Unearthed a gem from the family papers yesterday - a booklet commemorating the opening ceremony of the terminal buildings on 24 June 1953. There's a plan of the original layout included showing that wonderful pre security departures environment with passengers walking through doors straight out of the "traffic hall" and onto the apron. And arrivals is just a door from the apron into the "traffic hall" No baggage reclaim facility whatsoever. (Loco's would have liked that. I recall working as a porter several years later bringing bags round to the front of the terminal for collection, often in the rain.)
There was an indoor "Observation Deck". Remember that well too. There is a list of airports regularly served, little changed from today, although the operating airlines are of course completely different.
What really amused me was some of the statistics particularly the record number of passengers handled in one month - 32,494 in August 1952. That's only half the number handled in 2011 or 2012. I may be distorting this somewhat though as the document also records that the total through the airport for 1952 was 128,310.
I also have the pack which accompanied the opening of the new departures pier in 1994 by Nigel Mansell. At this point annual passengers were 520,000. We're still waiting for the December 2012 figures which will show the total for 2012 but the moving average in November was 707,000.
It also says the following: "Aviation is a constantly and rapidly evolving industry, where "boom" and "slump" tend to follow one another in rapid succession. However long term aviation has constantly exceeded its growth forecasts." Never a truer word, I think, and let us hope that this current slump comes to an end soon before any more services are withdrawn.