I enjoy writing and produce a quarterly newsletter called hucknall torkard times, plus books and many articles, all historyorientated. Nottinghamshire and derbyshire airfields airfields in the. I have heard two versions of why the town came by its name, and like. L3414 arrived at hucknall from glosters at brockworth on 2519 with a merlin iii installed. As such, this article is primarily concerned with the history of the hucknall aerodrome, where members enjoyed flying model aircraft over a glorious 43 year period. The former hucknall element refers to huccas heath or angle of land and is shared with the present day hucknall near nottingham and ault hucknall in derbyshire.
Hucknall airfield, ashfield area information, map, walks. The wing test hangar at the rolls royce site, watnall road, hucknall, erected by rollsroyce in 1944, is listed at grade ii for the. Hucknall airfield home of rolls royce flying club for 50 years, will cease operation end of february 2015. Behind is the pioneering rolls royce flying bedstead vtol prototype that made its first flight at hucknall in 19531954 1989 robert truman raf hucknall airfield. The airfield was first constructed as a world war one training depot station, between 19161918, opening in 1918. Wing test hangar and concrete detuner supports to the west, non. Hucknall history hucknall tourism and regeneration group.
Nottinghamshire and derbyshire airfields in the second world war british airfields in the second world war brooks, robin on. Hucknall airfield is located in united kingdom, using icao code egna. A list of hucknall dates timeline 1170 newstead abbey founded. G371 avro 694 lincoln b2 rolls royce hucknall, notts airfield, uk england mike dowsing collection 1956. The airfield is closed to visiting aircraft mondayfriday. Starting in 1927, rollsroyce used the airfield to test fly a number of innovative aircraft. Hucknall library, ashfield 1275902 historic england. The new lancastrian arrived at the rollsroyce flight test establishment at hucknall aerodrome, nottinghamshire, 30 october 1945. Hucknall aerodrome has a caa ordinary licence number p507 that allows daytime flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee and is not available for public transport passenger flights required to use a licensed aerodrome. Rollsroyce still has a presence on site and some original buildings survive and have an industrial use.
It was converted to take a griffon iia and first flew on 341. On 5 november 1918 the 23d aero squadron repair left. Phil evans has a photograph of lord byrons epitaph on geograph, taken in july, 2008. Situated about four miles north of nottingham, theres been a settlement in hucknall for around 1,400 years. Hucknall station first opened, as hucknall, on 2 october 1848, with the opening of the midland railways line from nottingham to mansfield. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside. Hucknalltorkard, a village and a parish in basford district, notts. Thats another airfield to become the victim of owners unsympathetic to their own companies aviation roots. History of hucknall, in ashfield and nottinghamshire map. Our services include wedding hire, airport transfers, minibuses and executive and chauffeur travel, taxi on account.
Hucknall aerodrome project gutenberg selfpublishing. Raf song inspired by hucknall museum history hucknall dispatch. Rolls royce plant in hucknall, which included a major contribution to innovative. The wartime memories project is run by volunteers and this website is funded by donations from our visitors. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading military airfields in britain during the second world war war in britain series. A brief history of the raf station at wymeswold, 194278 tony jarram. An airfield was established at hucknall in 1917 for the royal flying corp. This parish has a long association with the byron family. Interesting information for airfield way, hucknall. Nottinghamshire and derbyshire airfields in the second world war british airfields in the second world war. Hucknall torkard history the website of local historian.
Hucknall airfields of britain conservation trust uk. Station of nations the history of raf balderton raf newark 58 mu raf winthorpe. For small corrections to the list entry please see our minor amendments procedure the information and images below are the opinion of the contributor, are not part of the official entry and do not represent the official position of. Twentyone squadrons the history of the royal auxiliary airforce 1925 1957. Free booklet available from newark air museum bailey, eric h. This page combines information for the address airfield way, hucknall, nottingham, ng15 6wz, and the neighbourhood in which it resides. The following information has been contributed by users volunteering for our enriching the list project. Fascinating facts about arnolds history that you might. Fascinating facts about arnolds history that you might not know. Should you wish to leave a small donation towards the upkeep and ongoing running of the website, it is really appreciated. In 1929, it became the first raf squadron to be permanently based in singapore, taking as its motto pertama di malaya first in malaya. The history of chilbolton airfield february 21st, 8pm talk by alan crisp. Rollsroyce hucknall mac airfield history derek martin updated by the webmaster the club has resided at its current flying field since 2015. Hucknall aerodrome has a caa ordinary licence number p507 that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee rollsroyce.
It was then reengined with a griffon iib and continued testing. Hucknall airfield, ashfield local area information, map, walks and more. Photos, maps, personal memories and local books of hucknall airfield francis frith the uks leading publisher of local photographs since 1860. Local historian bob massey has published his third book on the history of arnold. Local taxi firm acorn found the field and picked up very efficiently. Its correct name is newstead priory 1180 approximately money given by geoffrey torkard for erection of tower and nave of st. The disused hucknall aerodrome, you can clearly see the outline of the grass runways and the development of the north side.
Hucknall heritage society was formed in 1984 with the aim of providing a regular series of meetings to educate and entertain members by providing talks and presentations on subjects with a local heritage or historical theme. I am a keen local historian using oral, visual and documentary evidence to present historybased topics. By colin savill shackleton wr977 dedication to duty. Flying training, rolls royce engine flight testing. Hucknall airfield page 3 general chat about nottingham.
The history of harrington airfield harrington aviation museum. The group also keep an eye on the many heritage buildings in hucknall and the surrounding areas and where possible lobby. Military airfields in britain during the second world war. Currently an active airfield for light aircraft with the merlin flying club that sometimes host a publicly accessible flyin during the summer.
The modification was engineered and the airplane was modified. I remember the airshow well, it was actually whitsun 1972, 43 years ago, why i didnt take any pictures is a long and sad story, as im repotting plants at the moment ill leave it. Harrington airfield, known as station 179 during ww2, was built by the 826th. Hucknall local history group was formed in 2003 under the name hucknall library local history group with the aim of providing a forum for people to explore the history of hucknall, this works in several ways. Hucknall, or hucknall torkard as it was once called, has roots dating back over 900 years. It is believed that significant sections of the airfield could be lost to a. When war was declared it was obvious to the major civilian airline companies, imperial airways and british airways, that some curtailment of their services would take place and that this would.
During world war ii, the aerodrome at hucknall was the location of the first flight of a p51 mustang fitted with a rollsroyce merlin engine. Tw591 auster aop6 royal air force hucknall, notts airfield, uk england dave welch collection 1955. Nottinghamshire and derbyshire airfields in the second. The rollsroyce engine has a close connection to the museum as that was where some were tested at the hucknall airfield where the museum. Once a country village, that developed into a small town, it achieved considerable prosperity when, during the eighteenth century, the trade of framework knitting blossomed. The aerodrome had been operated by the merlin flying club since 1971, it is owned by rollsroyce group plc following previous ownership by both the air ministry and ministry of aviation. Airfield way in hucknall is in the east midlands region of england. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. It is likely that rrmfc will relocate to tatenhill. Our third exhibition, assembled and maintained by our volunteer members in the hucknall group, is held in two post war wing test hangars on the original hucknall aerodrome, where engines and technology items from the days when this airfield was the home of the. Hucknall airfield, built in 1916, became raf hucknall. Raf hucknall in the second world war, the wartime memories project. Great picture chulla, its the only one ive ever come across that was taken that day, have you any more of the event. Hucknall aerodrome nottingham, united kingdom airport.
From 1927, rollsroyce began using the airfield for flight tests. Hucknall airfield hucknall notts places our nottinghamshire. The following organisations are either based at, use andor have at least potentially significant connections with the airfield as at 010720. An airport, a heliport and the flying flea aviation memorials in nottinghamshire. Hucknall aerodrome dates to 1916 when it opened under no. Military airfields in britain during the second world war war in britain series kindle edition by jon sutherland, diane sutherland. The airfield has been sold by rr for housing development. Marys church 1189 geoffrey torkard gives 120 acres of hucknall land to newstead priory 1288 land held by newstead priory included hucknall torkard. In 2012 i completed a photo book history of the merlin flying club, i hope you enjoy the story. Wymeswold raf station officially opened on 16 may 1942 as a new operational training unit 28otu, which was part of 93 group, raf although it had been in use since 14 april 1942.
Visit of the railway queen to hucknall, hucknall station, c 1938 the railway queen was crowned annually at the railway carnival in machester. Buy nottinghamshire and derbyshire airfields airfields in the second world war first edition by brooks, robin j. Hucknall aerodrome was located 5nm north northwest of nottingham, nottinghamshire, england and. The postcode is within the hucknall west wardelectoral division, which is in the constituency of sherwood. The lancs two outboard rollsroyce merlin v12 engines were removed and two nene mk.