The historic
AVRO hangar which was originally located at Alexandra Park aerodrome, Manchester was subsequently moved to Avro's 'new' airfield at Woodford. In later years it was used by the Avro Gliding Club. It is earmarked to be moved off site. It is a bit like Trigger's Broom, with sections replaced over the years. The building shown alongside was also used by the Avro Flying Club.
BAE closed the aerodrome on
25 August 2011
A planning application for Redrow houses has finally been approved by the local Council, though some last minute niggles by local residents await a government response for a potential call-in.
Below historical notes extracted from Peter Maher's book entitled 'Three Score Years & Ten' an illustrated history of The Lancashire Aero Club, founded 1922.
In October 1917 The Manchester City Council were advised that The War Department proposed to build an airfield beside the railway line between Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Heaton Mersey stretching across what is now Hough End play fields. The nearest railway station was Alexandra Park and the airfield was given the same name.
A number of hangars were erected and the field was big enough to receive the largest aircraft of the day. Both service and manufacturer's test flying was taking place including that of the famous A.V.Roe & Co. Ltd. (otherwise known as AVRO which later became part of British Aerospace). However, the Air Ministry's lease for the aerodrome was only to last for a short term and flying ceased at the end of August 1924.
With the closure of Alexandra Park, A.V.Roe & Co. Ltd were forced to seek, quite literally, fresh fields and pastures - and they were not alone. For some time the aerodrome had been the home of a small glider owned by the Lancashire Aero Club which had stemmed from the efforts of a man (
John Leeming) who was to leave a considerable mark on a number of aspects of Manchester's civil aviation history.