How did Heathrow used to look ?

[Geezers of Nazareth]

agreed-so so much has changed.

i remember the 105 bus route, with those jump on, jump off Routemaster buses which used to travel from shepherds bush to heathrow, & was like soo cheap to travel on them just to see heathrow. it was like 20p return with those conductors too.

I can remember going to Heathrow on the 140 route (RTs and Routemasters) for 3p each way (that's '3 new p'!), and then a further 3p to get into the Queen's Building viewing terrace.

I can remember the IRA car-bomb in the T1 car park, and everywhere being evacutaed into the area near the bus station - and Ronnie Corbett entertaining us while the 'powers that be' decided how they would get us out (since the tunnel was closed!).

I also remember the 140 bus route home on Sundays. Certain selected journeys would go through the cargo tunnel and out past the area where T4 is now, down to Hatton Cross, and then around the eastern peri-road to Harlington Corner. I have a vague idea that this was because the tube link between the Centre and Hatton X was closed for works on Sundays?

I can also remember somebody doing an oil painting of the view from the QB. He seemed to be there most Sunday afternoons, and looking at some of the older types in the picture I got the idea that he'd been painting it for about 40 years (and that was in the 70s)!

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Hazy recollection here. "Wasn't there a tunnel from Central to the cargocentre, not for public though" Does anyone remember the maps, published by one of the fuel companies, 1/6d if I remember correctly with a big map of LHR ( LAP) in the middle and colour pictures of aircraft around the edge. Amazing how many comets Aerolineas Argentinas, BEA, BOAC Olympic, Sudan, MSA, MEA, Kuwait and Egyptair/UAA included there are round it.
Thanks for the thread,
Be lucky
David

[WHBM]

Originally Posted by The AvgasDinosaur

Hazy recollection here. "Wasn't there a tunnel from Central to the cargocentre, not for public though"

You couldn't drive your car through, but public buses used it. Especially after T4 opened a number of bus routes went from T4 to the Central Area this way. There was a gateman at a barrier who let the buses and all the allowed internal traffic through. I can remember going through in London double deckers in the 1990s.

[saman]

A vague memory tells me that the cargo tunnel, which I think exited or maybe still exits twixt the corner of T2 and the T2 multi story car park, was open to the public for a few months while some work was being carried out on the twin tunnels sometime around 1970 ish. It was great for those of us who lived south of LHR since we could come into the central area from that side and save a lot of time.

[darrylj]

i remember as you entered that cargo tunnel, a bright blue-ish light on the tunnel side on slight bends..
what were they for?..a guide or something?.

[Mike Read]

From the summer of 1947 till Nov '49 I worked as a met asistant in the Met Office which was just west of the original control tower. I lived in Hayes and cycled to work through Harlington. The entrance to the airport was from the Bath Road so that would put the tower roughly where the entrance to the tunnel is now. The Three Magpies was on the Bath Road just west of the entrance. (Not shown on the map at the beginning)

There was a canteen which we walked to across the apron. No high vis jackets then! I remember AOA and /or PAA Stratocruisers and Constellations. O P Jones came in for briefings. He was easily recognisable but was just one of a long list of "gods" to a sixteen year old.

My first flight into LAP was in a Lancashire Airways Rapide from Bovingdon in 1949 where I was on a temporary attachment. They flew over frequently to give joyrides from just outside the public viewing area which was west of the Met Office. A female pilot was employed by them which seemed unusual to me. Even then I was a sexist pig. Also the GCA controller's patter was broadcast over the Tannoy in the public viewing area.

In Nov '49 I was called up for national service, trained as a pilot and for the next 42 years was paid to enjoy myself first by the King, then the Queen and eventually various airlines. Much better than working for a living.

[A30yoyo]

Heathrow (A Fairey story? ...closed thread 2005)

This photo on abpic shows the original Fairey hangar in the central area which lingered into the 1960s until Fairey's compensation for the requisition of 'The Great West Aerodrome' had been settled. It housed fire appliances and BOAC had an ad aimed at the crowds on the Queens Building viewing terraces....BEA's mid 1950s vintage maintenance base to the left in the distance

Convair 440, OO-SCP, Sabena (SN / SAB)

[233SQN]

This first shot is view from the Queens building in th every early 60's. The original Fairey Hangar is in th middle distance. The white "square building" on the corner of the hangar was the original Great West aerodrome control tower
[/IMG]

.... compare it to the picture below taken in early 1930's!!

[/IMG]

[A30yoyo]

Excellent 233sqdn....never seen the Fairey control tower before....in the top photo the people plane watching are in the 'Passengers Friends Waving Base ' which was separate from and below the public Queens Building terraces and free and was entered through the Fortes restaurant in the Europa Building (T2)... it was open into the night so was handy for spotting the Alitalia arrivals about 2130 if you werent chucked out ...I was over there the evening the BEA Ambassador crashed at Munich and watched the info come through on the open tickertape terminals on the BEA pax desks

[white44]

pleasure flights

At about 13yrs. of age (1951ish.) I took a flight from LHR sightseeing over London.

This was from Northside and ops. was I think a tent, or possibly a wooden hut.
We took off and landed on the grass next to the runway to the best of my recollection. The aircraft was definitely G-AGUF ( where is it now?).
In later years, while working at EMI in Hayes, I would stop and reggie spot from the car park area.

Try that now!!

[S'land]

The aircraft was definitely G-AGUF ( where is it now?).

Owned by Channel Island Airways it crashed at Ramsgate on 29 June 1957.

[A30yoyo]

Heathrow G-AGUF Island Air services Monique Agazarian

This link to the Getty sister site JAMD has pics of Monique Rendall(nee Agazarian), pilot /proprietor of Island Air Services which flew the Rapide joyrides at LAP (LHR).G-AGUF 'Guffie' was her favourite. She had been an ATA ferry pilot in WWII

Jamd - Search - Search for "monique rendall"

[KeMac]

http://

[KeMac]

Interesting that the layout shows the position of the parallel third E/W runway in more or less the same spot they now want to place it and at the same length originally proposed for it (2000mt) although I think they are going for a longer one now.

[Warmtoast]

In 233Sqn's post above

The white "square building" on the corner of the hangar was the original Great West aerodrome control tower

Is this the same ATC Tower as it existed alongside the A4 (Bath Road) around 1950 as seen here?

[233SQN]

No Completely different.... This tower was on the North side and was built as part of the military expansion, but continued in use into the civilian period.

The original control tower attached to the Fairey hangar wasn't really a control tower at all.... more of an observation area and flying control, and was in the middle of the airport

[Matt-Braddock]

“Out of the Clouds” (1954)

Those of us with access to British TV may be interested in this ---

“CHANNEL4 Thursday 13:55 “Out of the Clouds” (1954) Excellent Ealing drama following the personal tales of the pilots and passengers of a bygone age during a busy day at London Airport. “

I have not seen the film before but it sounds as if it is along the same lines as “The V.I.P.s” (1963) that is also set at Heathrow.

[stevo76]

Here's a picture of Heathrow in 1945 on the RAF Museum website, the runway on the left is now rwy 9L. Hard to believe it looked like that!

Heathrow Airport, 1945 (From RAF Museum)

Stevo

[captain_flynn]

KeMac's photo is interesting. Why were those runways to the north never built?

[A30yoyo]

Heathrow runways north of theA4

The existing Star of David runways were embarrassingly under-used right through the 50s...the original triangular RAF set would probably have been adequate,lack of a decent terminal was a puzzle .... the date for the official abandonment of #7,8,9 scheme (or 8,9,10 if you're a cynic) is to be found in Philip Sherwood's Heathrow 2000 book, p77...on Dec 10 1952 the Minister of Civil Aviation announced that 'the additional amount of traffic which could be accepted by extending the Airport north of the Bath Road would not justify the expenditure and disturbance incurred.'


Having built 6 (actually 7 ) runways they closed the most used one, 28R ,(now 27R) from about 1951 to 1953 to dig the road tunnel to the centre....must have seemed a long taxi to the Southside runway....28R/10L was closed briefly again in the Summer of 1962 when a Lufthansa 720B landed dramatically with its nosewheel up halting above the Central tunnel (see jamd link )(all OK ,plane was repaired)

Jamd