West London Airfields (Heston, Hanworth, and Hounslow)

[DOC.400]

After lending Saab Dastard a book on the above (published by Hounslow library), on his suggestion we plan to tour the defunct airfields of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston next Tuesday 9th November, starting at 1100 local.

Meet at the car park to Hounslow Heath on the A315, Staines Road. The car park is off the adjacent Frampton Road, OS Landranger 176, map ref 122749.

No doubt we will retire to a caff or hostelry for luncheon!!

I'll also have DOG.400 with me.

Rgds
DOC

[Saab Dastard]

Wot, no replies?

Well I'm still up for it!

That guarantees it will rain :rolleyes:

[DOC.400]

Twill be a grand day of aviation history and nostalgia.....

P'raps DOG.400 is putting them off? ;)

DOC

[Boss Raptor]

Is there really anything left to see? Coming from that area all I can remember seeing is the old Fairey hangers at Heston which were finally demolished some 10-12 years ago, nothing I can recall at the other 2 sites

[DOC.400]

That's what we're going to find out!!

DOC

[BEagle]

Heston (TQ118781) appears to be largely Airlinks Golf Course.

Hounslow (TQ120745) is now Hounslow Heath.

Hanworth Park (also known as Feltham) (TQ105716) seesm to be an open space.

Lots of places for DOG.400 to run though - have fun!

PS - thanks for the map! It arrived today.

[DOC.400]

There are some bits left, the pub on the main drag opposite what would have been the entrance to Hounslow aerodrome -the entrance concrete road is still there and can be seen in aerial photos of the time.

The tree lined approach to Heston is still there, as is, last time I looked, one of the old hangers. The whole area has been designated Aerodrome Area, with some 2d outlines at the approaches of a racing plane from the past -somebody else probably knows what it is!!

And the house at Hanworth Park is still in the middle of the airfield, as it was in the '30's, but surrounded by more trees!

Rgds
Mel

[WHBM]

While we are in the area, can one of the experts tell me where the Hawker factory and airfield at Langley were please ?

[BEagle]

Try entering TQ025795 into the excellent www.streetmap.co.uk and it'll show you:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=502550&y=179550&z=3&sv=502550,179550&st=4&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&dn=553

[Gareth Blackstock]

Where is the airfield TQ025795 ?

DOC.400 - Hope you have a good time on tuesday along with anyone else that joins you.

Gaz

[Boss Raptor]

The Hawker factory at Langley was handed over after the war to Ford and was/is now the Ford Iveco plant by the M4 (if it's still there)

[BEagle]

TQ025795 is the Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference for the location of the old aerodrome at Langley.

[DOC.400]

I too have also assumed it was where the Ford Iveco plant was, (long gone now!!) at the west side of Sutton Lane north of the M4.

However, frm tjhe link it looks more like north side of North Park/Parluant Road -I'll have a look next time I'm passing!

Rgds
DOC

[Boss Raptor]

All sources I've Googled indicate Sutton Lane, Ford Iveco plant was the factory - the airfield might have been adjacent so those co-ordinates probably arent far off

http://www.merebrook.co.uk/projects/aboutus/casestudies/langley.htm

this is a map of the old ford-iveco site - match it up to those co-ords and aerodrome looks right next door

http://www.intergeo-consulting.com/remediation/langley/pic01langley.png

[IB4138]

The Ford plant at Langley is no more. Demolished and crushed.

It is now a trading estate housing amongst others, Bridgestone Tyres racing division and a massive Royal Mail sorting facility.

[DOC.400]

"north side of North Park/Parluant Road"

Above OS ref confirms this, although it's about half to 3/4 mile from the old Iveco works.

Mel

[Nopax,thanx]

Once knew a guy who lived in Heston.......








Wait for it............






He had Fairey's at the bottom of his garden!!!!!:)

[TD&H]

How has your visit gone?

I picked up a lovely little booklet giving details of 'The Hanworth Club', London Air Park, as part of the NFS, with membership details (five guineas entrance fee and another five guineas subscription), flying rates (£3 dual, £2 10s solo), and a couple of nice photos, one showing the house surrounded by trees and the landing circle. Telephone 'Feltham 236' or telegrams to 'Hanairpark, Feltham'.

"Members pay no landing fees at NFS air parks (Blackpool, Leeds, Hull, Stoke, Nottingham, Reading and Hanworth), and are only charged for accommodation".

Quite a charming booklet to read.

H

[Saab Dastard]

Arriving at the car park at Hounslow Heath we unloaded DOG.400 and the Autogyro, wheeled it into the heath, assembled it and took off - fortunately Heathrow was on Easterlies and we were able to get a SVFR from 119.9 to route Hounslow - Hanworth - Heston, not above 600 feet. First flight out of Hounslow Aerodrome for 84 years.

Then the alarm went off and I woke up.

Great day out, lots of exercise, worked up an appetite well sated by the "Rumbling Tum" in Feltham.

Fascinating to walk around the still-extant Hanworth Park House which was an "Island" in the middle of Hanworth aerodrome - you can easily imagine the Biplanes chugging around it, as Hanworth park is still very flat and grassy (Houslow Heath has become much more overgrown, but then it's had an extra 40 years to go to seed, so to speak!

We even identified the old Aston-Martin factory before heading off for lunch, followed by a quick dash into Heston. The original apprach drive is still there, as is the original "Aircraft" plan-form of the buildings radiating off that, two of which are still there, altered over time, but still very recognisable.

Then it started raining so we b*****ed off home for tea and biccies.

DOC.400 has the essential reading material for these 3 old aerodromes - wot's it called again?

Cheers all, you missed a jolly good show ;)

SD

[DOC.400]

Which is:

'Coming in to Land' by Tim Sherwood.
A Short History of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston Aeroromes 1911-1946.
Heritage Publications.
ISBN 1899144307. £11.99.
Avlble from Hounslow Library.

DOC

[Unwell_Raptor]

Nopax' crack about Faireys reminds me that the junction between Station Road and North Hyde Road that was by Fairey's main gate is still known as Fairey Corner by the older residents of Hayes.

Ironically the public conveniences that stood there had to be closed by the council as they became a rendezvous for cottagers.

By the way, Nopax, have you seen those houses in Portsmouth that have ferries at the bottom of the garden? And as for the Cairo Hilton, that has Pharoahs at the bottom of the garden.

[Seloco]

As one who lives near all of these wonderful ex-places I can confirm that Hanworth Air Park is still used regularly for flying.

Unfortunately the aircraft are now rather small, radio-controlled and make a noise far removed from their illustrious forebears.....

Still, it is good to see Hanworth still as open space, unlike Heston which is now mostly covered by the M4 Services.

Incidentally it is interesting to see how useful the internet now is at locating places by feeding their OS co-ordinates into a site such as UKstreetmap.com. Did you know that the first OS measured baseline was established and measured by General Roy in the 1780s? It was comprised of hundreds of ten foot long glass rods and was set up from Hampton to Heathrow. The end points can still be seen, represented by upended Napoleonic cannon (although the LHR one had to be moved as I believe it would otherwise have formed a rather awkward hazard in the middle of 27R). I seem to recall that Roy's measurement over the five miles or so was about six inches out according to modern survey methods!

[Mr Chips]

I'm sorry that I didn't see this thread in time to join you... having been brought up in Heston, and now living within spitting distance of Hanworth Air Park.. (close enough that my house has a covenant on it preventing me from building too high, due to aircraft)

I will have to visit Hounslow library (ahhh, my first saturday job was there) and buy the book, to accompany my little blue book about Heston Aerodrome, and my pictorial history of Feltham and Hanworth which has quite a few pictures of the airfield.

I am always keen to find out more about Heston and Hanworth, so if anyone has anything else....

Gents, on your meanderings across the Air Park, one trusts that you found the pill box and the large concrete slab (which I believe was a gun placement) I am also reliably informed that on a hot day you can see the outlines of the runways in the grass....

Chips

[DOC.400]

"Gents, on your meanderings across the Air Park, one trusts that you found the pill box and the large concrete slab (which I believe was a gun placement)"

Pillbox yes, concrete slab, maybe!! Could have been a concrete apron which is clearly shown in pix of the time.

"I am also reliably informed that on a hot day you can see the outlines of the runways in the grass...."

A nice idea, but unlikely I think. There is nothing apparent in pics of the time. Anyway, it's an airFIELD, so they just took off and landed into wind, anywhere.....luxury!!

Rgds
DOC

[233SQN]

Whilst searching web for stuff on Heston Aerodrome, I came across an intersting thread (2004,now closed...see http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=151003&page=2) with DOC.400 and others visiting said sites looking for clues to the past.

I wish I had seen it earlier, I would love to have joined you, as I have spent many years researching Heston Hanworth and Hounslow Airfields/Areodromes.

At the end of the thread, "Mr Chips" mentions that he had heard that in the summer, runways could still be made out in the grass at Hanworth after 60 odd years, but others thought it unlikely.

Well he is not so far off ...... if you look carefuly at a Google Earth type site ( the one I use is http://www.flashearth.com ) & compare to ariel shots available on the web, you can make out the circles marked on the grass at both Hanworth and Hounslow!!

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.461419&lon=-0.386986&z=17.7&r=0&src=msa Should take you to Hounslow and http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.437477&lon=-0.396045&z=19&r=0&src=msa Should be Hanworth.... zoom in and you can even see the model planes mentioned elsewhere in the thread!!

Intersting forum BTW!!

[Flap40]

Very interesting! Looking on flashearth for Heston I found this - http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.486711&lon=-0.397253&z=19.1&r=0&src=msa It looks like a hangar and it sits at an odd angle to all the other buildings. It also seems to match the one in this photo
http://images.francisfrith.com/c50/high/27/_AF44696.jpg taken in 1934.
If you swap from Microsoft VE to Googlearth on your Hanworth link then I fear that we have seen the last of this circle.

[kms901]

Hi there. Hanworth is a pet subject of mine, having lived next to it. It is certainly still big enough for a light aircraft to get into, as long as there are no goalposts up !

The house in the trees just North of the centre was the "Terminal". To the left are four blocks of flats that were built postwar. Behind them are 1930's bungalows, built single story as they were under the approach bath. Sadly, the only remaining small hangar is at the south end of Hanworth Airpark. The area to the northeast with all the buildings did have all the hangars on it but is now a "leisure complex". After the airfield fell out of use, they were the Aston Martin factory. I can remember my father teaching my mother to drive around the perimeter track.
Even the model aircraft are very restricted. Many years ago a local nimby got up a large local petition complaining about aircraft noise (not difficult within 2 mile of Heathrow). he used this to persuade the council to limit model flying hours.

The local pub is called The Airman. It is the only pub of that name in the UK. During WW11 the landlord's daughter married a test pilot called Seth-Smith, who sadly was killed. She then married another pilot who became Chief Pilot of The Queen's Flight. They are both still alive and well. Their son is a friend of mine, and he tells me that as a child he was given exhilarating rides around the track by the likes of Stirling, Moss, Mike Hawthorn and Denys Jenkinson. Lucky Man

[chevvron]

In the picture of Heston, the 'control tower' complex was used by CAA Southern Division until they moved to Aviation House at Gatwick (sometime in the '80s). I think it's been demolised now, if not fer christ's sake someone put a preservation order on it.

[233SQN]

The Heston Control Tower complex was demolished in 1978, and was recorded by a photographer form the City of London Museum, I have copies of the contact sheets, very sad.

The large hanger mentioned in Flap40's post was known as the Jackaman Hanger and does in deed still stand, protected by a preservation order. There are some other hagers next to it, although they have been altered over the years.

The "odd angle" meant that the buildings, when viewed from the air, looked like an aeroplane in plan form, or an arrow, pointing North. This can still be seen in google earth pictures as the new buildings retain the profile. At the tip of the "arrow", sunken into the ground was the famous clock, 16ft in diameter... you can just see it in photo in Flap40's post.

[Saab Dastard]

if you look carefuly at a Google Earth type site ( the one I use is http://www.flashearth.com ) & compare to ariel shots available on the web, you can make out the circles marked on the grass at both Hanworth and Hounslow!!

I think that this may be wishful thinking - yes, you can see circles on the grass, but these are more likely to be fungal rings than vestiges of the original airfield circles.

In the case of Hanworth, have a look at the photo of the Graf Zeppelin over the aerodrome in 1932 http://www.cdrake.co.uk/Images/FelthamHomePageThumbs/Large%20Versions/Graf%20Zeppelin%20London%20Airpark%201932.jpg.

You can orientate the flash aerial view to the photo using the shape of the house in the centre of the airfield, and confirm by checking the point on the perimeter where the Longford river goes underground (visible in the photo).

It is apparent that the white Airfield ring is in a very different place to the currently visible rings.

In the case of Hounslow, it would have been most peculiar to have put the ring so close to a corner of the field - the ring was normally located to mark the center of the landing area.

SD

[233SQN]

In the case of Hanworth, have a look at the photo of the Graf Zeppelin over the aerodrome in 1932 http://www.cdrake.co.uk/Images/Felth...ark%201932.jpg (http://www.cdrake.co.uk/Images/Felth...ark%201932.jpg).Ahhh.... but there was more than one circle at Hanworth!... and I quite agree the one in the picture you have linked to is in a completely different part of the airfield.

The one I linked to is clearly to be seen in the picture on page 87 of the book referred to earlier in the post ('Coming in to Land' by Tim Sherwood. A Short History of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston Aeroromes 1911-1946. Heritage Publications. ISBN 1899144307. £11.99. Available from Hounslow Library.)

The photograph shows a circle in white, to the left of an imaginary straight line drawn between the point where Park Road joins Hounslow Road and the "the house" on the island in the centre. This can be easily transposed onto the Flash earth image.

The "Hounslow Circle" can also be clearly seen with a letter "T" next to it in the picture on page 17 of the same publication.

Unfortunately I do not have a scanner (and I’m not sure how legal it would be) so I can’t post the pictures.....

[chevvron]

If you want to see a modern image of one of these circles, look at Halton airfield on a satellite photo. (www.flashearth.com is a good source)

[HAL-26]

I thought the aeroplane in Flap 40's photo looked a little familiar!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i199/kingpinmedia/04.18Sywell6a.jpg


I can also testifiy to the presence of an airfield ID disc (BC), still in the grass at Bicester. I blame it for all my bounced takeoffs and arrivals!

I note that the original reason for this thread was to organise a walk around the airfield locations. Does anyone fancy a repeat visit? I'd love to visit these locatiions with someone who knows what they are looking for!!

[Saab Dastard]

I note that the original reason for this thread was to organise a walk around the airfield locations. Does anyone fancy a repeat visit? I'd love to visit these locatiions with someone who knows what they are looking for!!

Very happy to do so again - not much to see at Hounslow, but walking on the heath is pleasant enough.

Even less at Heston - only the entrance road and a hangar remain.

But Hanworth is very recognisable - lots still visible.

SD

[Saab Dastard]

I meant to add that I think that there is more than just one hangar still extant at Heston. I believe that the entire "right wing" (looking North) - 5 or 6 hangars - are still largely as they were in 1939.

SD

[233SQN]

I would be up for a walk of the sites... but work commitments would mean it would need to be after September 30th (our year-end!)
I now live in Worcester, but used to live locally and know all the sites quite well, I have amassed quite a collection of photos, maps etc, which would allow us to determine the position of long gone buildings etc.
There are a few other remnants left at Heston, the parachute store and other miscellaneous small buildings still exist, and there is quite a large part of one of the old buildings on the west side near the old Comper factory that I have never quite been able to place on old photos, but I'm sure it is original.
The jewel is however the Jackaman hanger... there are some good old pic’s of it and some interesting text about Woodason's (model makers) who used to be on the site here.. http://www.collectair.com/woodason.html (http://www.collectair.com/woodason.html) have a read it is very good and would provide some opportunities for then and now photo's
There are still things to see at Hanworth, especially the house. There was a "control tower" it was actually the corner of one of the old Whiteheads factories but glazed on two sides (a bit like Hatfield?) last time I visited, but it went a few years ago with the development of the leisure complex.
There is little to see on Hounslow Heath, although in other threads on this forum I did see discussion about the old Railway marshalling yards and what someone thought was the Hounslow Heath Control Tower (there wasn’t one) but was in fact part of the marshalling yard. Not sure if that is still there, it was last time I walked the site as was the bases of the locomotive turntables.

[stickandrudderman]

I grew up on a British Airways housing estate that was built on the north side of Heston airfield (North Hyde Lane).
The remains of the airfield were my playground, and indeed there was still an isolated hanger right on the corner of my street that we occasionally used to play in. It was being used as some kind of HGV depot as I recall.
I also remember getting a metal detector for christmas one year, and scouting round an old pill box lookig for bullets or the remains of a Spitfire!
I used to attend a scout group that was in a wooden hut in the corner of what was then the Speedbird club, but was later called the Concorde club; social club of BOAC/British airways staff.
There used to be the remains of an old tail dragger outside the scout hut, probably an Auster or something similar. I wonder what happened to that?
I've place-marked these places on Google Earth but I've no idea how to post the link here.....

[233SQN]

There was a blister hanger still in existence up to the late 60s early 70s that stood in the corner of the junction of Convent Way and North Hyde Lane, see

The Airfields Of Greater London Heston (http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/Heston.html)

and zoom in to the center of the northern boundary.

The odd 5 sided shape of tarmac is on the spot, but you can just make out the original dispersal as the top of a "hexagonal scar" on the grass partly obscured by the tarmac. Would this have been the hanger?

Where was the scout hut? A semi derelict Cierva Autogiro, G-AHMJ used to be seen in a yard owned by Aeradio Ltd to the North side of HAP and was owned by the local Scouts (or Air Cadets?) and was restored and is viewable at Airliners.net

see Aviation Photos: G-AHMJ (http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=G-AHMJ&distinct_entry=true)

[holyflyer]

I too was in 16th Hounslow (Heathrow) Air Scouts in the mid 70's. The scout hut was in the north west corner. Outside was an ex-army?/air force? auster which apparently had been flown in. Always wondered what happened to it.

[edskarf]

The Auster was likely to have been AOP9 XN435 which, according to my records, was with the Hestton CCF at the Speedbird Club from around August 1973. It was allocated the registration G-BGBU 8.11.78. The registration was cancelled in 1990 by the CAA but the frame may still be stored somewhere.

[stickandrudderman]

The odd shaped tarmac is indeed where the hanger was located, but the tarmac is the REMAINS of a playground that was erected after the hanger was demolished, but the climbing frame, swings and roundabouts were subsequently removed due to H&S:ugh::D

[233SQN]

There's a new playground there now.... if you click on the
birds' eye (as opposed to map) view on that link you can see the new soft play site slightly to the west.

Ho hum....oh to have a deserted airfield to play in....

[holyflyer]

The Auster was likely to have been AOP9 XN435 which, according to my records, was with the Hestton CCF at the Speedbird Club from around August 1973. It was allocated the registration G-BGBU 8.11.78. The registration was cancelled in 1990 by the CAA but the frame may still be stored somewhere.

Thanks edskarf - you have no idea how many people I have asked over the years. Yours is the first confirmation of its identity.

[edskarf]

Holyflyer - Glad I could help ... and to think I lived in Heston up to 1972. I must have left shortly before the Auster arrived. When I went to look for it at a later date I was looking in the wrong place - the TA site at the junction of Vicarage Farm Road and New Heston Road/North Hyde Lane!

You don't have or know of any photos of XN435 with the CCF do you?

[holyflyer]

Sadly no photos, but many memories of sitting in the cockpit as a teenager and dreaming .........

[ChrisVJ]

When i was twenty something and living in London I worked occasionally for a friend who had a service station at the Ace of Spades on the GW Road. That led to running one myself in Hanworth for a year (or maybe it was Hansworth, is there such a place?). Many years later looking at my mother's marriage certificate I noticed that her address was in Heston (She never mentioned living there.) She was marrying a test Pilot, Mike Graves, in 1946 and that may well have been the reason for the address. (The first address I remember was in Derby, as he later worked for Rolls Royce.)

Although I was keen on flying, and had already worked as a clerk at Westlands for a year (in Yeovil) I had no idea I was living and working amongst all that History. Now, of course, I am far too far away to enjoy more than armchair investigation and History presented on Pprune.

[Panop]

As a small child in the late 1950s, early 60s I occasionally wandered off with friends to play in the wild, overgrown, spaces of Heston Airfield. There were the remains of an elevated AA gun emplacement (on what seemed like a massive hill to me then but which was probably all of about 10 feet above the surrounding land) on the north side roughly where the western end of the Convent Way Estate is now. In those days access to the old airfield was through alleyways between the houses in Wentworth Road. Much of the area to the south east (about where Heston M4 Services now are) was given over to gravel extraction by the Ham River Gravel Co.

[233SQN]

There is an interesting thread developing regarding the Mustang that crashed after clipping the Grange Farmhouse whilst trying to make an emergency landing at Heston in 1945.... see

http://forum.armyairforces.com/tm.aspx?m=137761

and

http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/index.php/2002/09/the-airman-from-the-crash/

[Panop]

Following those links the following website is a goldmine of information on Heston if you read on through it: http://www.commercemarketplace.com/home/CollectAir/woodason.html

[DOC.400]

Four years on and the thread bubbles away!!

Many thanx for feedback chasps!!

I can feel another tour coming along -anyone interested???

[Panop]

Surprising (to me anyway) how many Heston fans there still are considering how long ago it closed and that it is, near enough, unrecognisable now. Too far for me to visit easily nowadays but this thread and http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/342968-heston-wartime-crahes-incidents.html have really stirred a long forgotten but latent interest for me. Great stuff.:)

[Saab Dastard]

Is it really 4 years? Doesn't seem like it!

Well Doc, I suppose the dogs must be walked somewhere - Hanworth / Hounslow / Heston is as good a place as any.

SD

[oldlowandslow]

If you know where to look on Hounslow Heath, you can still find, in the trees, part of the old fence that separated the public from the 'aircraft manoeuvring area'.

[233SQN]

Really??

Where abouts? Can you post a Google Earth picture with an arrow or something?

I always thought that Hounslow Areodrome would make a good (if unusual ) subject for a Time Team Special!!

Once again good to see this thread continues to get some attention!!

Any new pictures or memories graetfully recieved (especially regarding the Gaston Riggs Mustang crash at Heston!!)

Keep 'em comming....

[edskarf]

It is very interesting to learn that tangible evidence of the Hounslow iHeath aerodrome stills exists. I thought there was only the plaque on the Staines Road that commemorated the site.

Airfield Information Exchange - The Public Forums of The Airfield Research Group (ARG) • View topic - Hounslow Heath (http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=263&hilit=Hounslow+Heath)

[DOC.400]

And still it goes on!!

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=hounslow+heath&countryCode=GB#map=51.46023,-0.38846|17|32&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:51.46037:-0.38846:17|hounslow%20heath|

CUT AND PASTE LINK -sorry, tried to embed it but failed!! :confused:

The concrete drive is visible in aerial pictures from the 1920's. The scrap yard to the left of the red ring is predominantly where the hangers were (in 1919). The rest of the hangers appear to be where the car park is now, on the north-east corner of the site.

Anybody up for another West London airfields revisited??? DOG.400 now joined by B1TCH.400.... ;)

Can but recommend:

'Coming in to Land' by Tim Sherwood.
A Short History of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston Aerodromes 1911-1946.
Heritage Publications.
ISBN 1899144307. £11.99.
Avlble from Hounslow Library.

Regards
DOC

[WHBM]

I can feel another tour coming along -anyone interested???
I've been following this thread for years. Anyone else interested in a tour now the summer is here ? Sounds good. Several of us PPRuNers did a comparable thing at Croydon last year (there's a thread about it somewhere here).

[Visual06]

Having grown up in Bedfont, gone to senior school in Hounslow and spent many a spare summer day cycling around Hanworth Air Park I would be very interested is tagging along on a walk if one were to be arranged.

I remember the old hangers off of Browells lane which were occupied at the time by EMI, Once EMI moved out these hangers became an indoor go Kart track., from memory this track was quoted as being the biggest indoor track in the country, I used to be the postman to this track and due to the office being the opposite end from the hangar doors I used to drive the track in the Royal mail van :).and it was absolutly huge inside!!! Does anyone know if the trams and train stock were produced on this site? Sadly these hangers were demolished to make way for a cinema complex, though there is today some sort of statue on the former site.

Also, buried in amongst the trees on Hanworth airpark is a pillbox or similar, it is located in the far South East corner of the Air Park, looking at Google earth it is on the crossroads of the Hounslow rd and Uxbridge rd (where the Horse and Groom and Hanworth library are located) does anyone know in which era this was erected?

[WHBM]

Does anyone know if the trams and train stock were produced on this site?
It was certainly somewhere round here. The rolling stock factory was known as "Feltham", and the owner was Union Construction Company, which was owned by and a front for the London Underground organisation, who were statutorily prevented from manufacturing themselves. The Feltham factory produced Underground train cars, trams (the "Feltham" type), and trolleybuses. It only operated in the 1920s and early 1930s. It wasn't connected to either Underground or tramway, and the output was all pulled out by steam traction engines on trailers. A bit like an aircraft factory without a runway, of which there have been a fair number as well.

[Visual06]

Don't seem to remember any of the London Underground trains I travelled on as a youth bearing the Feltham name plate but do recall all the older former London Underground stock used on the Isle of Wight had the Feltham branding, so perhaps they were withdrwn from London before my time !

[oldlowandslow]

It was about 10 years ago now that myself and a fellow wannabe aviation archeologist went scrummaging around in the trees to see if anything was left of the old aerodrome, and found a few uprights of an old metal fence, from which position we deduced (from looking at what few photos are available of the airfriend when active) could have been some sort of boundary fence. We would have investigated further, but you would be surprised at the looks we attracted - two middle-aged men in suits burrowing into bushes on Hounslow Heath one lunchtime....

Either way, i agree with the above - a visit would be a good thing. I grew up in Heston and like some of the posters above have memories of the airfield in the 60s. My mother attended Berkley School and has a lot of stories. My father worked at the maintenance depot at Hanworth in the war, where they repaired the electrics on all sorts of aircraft. His trade was gunnery systems.

[233SQN]

I too would be up for a bit of exploring.....I live in Worcester but get down to London frequently.... and my dog is getting fed up of Perdiswell, Throckmorton and Defford!!

Oldandslow...I would be very interseted in any recollections (or pictures) of Heston during the 60s...

[wotans simride]

My Father was taught to fly at Hanworth in 1938 on Blackburn B2's (one of which is still at Old warden). I have some photos of B2's lined up outside the Hanworth house and a course photo which I think is next to the House. My Dad ended up flying Spitfires from Heston in September 1940 with the experimental Photo Reconnaisance Unit PRU. There is a good 1938 aerial photo of Heston taken from the northwest

Heston Airport Image from the AirTeamImages Picture Library (http://www.airteamimages.com/63221.html)

I think the M4 now cuts across the bottom left hand corner of the phot.

My father is now dead, but does anyone know where the PRU was based at Heston?

WS

[oldlowandslow]

Not much, i am afraid. Let me have a dig around.

[DOC.400]

"There is a good 1938 aerial photo of Heston taken from the northwest"

Indeed it is!! The arched hanger to the left of the control tower is still there, as is the main approach road -although today the trees have grown somewhat!

Part of this is Heston services on the M4.

WHBM -thanx for your mail! Will reply!

[chevvron]

Way back in the late'70s, there was what I remember to be a T2 or Bellman type hangar just north of the M4 where the western boundary road crosses it on the airfield side. My first wife, who worked for BA, took me to a dance there in about '76 or '77 when it was a BA staff club, possibly the Speedbird Club mentioned at #40. Doesn't seem to be there any more, but I can remember in previous years (mid-late '60s) passing some distance away in a coach and seeing 'Fairy Aviation' in big letters possibly on the roof of the same hangar.

[WHBM]

I was just once, some years ago, inside the restaurant of the westbound Heston services (which I pass regularly) and noticed they had a number of good photographs of the airfield from the 1930s up on the wall. Don't know if they are still there.

The services date from the 1960s and the eastbound side is still the original one. The westbound side was destroyed by fire in the 1980s and rebuilt to a completely different design. The photos were maybe added after the rebuilding.

[AbbCon]

Also, buried in amongst the trees on Hanworth airpark is a pillbox or similar, it is located in the far South East corner of the Air Park, looking at Google earth it is on the crossroads of the Hounslow rd and Uxbridge rd (where the Horse and Groom and Hanworth library are located) does anyone know in which era this was erected?


The pill box is located nearer to Hanworth Park House in the middle of the Airpark, link below

http://www.multimap.com/s/ivc9aA1O (http://www.multimap.com/s/ivc9aA1O)
The Pill Box is to the left of the red circle or select Birds Eye and face South. The pill box is now to the right of the red circle


I think the structure at the Horse and Groom crossroads you are talking about is an old Ice House, the area is named after it, The Mount.
It was built around 1865 by Algernon Perkins who resided at Hanworth Park House, and used it as an Ice House or Cold Store.

http://www.multimap.com/s/jqhCPotk

Again select BirdsEye and face South and you can just make it out in the trees to the right of the Red Circle.

[oldlowandslow]

If you know where to look (and I do.....) you can find the floor of one of the old hangars. Clue: Stand on the steps of the Officer's Club, and look left!

[Webneren]

Hi All.
Long time ago back in the summer 1971 the 16Gth Hounslow Air Scout Group went to Denmark to visit scouts from Herlufsholm Scout Group, in a town named Naestved. I learned from this thread that some of you have been scouts and perhaps have participated in this?

In Denmark the two scout groups among others participated in a Jamboree at Dehnshytten located at the south coast of Sealand. Later on the Danish Scout Group went to London.

We had a scout named Rye living in our home for some days. My older brother Per where the exchange scout with Ryan and have often talked about it could be funny to have some contact again and to share pictures etc.

Is it possible that you know some of the scouts from that time and could make a contact?

Best regards

Jes

KFUM-Spejderne Herlufsholm Gruppe, Næstved (http://www.herlufsholm.org)

http://www.herlufsholm.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/JS6_7882-1-624x414.jpg