There used to be an aerodrome at Sunderland. Usworth by name, now the site of the Nissan Car plant
One slightly humourous tale from one of the directors involved moving a number of senior Japanese managers from Sunderland to the Tech Centre at Cranfield. They hired a bus and drove. After a while one visitor remarked that he understood that Cranfield was in fact an airport and what a pity there wasn't one in Sunderland as they could have flown there
Sir George Cayley