The Chess Valley. Photo Doug Kennedy.
My early childhood days were spent in the Chiltern Hills near Chalfont St Peter between the wide, open valley of the River Misbourne and slightly further afield, the mysterious and lush little valley of the River Chess. I crossed the River Misbourne each day as I walked with my Mother to Infants School. In some seasons the river would be dry and at other times deep enough to allow bathing. The Misbourne valley there, was wide, mostly of bland water-meadows with a few tired old Willows. Far more interesting were the skies overhead where DC4s and Constellations, sparkling high in sunlight, circled overhead waiting for the fog to burn off at London Airport. If at that time my Father was flush we might have had an Old Banger. We certainly had a Pony and Trap and while they were well suited to the tight little lanes that eventually dropped down to the narrow valley of the River Chess it was not considered wise to take a pony on to the dispersals of an active airfield such as Bovingdon where I was taken to play on the Halifax hulks. To descend to the Chess at Latimer was in high summer to enter another world shadowed by huge Willows where flashes of white light reflected from the clear chalk stream, whilst small fishes darted and Kingfishers called.
23 May 1951. Manchester Evening News. (BNA)
12 September 1952. Bucks Examiner. (BNA)
I'm afraid the standard of reproduction is so poor here that I'm having to transcribe the text.. I have to say that this article, which is by The Editor, must have been written during a period when there was no other 'NEWS'......
' A VAST AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC.
Following a vast number of complaints received from local inhabitants on the Chesham side of Bovingdon Airport the Bucks Examiner contacted The Air Ministry and The Ministry of Aviation resulting in an invitation by The Commandant, Wing Commander Hilton to visit the aerodrome and have their position and difficulties explained and pointed out in a practical manner. It is unlikely that many people in the area realise what a vast amount of traffic is dealt with at Bovingdon. During the past year (1952) traffic has almost doubled to about 2000 movements (arr/dep) per month and in one day they have had as many as 150. The Ministry of Civil Aviation are landlords of the Airport and rent it out to several private companies while it is also used by the RAF to a certain extent - there are about half a dozen jets, Meteors and Vampires stationed there.
PLANES OVER THE CHESS VALLEY - THE REVERBERATION.
One of these companies brought into use, two or three months ago (at a date which coincides with the beginning of the complaints), 15 York Aircraft. They carry between 40-50 passengers are powered by four Rolls Royce Merlin engines and are occupied mainly in Trooping Flights. Consequently, when loaded, these planes take a longer time to climb than many, and as the runway chiefly used at the airport runs north and south, their take-off will very often bring them directly over Chesham. Likewise, having taken off on the west-east runway, the secondary one, planes often have to circle southwards again bringing them over the Chess Valley. This applies also, of course, to planes landing. The peak hours are the morning departures and the late afternoon arrivals. Another point to be borne in mind is that Chesham, lying as it does in a valley receives the noise reverberated from side to side.'
The outskirts of Chesham today in relation to Bovingdon. The Chess valley runs vertically on the RHS . The small bright white square is, I think a marquee, at Latimer. Close by to Latimer House where during WW11 aircraft noise was a potential problem for Latimer's eavesdropping activities. (see page 23 #424)
I'm afraid that the rest of the article is almost completely illegible but the gist of it is reads that the Airport Authority emphasize that no low flying laws have been infringed and furthermore they hint that the Avro Yorks may soon be moving elsewhere. (August 2023 I've added a scarce second's worth of newsreel which shows a Skyway's York departing from the shorter Runway 27 towards Chesham in 1952 ). Link follows below.
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/254532/
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26 September 1952. Bucks Examiner. (BNA)
So much for the vast number of complaints ! I cannot be sure that the BNA have a complete run of the 'Bucks Examiner' but I have combed it from July 1951 until December 1952 and this is the only letter and article on the subject of aircraft noise from Bovingdon that I can find. LAC Yorks came into service in July 1951 that company purchasing Skyways (in whose livery these Yorks were flown) in March 1952. In October 1952 Skyways moved from Bovingdon to Stansted.
3 October 1952. Herts and Essex Observer.(BNA)
Avro York G-AHEY Skyways. Photo Wikimedia.
30 April 1954. Manchester Evening News. (BNA)
1954 now and Huntings are out to seduce The War Department and The Air Ministry with Women and Fine Food before the airline packs its bags at Bovingdon and moves off to London Airport.
1951 and already posted elsewhere on this thread. Food on an Eagle Aviation Trooping York. By Jackie Pritchard 2016.
' I flew on an Avro York G-AGNY this was in 1951 leaving Singapore and landing for over night stops in Ceylon, Bombay, Karachi, Iraq, Malta, and finally England. This was a bare bones flight, the plane had seating of all descriptions old car seats, coach seats, you name it, we boarded wearing only our tropical uniform but had the sense thank goodness to carry our great coats. The plane was exactly the same as if being used for cargo no heating and the fuselage was clearly visible rivets and all, we half froze to death the steward was the navigator, the food was in little brown cardboard boxes complete with dry curled up meat and not forgetting a small wooden knife and fork. I often think about that journey and wonder if there are many left who were on that flight with me
.'