Broadmead Farm
BROADMEAD FARM: Temporary Landing Ground
In August 1912, after giving exhibitions of flying in north east Kent, Henri Salmet the well known French aviator, was being sponsored by the Daily Mail to fly around the UK for about three months during the summer season. Mostly he visited seaside resorts and after displaying at Broadstairs and Margate, he then flew south to Folkestone.
Period of operation: 15th to 17th August 1912
Note: His main display day being on the 16th
Location: Immediately SE of the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, just NW of Folkestone town centre
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The second item was published in the Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald on the 17th August 1912.
Note: The fifth item was published in the Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe, Hythe Advertiser on the 24th August 1912. The eighth item, the area view, is from my Google Earth © derived database.
NOTES: As mentioned so often elsewhere in this 'Guide', but still I think well worthwhile repeating, it is probably quite hard today to fully appreciate the impact these famous early aviators, including Gustav Hamel and Claude Grahame-White, had on the public imagination. They quickly rose to have a status which we today would describe as 'super stardom'. Thousands would turn out to see one of their exhibitions of flying, but we need to remember that very few people had ever seen an aeroplane. The effect they had was quite sensational and wherever they went they were féted to a quite extraordinary degree with civic banquets being held at the town hall as often as not. Even public holidays being declared if the event occurred on a weekday.
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