Originally Posted by
Leovinus
I've been looking to get a sense of how Heathrow worked before the permanent structures (Europa and Queens buildings) were completed post-war. I've seen discussions on here about it's past, with pictures of the post war tents for example, and it's been very interesting. But I've gained little grasp on how it was organised and how it was experienced by passengers. Is there a good source I could turn to? Perhaps you have any experiences of visiting Heathrow before the proper terminals were built?
Thank you in advance
In the early '50s we couldn't afford a car so day trips during the summer holidays by train or bus was the 'norm'.
We lived in Chesham, Bucks and at least once a year, our parents would take us to 'London Airport' by Greenline to Uxbridge then transferring to a red bus which stopped on the Bath Road near the terminal building.
I remember walking through the tents to access the public viewing area; initially (before the tunnel was built) all spectators were 'marshalled'; across the taxiway which was of course active at the time to an area between the central area still under construction and 28R (which was presumably not in use at that time due to the construction of the tunnel by the 'cut and cover' method involving the digging of a huge trench), where there were refreshment stands and joyrides in Dragon Rapides available. On one occasion, two RAF Meteors landed and they came and parked next to the joyriding aircraft; one single seat (presumably F8) and the other two seat (T7?).
This must have been about 1952 to about 1954, (I was born in 1948 so I was still very young) then when the tunnel opened, we would walk to the spectator area through this.
In 1956, London Transport ran Greenlines into the central area where the Queens Building and what was to become T2 were then open.