at Wallingford

Whilst this relates to a military site, and predates our period of interest, it is worth mentioning in order to distinguish it from later developments. During the August of 1912, local newspapers reported that a camp was to be formed near Benson for the Royal Flying Corps where some thirty aeroplanes and ten airships would be stationed. Those numbers would seem to be rather exaggerated, but a camp was certainly established on some 40 acres of land belonging to Mr.F.B.Chaimberlain situated on the right hand side of the road leading from Wallingford to Benson. It must be remembered that the layout of roads in the area changed when RAF Benson was enlarged in 1942, severing the old London road. This would put the camp almost opposite the entrance to Howbery Park.

The grounds of Howbery Park have had long associations with the army. The local defence force were using it in 1917 and newspapers reported that the 17/21 Lancers and 10th Hussars were located there in 1927. There was even a 'special tour' by bus from Bristol advertised in August 1928 to view the camp. It seems that the estate passed into government ownership in the 1930s and was used during the Second World War to house U.S. and Canadian servicemen practicing bridge building across the Thames. After the war it became one of many camps to house Polish refugee families. Following that, in 1951, it was selected as the location for a new Department of the Environment Hydraulics Research Station. Having been privatised in 1982 the site is now home to the Howbery Business Park and all traces of previous miltary presence have disappeared.

The RFC camp at Wallingford was sadly the departure point for a fatal flight during the September of 1912. Early in the morning of the 6th, two aircraft took off from Wallingford. One, a biplane piloted by Captain (later Major) Brooke Popham accompanied by Geoffrey de Havilland (who founded his aircraft factory at Stag Lane in 1920), the other, a Depudussin monoplane, flown by Captain Patrick Hamilton with Lieutenant Atholl Wyness Stuart acting as his observer. Their orders were to make observations of a major exercise taking place and then to land at Welwyn. Unfortunately the machine piloted by Captain Hamilton suffered catastrophic engine failure whilst flying over Hitchin, this resulted in debris damaging the wing bracing wires causing one of the wings to fold. Four days later, a Bristol Coanda monoplane flying from Salisbury as part of the same manoeuvres, crashed near Wolvercote Bridge in Oxford as it was preparing to land at Port Meadow. A bracing wire came loose and damaged the fabric covering of one of the wings. The pilot, Lieutenant Claude A. Bettington was flung from the aircraft and his passenger, Second-Lieutenant Edward Hotchkiss, died in the crash. A stone plaque honouring the two airmen was attached to the bridge the following year with the bridge becoming known as the Airmen's Bridge. These two crashes involving monoplanes are thought by some to have influenced the favouring of biplanes for the following couple of decades as they were viewed as being inherently stronger.

In 1937 work began on building a new airfield beside Benson village. The land was compulsorily purchased from a number of owners including Mr.F.B.Chaimberlain, and the airfield was built by John Laing & Son of Oxford. Initial construction of RAF Benson was completed in early 1935 but runway extensions were undertaken in 1942 which severed the old London Road and a new road, the present A4074, was built to replace it. This airfield extension is likely to occupy at least some of the land used by the RFC in 1912, bringing us full circle!

Wallingford Aerodrome

1933 - Operated by JE Frost, Dunlow Lodge, Ashwell, Herts. Fuel: Atlanta Garage, Beggar Bush Hill. Transport W.H Baker, Wallingford. Hotel: Lamb Hotel, Wallingford. Telephone: at the house of the controlling authority (0.5mile). No hangars. LG: 750yds

The Aerodrome had first been proposed at the end of 1929 and had gone before the council for approval the following January. Things obviously then moved quickly for it to open in the June and the impetus continued with air displays and pleasure flights taking place at intervals during the rest of that year and the start of the next. The Oxford and County Gliding Club paid a visit one Sunday in late November and gave a flying demonstration with one of their gliders. In April 1931 applications were being invited for membership of a proposed Wallingford Aero Club. By May a clubhouse had been opened at Oakley Wood and the club were advertising the fact that a qualified instructor was available on certain days, soon to become daily for dual instruction and pleasure flights. Believe it or not, at some time in the early 1930s an experimental service between Wallingford and London (exactly where was unspecified) was started with flights out on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, with return flights on Wednesday and Friday mornings. It is not known who operated the service but it couldn't have lasted long.

Advert for an Aero Show in 1931
The Berks & Oxon Advertiser

Wallingford Aerodrome first appears in press reports from June of 1930 which describe an air display which took place at 'the new Wallingford Aerodrome at Oakley Woods' on the Whit-Monday. The aerodrome is given as being ...'situated on high ground above the valley, being two miles along the Henley road from Wallingford and about two miles from Benson, on top of the Beggars Bush Hill, along Icknield Way.' Three aircraft belonging to the Phillips and Powis school of flying flew over from Woodley, Reading, and gave both aerobatic displays and pleasure flights. Mr. Powis would subsequently pay a number of visits during the next year or so. The owner of the aerodrome was reported to be a Mr. Frost and it was stated that attendance was much larger than had been anticipated and that fuller arrangements to better accommodate the large numbers would be made at the next show. Entrance to the aerodrome was set at 3d for children and 6d for adults, with teas being available at extra cost. The exact location of the aerodrome is shown on this thumbnail map from the later 'AA' guide.

From 'Aeroplane', 23rd September 1931
Courtesy of Aviation Ancestry, ref 65648

It would seem that things then came to an abrupt halt. No more is heard of the aero club, flying instruction or any other activities. It is possible that the business was not the success it had been hoped for as, barely a year after it had been opened to such fanfare, this advert for the lease of the aerodrome appeared in the 'Aeroplane' magazine during September 1931. The advert predates the 1933 'AA' listing above and lists more facilities on site which is puzzling, but could simply be a case of over stating what really existed. By the time this advert appeared, however, new tenants had already been found.

'NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO FLY! - JOY RIDING DAILY From 5/-' announced the 'Berks & Oxon Advertiser' in its issue of the 11th September. The aerodrome had found new tenants.

Embed From Getty Images
Dorothy Spicer and Pauline Gower (standing)
Taken at Wallingford Aerodrome in 1931

The 'Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News' of 19th September 1931 carried this photograph, taken at Wallingford aerodrome, showing two young ladies and their aeroplane. They were Dorothy Spicer and Pauline GowerClick or tap to scroll through a small gallery of adverts featuring Pauline Gower who had just started their air-taxi and pleasure flying business at the aerodrome. Pauline Gower was a qualified mechanic and pilot, whilst Dorothy Spicer held a commercial and passenger carrying (or 'B') pilot's licence. She was apparently the first female pupil at Woodley to gain an 'A' pilot's licence and only the third (and youngest) in the world to gain a commercial licence. Her father had bought a Simmonds Spartan biplane (G-AAGO) second-hand for her 21st birthday which they collected from Stag Lane on 9th August 1931. They set up in business at Wallingford, reportedly the very next day, trading as Air Trips Ltd.Click or tap to watch a short silent British Pathé film of them shot at Wallingford Aerodrome in 1931 charging five shillings a flight, and put up a sign on the main road out of Wallingford advertising 'Pleasure Flights - Next Left'. According to an article in the January 1932 edition of Popular Aviation, they were living with Gower's small dog in a tiny one-roomed cottage on the edge of the aerodrome (was this the old clubhouse?) and there was a shed in which they stored the plane.

G-AAGO was sold to a new owner at Woodley aerodrome in August 1932. In January of that year, Gower had bought a three-seater Spartan (G-ABKK) via Phillips & Powis at Woodley and named it ‘Helen of Troy’. It would appear therefore, for a short time at least, that they operated two aircraft out of Oakley Woods. Interestingly, they seemed to split their time between Wallingford and Penshurst near Tonbridge as this second aircraft was registered as being based there. Could this account for the short-lived experimental air service between Wallingford and London mentioned earlier?

The realities of running their own business kicked in however and they left Wallingford to join the Crimson Fleet Air Circus for a short time in mid 1932 and then the British Hospitals' Air Pageant. The Women's Engineering Society journal 'The Woman Engineer' for June 1933 records that Spicer and Gower were '...touring the country with a "circus" which is giving air pageants in two hundred towns this summer in aid of British Hospitals'. As a footnote, in early 1934 ‘Flight International’ records the registration of a new company Air Trips Ltd. at Gower's parents' address in Tunbridge Wells with Gower and Spicer as sole directors. Perhaps the pair had decided to give it another go, although it seems that the company was wound up again in September 1936. Their individual contributions to the role of women in aviation were considerable and well worthy of further reading.

These two photographs from the collection held by the National Portrait Gallery in London are dated 1937 and 1938 but the one of Pauline Gower could be a little earlier as the embroidered 'Wings' on her flying suit appear to bear the inscription AT Ltd so could date from the time of the second incarnation of Air Trips Ltd..

There is an entry in the 'Diary of Current and Forthcoming Events' in 'Flight' magazine dated 6th May 1932 which simply states 'May 16 - Air display at Wallingford Aerodrome' without giving more details. Pauline Gower and Dorothy Spicer literally paid a flying visit to their old base at Wallingford Aerodrome when the British Hospitals' Air PageantClick or tap to see the cover of a programme when the Hospitals Pageant visited Witney in June 1933 put on a display there on Monday 15th May 1933. The pageant certainly received much advance publicity and 'The Berks & Oxon Advertiser' carried a very full descriptionClick or tap to reveal our hidden page with a transcription of the article of the forthcoming event in its edition of Friday 5th May.

It is uncertain when the aerodrome actually closed, but it looks to have been downgraded to a landing ground with no facilities by 1933 according to the 'AA' listing above, albeit still under the ownership of Mr. Frost who seems to have moved from the area. Mention is made of a telephone '...at the house of the controlling authority (0.5mile)', but who or where that was remains unknown.

Rush Court

On Monday 24th April 1933, Sir Alan Cobham visited Wallingford as part of a national tour promoting 'National Aviation Day'. There were a range of different aircraft attending, either giving demonstrations or offering pleasure flights. Amongst these were a glider, a Tiger Moth, an autogiro flown by C.T.Hughes who was apparently 'the famous upside-down flier', and an unidentified Handley Page airliner which was used for pleasure flights.

This touring air displayClick or tap to see a photograph of some of the aircraft which formed the team in flight over Slough in 1932 operated for four years between 1932 and 1935 visiting over a thousand towns, sometimes operating two tours simultaneously. Rush Court is to the north of Wallingford about half way along the road to Shillingford bridge, and the field used for the one day show was adjacent to the Thames, almost opposite the village of Benson on the other side of the river. It isn't known why the show didn't use the Oakley Wood aerodrome but it is possible that an alternative venue was sought, coming as it did barely three weeks before the British Hospitals' Air Pageant visit to Wallingford.

F.A.Snow

Transcribed by Colin Taylor, 2019

Taking us to what is almost the final chapter in the Wallingford story is Mr.F.A.Snow who placed a regular series of adverts in the 'Berks & Oxon Advertiser' starting in September 1935 and continuing until February 1938, one of which is transcribed here.

The size of the landing ground quoted, the location being a quarter of a mile from the Market Place, and the 'The Pavilion' should all make the placing of it easy, but it has proved to be an elusive site and we are grateful to Judy Dewey, the Curator of Wallingford Museum, for pointing us in the right direction. The Pavilion was located just off St.John's Road opposite the end of Croft Road and behind an old Victorian school, the whole site has been redeveloped and no traces remain. This certainly put 'The Pavilion' about ¼ mile from the Market Place as advertised, but you would have had to go another ¾ mile or so to reach what we believe could have been the landing ground. This was a large field belonging to New Barn Farm to the south of the town centre in an area called Winterbrook and alongside the road leading to Cholsey. The site was later crossed by the A4130 (Wallingford bypass) when this new road was built in the early 1990s. A couple of adverts appeared in the same paper during September 1939 for Aviation Supplies Ltd. in St. John's Road, but making no reference to the landing ground - all civilian flying had by then been suspended.

White Cross Farm

To complete the Wallingford jigsaw, there was one more airstrip which we know about. It is not known for certain when it came into use, but it was certainly operational during the 1970s. It was pretty close to Mr.Snow's field in Winterbrook, but this one was located between Reading Road and the river Thames on land owned by White Cross Farm. This one was a bit easier to find as it appears on O.S. maps from the early 1970s right up until the early 1990s. The long airstrip ran diagonally across the field with access along a parallel track leading, at its southerly end, onto Reading Road. This airstrip was cut almost in half when the Wallingford bypass was built, but the northern section still appears on a map from 2006 with the now shortened access track leading from the bypass. No evidence of the airstrip itself remains, but at the time of writing the junction between the track and the bypass still exists.

Witney Aerodrome (map ref:SP 33 10)

Originally a First World War RFC training school with Avro 504Ks, deHavilland DH.5s and Bristol F.2Bs, Witney was inactive from 1919 and the premises were auctioned on March 28th 1922 by Buckell and Ballard of Oxford. The Sale notice read 'By direction of H.M. Disposal Board - Witney Aerodrome, 3 Hangars, airship shed, women's hostel and 15 blocks of quarters. Officer’s Mess and 60 other buildings including Regimental Institute, Barrack Blocks, pig sties and many fittings'. The property was purchased by Bartlett Bros. of Witney and the wood and canvas hangars were gradually removed leaving one fairly substatial hangar on site.

Berkshire Aviation Tours staff at Witney in 1928
Courtesy of The Bampton Archive

Berkshire Aviation Tours moved their maintenance operations from East Hanney and based themselves at Witney in 1926. They were amalgamated with Northern Air Lines to form Northern Air Transport Ltd.in 1929. This firm worked out of Barton in Lancashire and operated more than 20 Avro 504Ks which were all painted red and silver. Many of these aeroplanes toured with Sir Alan Cobham's famous Flying Circus.

We are thinking that the pilots will be amongst those wearing a jacket and tie as two can be identified from the postcards in our collection. They are, Clifford Stanley Kent who is standing third from the right, and fourth from the right is the unmistakable Lionel Louis Leleu. The aircraft which forms the background to the group has the name 'THE WASP' painted around the top of the engine cowling.

From 'Flight' magazine, 18th Jan 1934
Courtesy of Aviation Ancestry, ref 14977


From 'Popular Flying', December 1936
Courtesy of Aviation Ancestry, ref 19224

The site was taken over by Universal Air Services Ltd. in December 1932 and this could have led to Fred Holmes and Northern Air Transport Ltd. moving out as, also in 1932, he set up a new company called Air Travel Ltd. at Penshurst airfield in Kent. Unsurprisingly this company also operated a fleet of Avro 504Aircraft known to have belonged to the Air Travel Ltd. fleet at Penshurst
and registered to F.V.N.Holmes

Avro504Ks G-ABUK G-ABVH G-ABVY G-ACCX G-ACLV G-ACOD G-ACOM aircraft and ran a maintenance and overhaul facility there too. The history of this airfield lies way outside our area of interest, but we follow Fred Holmes one last time when he moved operations to Gatwick on July 28th 1936 as the lease for Penshurst had expired. The company occupied the new No.1 hangar and employed 70 staff, but was taken over the following year by Airports Ltd. who were the operators and owners of the aerodrome which they had substantially redeveloped. To see a small gallery of Air Travel Ltd. adverts from Penshurst and Gatwick, courtesy of Aviation Ancestry, click or tap hereClick or tap to scroll through the gallery of adverts.

The Witney & Oxford Flying Club was formed in 1934 and had its official opening on 8th June the following year. Also based at Witney was the Witney Aeronautical College which was a residential flying school offering practical training in flying, navigation, wireless and engineering - which, they said, would lead to 'an assured career in commercial flying or engineering'. The aerodrome became a deHavilland repair facility during WWII. Notice to close the Witney Aerodrome was issued on 11th March 1949 and deHavilland left the site in the August which marked the end of flying there. The airfield was sold by auction in London on 21st September 1950 to S.Smith and Sons (England) Ltd. who established a large factory and the area went on to be developed as an industrial park and, in part, for housing.

---