Every Vanguard and VC10 built was flown out of Brooklands, and quite a few came back for various reasons. Those who think that runway length is standard for an aircraft type whatever can note that Renton, in Seattle, where every narrowbody Boeing has been built, has a length of 5,300 ft, and that the performance of a VC10 empty, without interior fittings, and with fuel for just a short hop, is way different from leaving Heathrow for New York (or arriving back) fully loaded, and not even being able to wait for a favourable wind.
It's not just aviation. Whenever I am pax on final approach to Glasgow, crossing the Clyde and sat on the right, I look down on where the old Clydebank shipyard used to be, and can't really believe that the classic Queen liners were launched from such a restricted site into such a narow river, and then sailed along it out to sea.