Dotterel
DOTTEREL: Civil Landing Ground (aka REIGHTON)
Operated by: Mr Norman Marshall, Reighton House, Filey
Location: S of Reighton, 200 yards E of the Dotterel Inn, just N and E of the B1229 junction with the A165. Reighton is 5.5nm NW to NNW of Bridlington
Period of operation: 1930s only?
Runway: Max landing run: 393 grass
NOTES: Info source: ‘AA Landing Grounds’ publications, 1930s and an AA (Automobile Association) approved Landing Ground. This said it must have been a fairly remote LG as the operator lived roughly four miles away and the nearest fuel supply and taxi service was from “T. Parker, Rosedale Garage, Hunmanby”, a village about 2.5 miles distant. The site had no hangars but, there was an “AA Telephone Box 200 yds west of LG.”
For younger readers it might be worth describing the AA telephone box as, of the over one thousand installed, usually at fairly major crossroads, only nineteen are said to survive and are Grade II listed buildings. Although the term ‘building’ is deceptive for what is basically a glorified sentry-box type of wooden construction they quickly became an icon of motoring roadside fixtures since the first was erected at Newingreen near Hythe, Kent in 1912.
Originally intended as shelters for AA patrols they quickly acquired an even more useful role. Being of sturdy construction they had a locked door to which AA members were given a key and inside was a telephone, fire extinguisher, small fuel supply, First Aid kit, cleaning materials and useful local information. Although I haven’t heard of this it seems they acquired the reputation of being ‘Lighthouses of the Road’, not least because many had a light on a pole to help motorists in difficulty find them.
In the earlier years, possibly until the 1970s (?), AA members were issued with a rather fine metal badge finished in chome and yellow enamel (?), with a clamp which could be fixed to a bumper or radiator grill so that AA patrolmen could easily identify a member. Indeed, in the early days the patrolmen would salute a passing member on the road. But, this reminds me, I have also seen this badge sans clamp of course, affixed to a cowling or two of beautifully restored classic British aircraft of the 1930s and this now leads to wonder if the assistance of an AA patrolman could also be requested in dealing with mechanical problems with an aeroplane belonging to an AA member? After all, in those days the engines of light aircraft were very similar mechanically to those in cars. Can anybody now shed some light on this?
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