Clippesby House
CLIPPESBY HOUSE: Private airstrip
Note: The first picture was provided by Mr Graham Frost. The last two were obtained from Google Earth ©
Operated by: Mr Hubert Broughton Showell
Location: In/near Clippesby, 3nm NNE of Acle and roughly 8nm NW of Great Yarmouth town centre
Period of operation: Not known (?) but presumably 1938 to 1968?
NOTES: We have Mr Graham Frost, a great friend of this 'Guide' to thank for pointing out this location. It appears that Mr Showell operated four aircraft from this site. The first being the BAC Drone G-AEKO which he had registered from 23.8.38 to 1.12.46. It also seems he had a Tiger Moth after WW2? What is certain is that he owned the Auster J5F Aiglet, G-AMRL from 28.11.52 to 23.9.55. This was then registered to W S Shackleton Ltd from 6.10.55 to 10.5.56. He then had the Beech 35 Bonanza G-APVW from 12.2.60 to 19.8.68.
A QUITE EXTRAORDINARY FLIGHT - NOW VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN?
Graham found this account by Mrs Henry Laxon, and I will add much of it here.
"I remember back in the 1950s when visiting my family I would often hear and see a Tiger Moth plane circling over the village, and later watch it land on a makeshift runway laid down on the marshes between the river and village. - The pilot and owner of this plane was....Hugh Showell of Clippesby Hall. Who later moved down Hall Road and set up in business as a fruit grower."
"Not only did Mr Showell watch over and service his plane, he was also a qualified engineer and flew with the Norfolk and Norwich Aero Club and previously was a flying instructor in the RAF during the second world war. He had flown previously to Spain, North Africa, Tripoli and Italy. Also during June of 1953 and accompanied by a Mr K. Waldron of Ludham he flew to France and they were seventh among 42 entrants in an International air rally."
"However, in Monday 28th September 1953 it was announced that two days later Hugh was to begin a 12,000 mile voyage to Western Australia, not by sea but by air and not in an air liner, which would take him there in a few days, but on his own in his Auster Aiglet plane. He had by this time changed from the Tiger Moth and he planned to reach Perth in 24 days. For some time Hugh found it was hard work coping with the many formalities which surrounded anyone contemplating a trip such as this one. Sorting out the many papers and documents necessary for a flight such as this he was continuously in the hangar 'tuning' up the Auster and as he said at the time, "This is not a pleasure trip but solely for business," and although flying was his main hobby there was a distinct element of adventure about it, no record attempt or anything like that. Nevertheless he believed this would be the first Auster to attempt this long flight, which would take him out of England as autumn approached and into an Australian summer."
This is an interesting topic. Has another Auster flown to Australia since? I cannot think of one.
"He had immersed himself among the many papers and documents he had to take with him which varied from a certificate of airworthiness to a freight manifest and a license to operate a small radio, this would be a radio telephone which would operate within a fifty mile range, also many conversion tables. He suffered a hectic period during which he had often been to London to secure the visas he needed, to Cambridge for his yellow fever inoculation and to other places to arrange other matters."
I think we need to understand that he was doing this all on his own! No sponsors or any other help.
"At his many stops, for example, there must be petrol, and a petrol company had undertaken to see that this would be available at all his planned landing places, even if they had to lump it on the backs of donkeys."
I think this is a very interesting aspect. Clearly Mr Showell had found somebody in one of the major petro-chemical companies, quite prepared to put their reputation for providing fuel everywhere, as was often the boast to some extent in those days, at a cost to the company. Possibly thinking quite a bit of publicity would result?
The Auster could carry: ".... sixty two gallons of fuel, and to make room and space for extra petrol and everything else he had to carry, the back seats were removed. The Auster had a range of 800 miles and a cruising speed of 100 miles per hour. Among the many items he had to carry were a Very pistol for signalling, a fire extinguisher, survival equipment including a raft, life jacket, emergency rations, medical supplies and the usual paraphernalia useful in the event of a forced landing, health certificates, spares and many other essentials."
I don't think I have ever found such a detailed account of such a long distance flight until well after the 1950s.
GETTING GOING
"He left Southend on Wednesday 30th Sept 1953 in the first stage of his journey. At Baghdad ..... the Auster would be subject to a fifty hour inspection, then onto Penang where there would be a hundred hour inspection. Hugh would be making his third visit to down under, having previously been twice by sea."
"BOAC had arranged accommodation and hangarage for him on this long flight and he hoped he would reach Perth in or about 24th October 1953. He had provisionally arranged to begin his return flight on the 16th Dec, 1953, but said he might change his mind about that date."
Sadly the account gives no more details about the flight. It appears he managed to get back as far as Naples, according to the picture caption above. What happened there seems to be a mystery - but the aircraft itself did get back to the U.K.
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