Brockworth Airfield
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Brockworth Airfield, alternative name Hucclecote Airfield.
http://multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?sc...83&mapsize=big
Hucclecote Airfield would not readily spring to mind with the same ring as Tangmere, Boscombe Down, Kinloss or Little Rissington. It was not constructed, as many airfields in the area were, during World War II. The history is a little older circa 1915 when it was built as an Air Board Acceptance Park for the delivery by road of military aircraft. The airfield grew in importance when an original company building aircraft at the H. H. Martyn & Co factory in Cheltenham during the First World War moved to premises beside the Hucclecote runway. The change was brought about by the change in skills required when aircraft design changed from wood to metal-based. The Martyn’s factory continued to produce sophisticated architectural wood- and metalwork.
In the years between the wars many famous aircraft were designed by Henry Folland and produced at the factory in Hucclecote by a strangely named company – Gloster Aircraft Company. This was intentional because it was thought that Gloucestershire was too easy to misspell and definitely too difficult for foreigners to pronounce! (Try spelling Hucclecote on the ‘phone.) At the start of the Second World War the Gloster Gladiator, which was developed with private money, was very much in active service, serving famously in Malta. By now the Gloster Company was part of Hawker Siddeley and went on to produce several thousand each of Hawker Hurricanes and Typhoons. The number of staff reached to over 10,000 and consequently drew in workers from all over the UK. Much of that particular heritage could be heard in the accents around Hucclecote and Brockworth either of which you could have been forgiven for thinking was in the County of Lancashire.
Perhaps the airfield’s greatest moments were in the April 1941 when the E28/39 aircraft, with a jet engine designed by Sir Frank Whittle, became airborne in taxiing runs for the first time. The aircraft was then dismantled for its journey by road to RAF Cranwell and quieter climes out of the reach of prying eyes. Here again is a strange connection with Cheltenham. As the simple brass model in the Regent Arcade commemorates, the construction work on one of the prototype aircraft was carried out on the premises Regent Motors that stood near the site. It may not have been the first jet-engine powered flight, but this was the first allied jet aircraft. The improved design aircraft finally flew as a Gloster Meteor in 1943. The Gloster/Hawker aircraft names along with their designers are commemorated in street names around the area, Javelin, Delta, Meteor, Hurricane and Folland. The aircraft factory was finally sold to Gloucester Trading Estates in 1964.
http://multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?sc...83&mapsize=big
Hucclecote Airfield would not readily spring to mind with the same ring as Tangmere, Boscombe Down, Kinloss or Little Rissington. It was not constructed, as many airfields in the area were, during World War II. The history is a little older circa 1915 when it was built as an Air Board Acceptance Park for the delivery by road of military aircraft. The airfield grew in importance when an original company building aircraft at the H. H. Martyn & Co factory in Cheltenham during the First World War moved to premises beside the Hucclecote runway. The change was brought about by the change in skills required when aircraft design changed from wood to metal-based. The Martyn’s factory continued to produce sophisticated architectural wood- and metalwork.
In the years between the wars many famous aircraft were designed by Henry Folland and produced at the factory in Hucclecote by a strangely named company – Gloster Aircraft Company. This was intentional because it was thought that Gloucestershire was too easy to misspell and definitely too difficult for foreigners to pronounce! (Try spelling Hucclecote on the ‘phone.) At the start of the Second World War the Gloster Gladiator, which was developed with private money, was very much in active service, serving famously in Malta. By now the Gloster Company was part of Hawker Siddeley and went on to produce several thousand each of Hawker Hurricanes and Typhoons. The number of staff reached to over 10,000 and consequently drew in workers from all over the UK. Much of that particular heritage could be heard in the accents around Hucclecote and Brockworth either of which you could have been forgiven for thinking was in the County of Lancashire.
Perhaps the airfield’s greatest moments were in the April 1941 when the E28/39 aircraft, with a jet engine designed by Sir Frank Whittle, became airborne in taxiing runs for the first time. The aircraft was then dismantled for its journey by road to RAF Cranwell and quieter climes out of the reach of prying eyes. Here again is a strange connection with Cheltenham. As the simple brass model in the Regent Arcade commemorates, the construction work on one of the prototype aircraft was carried out on the premises Regent Motors that stood near the site. It may not have been the first jet-engine powered flight, but this was the first allied jet aircraft. The improved design aircraft finally flew as a Gloster Meteor in 1943. The Gloster/Hawker aircraft names along with their designers are commemorated in street names around the area, Javelin, Delta, Meteor, Hurricane and Folland. The aircraft factory was finally sold to Gloucester Trading Estates in 1964.
Last edited by MReyn24050; 15th Jul 2006 at 08:17.
TheVillagePhotographer.co.uk
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Think there is, though the majority of the site is now a business park. In the XXX shopping mall in Cheltenham, a former Smiths Industries building, there is a memorial display model of the Gloster Whittle which was partly built there, I believe.
Conan
Conan
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Brockworth Airfield
Conan the Librarian
Looking down from the Stroud to Cheltenham Road as it descends from Painswick it is still possible to see part of the runway and the taxi-way that joined the runway to the flight sheds. The old engine test beds are also still in evidence. I worked there for five years as an apprentice in the early fifties and I find it a sad sight. I was shocked to see recently that the last of the hangars is now no more than a pile of rubble- Vandalism!.
Looking down from the Stroud to Cheltenham Road as it descends from Painswick it is still possible to see part of the runway and the taxi-way that joined the runway to the flight sheds. The old engine test beds are also still in evidence. I worked there for five years as an apprentice in the early fifties and I find it a sad sight. I was shocked to see recently that the last of the hangars is now no more than a pile of rubble- Vandalism!.
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And this one
Interesting thread. I instructed locally for a time and always wondered about this fields origins and history.
About 5 miles south west next to and east abeam the M5 are the remnants i believe of another field quite visible from the motorway. The hangers and part of the runway can be seen and 1/4 mile SSW is the outline of a runway NE/SW.
Any information would be appreciated.
http://multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?cl...p.x=187&up.y=3
About 5 miles south west next to and east abeam the M5 are the remnants i believe of another field quite visible from the motorway. The hangers and part of the runway can be seen and 1/4 mile SSW is the outline of a runway NE/SW.
Any information would be appreciated.
http://multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?cl...p.x=187&up.y=3
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Originally Posted by tonker
Interesting thread. I instructed locally for a time and always wondered about this fields origins and history.
About 5 miles south west next to and east abeam the M5 are the remnants i believe of another field quite visible from the motorway. The hangers and part of the runway can be seen and 1/4 mile SSW is the outline of a runway NE/SW.
Any information would be appreciated.
http://multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?cl...p.x=187&up.y=3
About 5 miles south west next to and east abeam the M5 are the remnants i believe of another field quite visible from the motorway. The hangers and part of the runway can be seen and 1/4 mile SSW is the outline of a runway NE/SW.
Any information would be appreciated.
http://multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?cl...p.x=187&up.y=3
11/39 to /41, Opened as RAF Haresfield landing ground with Avro Ansons from the No. 6 Air Observers Navigation School at Staverton. Airfield then closed while it was rebuilt and upgraded.
9/41 to 12/44, Reopened as RAF Moreton Valence and part of 6 AONS moved here, renamed No. 6 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit 6/43.
12/44 to 12/45, No. 3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit with Oxfords.
10/43 to 7/62, Gloster flight test factory opened, test flying Meteors (and a Bell Airacomet in 1943) and post-war, Javelins.
It closed in 1962.
When the M5 was built the (by now disused) main runway became the main
carriageway of the motorway.
Javelins taking off from Moreton Valence
Mel
Last edited by MReyn24050; 17th Jul 2006 at 13:11.
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RAF Moreton Valence
This photograph shows the airfield as was, the M5 now runs the path of the main runway.
When one matches it with the multimap shot it is possible to still make out the position of the hangers.
This photograph shows the airfield as was, the M5 now runs the path of the main runway.
When one matches it with the multimap shot it is possible to still make out the position of the hangers.
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Brockworth airfield
The black buildings at the far end (Gloucester end) were the Gloster flight department. The furthest group of buildings were the Experimental Fight Shed, while the others were the flight sheds where new aircraft were prepared for delivery to the RAF and aircraft for Cat4 repairs were dealt with. On the far side of the field, near the control tower was a hangar used by Dowty Rotol for propeller testing. Why they stopped using Staverton I don't know.
Originally Posted by MReyn24050
RAF Moreton Valence
This photograph shows the airfield as was, the M5 now runs the path of the main runway.
When one matches it with the multimap shot it is possible to still make out the position of the hangers.
This photograph shows the airfield as was, the M5 now runs the path of the main runway.
When one matches it with the multimap shot it is possible to still make out the position of the hangers.
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In his excellent book 'The Quick & The Dead' Bill Waterton (one time Gloster chief test pilot) describes flying newly-manufacured Javelins from the short runway at Brockworth factory the few miles to Moreton Valence.
That book is really good read - long out of print, but worth digging up a copy if you can.
SSD
That book is really good read - long out of print, but worth digging up a copy if you can.
SSD
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Sqn Ldr Watteron's Book
