Dissused Airfield, Prees, Shopshire

[crackling jet]

Does anyone have any information on the old disused airfield at Prees in Shropshire, not far from the old RAF Ternhill (now army barracks).

i drive past it when i visit in laws in Cheshire, the runways are gone , but the hangars and ATC tower are still there and a small grass airfield used by parachute club is just off the road, as you travel along the road through a large pine forrested area the old buildings are still visible through the trees- and there are a lot of them, it looks as though it was a very large establishment. Cant seem to find any details of the place and would appreciate it if anyone has any information or know where i could get it

[MReyn24050]

Possibly RAF Tilstock.
http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/Tilstock.html
http://www.controltowers.co.uk/T-V/Tilstock.htm

[DX Wombat]

Is this the one? Tilstock (http://maps.live.com/#JndoZXJlMT10aWxzdG9jayZiYj01Mi45MDY1MjA4Nzg4MDUzJTdlLTIuNjE 5OTgxNzY1NzQ3MDclN2U1Mi44ODUwMzI2NzYyNjY5JTdlLTIuNzA2NjcwNzY xMTA4NA==)Use the "Hybrid" view and zoom in.

[Hyperborean]

Was known as Prees Heath in the 60's when it was a venue for motorcycle racing. I think the hangars were used for a while to store green goddesses and other civil defence oriented vehicles. The last time I was down that way I think they were being used to store EU grain mountains.

[Tiger_mate]

The last time I was down that way I think they were being used to store EU grain mountains.

Correct, but since sold and quite possibly empty nowadays awaiting a Road Haulage firm to establish there.

A Stirling bomber (glider tug) overshot the runway during WWII and ended up on the A49. A Cessna para aircraft operates from the eastern airfield (The A41 splits the western and eastern sides), and there is a Rally (car) school on the eastern side.

The buildings in the woods are derelict but still in one piece, being surrounded by brior.

The western side has the old ATC tower in a state of disrepair. The land here is common ground, and includes the well kept former grain hangars. The airfield is 10 mile finals for RW18 at Shawbury and any attempts to reinstate GA is likely to be met with opposition from the military. Besides which, the A41 pretty much kills that idea stone dead.

Therefore the ATC Tower will continue to decay and mother nature will slowly but sureley continue to reclaim the open moorland that was once one of the many active aerodromes of Shropshire.

[Fareastdriver]

The 'Tilstock' view seems very adjacent to High Ercall. That was a relief landing ground for Tern hill in 1960 because I did my first solo there. That had blister hangers and at the time it was the Spitfire disposal unit. The airframes were used as infill for a breakwater at Liverpool.

[crackling jet]

Thanks all for the info,any ideas where a map/plan of the wartime site could be found, have checked all the usual suspects, though Tillstock is only mentioned a couple of times in passing when looking at other locations.

[India Four Two]

Fareastdriver,

High Ercall is barely recognisable these days:
http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/regional/Shropshire/HighErcall.html

I remember flying over it many times in the late 60s on the way back to Shawbury, when it still had runways but was rapidly decaying.

[stevfire2]

try contacting the keeper of archives, raf museum, hendon. very helpful, have used them in the past, if they have a site plan, they will gladly send it out to you and invoice you for it.:)

[WHBM]

Was known as Prees Heath in the 60's when it was a venue for motorcycle racing. I think the hangars were used for a while to store green goddesses and other civil defence oriented vehicles.
I wonder if this is the same location as the one I remember (as a kid) in the early-mid 1960s on the east side of the railway line between Shrewsbury and Crewe. When you passed it there were substantial numbers of white/silver-painted, what looked like military ambulances and fire tenders just sat in open storage up to the railway boundary fence. The mystery about the place was that every passenger had a different version of what the place was used for. It was large enough to have once been an RAF base. Never been able to identify it.