Borras Lodge Farm
BORRAS LODGE FARM: Originally a civil aerodrome, later a RLG for RAF SEALAND
(Later known as RAF BORRAS & RAF WREXHAM)
Note: See WREXHAM for WW2 info.
Military users: Pre 1940: Army co-operation duties etc (Bristol Fighters plus Armstrong Whitworth Atlas, Hawker Audax and Hector types)
WW2: Taylorcraft Austers & Auster IVs (Presumably also Army co-operation duties)
Operated by: Pre WW2: Alan Cobham’s 1932 National Aviation Day UK Display Tour. In 1934 operated by the 'Sky Devils Air Circus’ tour which appears to have been at best a sales ploy of some kind if not a downright money-making scam ostensibly to support local hospitals.
Location: Bieston near to and ENE of Wrexham
Period of operation: Military, early 1920s. Civil flying site 8th June 1932, 23rd May 1934.
Runways: It appears that when Cobham visited in 1932 the total landing area was approximately 75 acres as opposed to the more than 300 acres occupied by the RAF aerodrome in WW2
NOTES: It certainly seems a fair bit of civil and military flying had been taking place prior to the visit by Alan Cobham’s visit in 1932. So much so in fact that farmers’ wives from smallholdings along the perimeter of the landing ground had set up a ‘cottage industry’ catering for them. It seems they set up tables outside or used their kitchens in wet weather offering cakes, sandwiches and buttered scones washed down with copious quantities of tea - sometimes laced with ‘something’ from a hip flask if requested by the daring maviator. I was once be a bit daring too - but certainly couldn't have expected this ‘level’ of service after landing!
This was the 50th venue in the 1932 tour which began on 12th April at Hanworth and it seems that the Cobham team evaluated the suitability of the grass ‘runways’ they expected to use by driving a Austin saloon car across them at 50mph
THE DEVELOPMENT
The development of this flying site is an excellent illustration of just how so many airfields developed. Taken in isolation they can be quite properly be regarded as three separate albeit overlapping airfields! Roughly speaking think of the site as a triangle facing north. In the SW ‘corner’ lay the original civil airfield used by Alan Cobham and flying clubs in the 1930s. The SEALAND RLG occupied the northern corner from February to November 1940. RAF WREXHAM was mainly situated in the SE ‘corner’ although parts of this airfield protruded into both the sites mentioned above.
A very important and often recurring theme in this 'Guide' concerns the precise location of various flying fields and how very difficult it can be to determine this. Although my quest has mainly been to simply record their existence, it is very nice, indeed satisfying, to pin the site down. In this respect I was very interested to discover that in 1935 the Jubilee Air Display operated from BORRAS FARM, a quarter of a mile away from BORRAS LODGE FARM! Often the demands of the farming year determined which field might be suitable and/or available along with crop-rotation considerations etc. The modern idea of having a fixed airfield site often didn’t apply
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