Huyton Hill School
HUYTON HILL SCHOOL: Private Civil Landing Ground
Operated by: Mr Hubert D Butler, Headmaster, Huyton Hill School
Note: This picture, from a postcard, was kindly sent by Mike Charlton who has an amazing collection relating to UK flying sites. See; www.aviationpostcard.co.uk
Location: “0.5m NE Huyton railway station, imm N of Seel Road, approached from Victoria Road”
Period of operation: 1932s to 1939 probably
Note: This map is probably copyright of Flight magazine.
Runway(s): Max landing run: 329 grass (25 acres)
NOTES: Info source ‘AA Landing Grounds’ publication, 1930s, Airfield Research Group and my quests.
A FIRST IN THE UK
This site is most extraordinary and was proclaimed as such at the time, it being viewed as being the first Landing Ground established at a school in the UK. Indeed, I cannot think of another being created before or since? The headmaster had served as a 2nd Lt. Flying Officer in the RFC/RAF in WW1 and this had obviously had a major influence on creating this Landing Ground which was incidentally, one of the seventy-four AA (Automobile Association) approved Landing Grounds.
THE OPENING CEREMONY
For the opening ceremony on the 1st July 1932, “Col. The Master of Semphill arrived with five other machines”. It is therefore obvious that this 'Opening' was regarded very seriously at that time is highly regarded circles in society. Incidentally, aeroplanes were often if not usually described as “machines” in those days.
This happening had a lot of ‘street cred’ attached in the 1930s. It is claimed by some that the school name was laid out concrete on the Landing Ground but this was only two large ‘HH’ letters. It appears that Mr Butler had the idea that geography lessons for the pupils would be greatly enhanced by the school having an aircraft but I have found no evidence this idea was ever realised? But perhaps you know more?
A POTENTIAL TARGET
When the involvement of Great Britain in WW2 was declared the school was moved to the Lake District. Despite this it is claimed that the Luftwaffe had this Landing Ground listed as a potential target. Despite their reputation for efficiency the Germans are in fact no better than any other nation on the whole, (but they have been, and still are generally brilliant at management). However, and there seems to be no doubt about this, and their ‘intelligence’ facilities in WW2 were often way behind British capabilities. Which is why I suppose, to quite a large extent, they were on the point of losing the war, even before the United States arrived to finish the job off.
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