Leighterton
NOTE: I think I should admit (in 2017) to being utterly confused. On the one hand it appears that BOWLDOWN FARM and BABDOWN FARM are indeed seperate sites, albiet fairly close to each other.
I also asked: "But, is the present BOWLDOWN airfield, the same site as LEIGHTERTON? If anybody can kindly offer advice, this will be much appreciated." In November 2017 Dave Tigwell very kindly came to the rescue, please note his and other 'Comments' below.
LEIGHTERTON: Military aerodrome (possibly later civil Landing Ground?)
Note: Aka BOWLDOWN FARM
Military users: RFC/RAF (Royal Flying Corps / Royal Air Force)
Training Squadron Station 1918 to 1919
Also, in 1918, used by the Australian Flying Corps: The 7th & 8th Training Squadrons
Operator: 1930s: J E Herbert & Son, Aerodrome Garage, Bath Road, Lasborough
Location: About 4nm WSW to SW of Tetbury? “6m SW Tetbury, E of A46 1.5m N of village of Leighterton”. Just E of the A46
Period of operation: During WW1 1918 to 1919 Later civil: 1930s only?
Site area: WW1: 202 acres 1051 x 823
Runways: 1930s: N/S 600 yards (549 metres) E/W 400 yards (366 metres)
SW/NE 350 yards (320 metres), all on grass of course
NOTES: It now seems to me that the WW1 site and the 1930s site were, just possibly, not on exactly the same site? For now I will accept it is the same site.
In the 1930s at least it was listed in the ‘A.A. Register of Landing Grounds’. Indeed, an AA (Automobile Association) approved Landing Ground. Rather unusually amongst the seventy-four AA approved Landing Grounds in mainland Britain during the 1930s, fuel and a telephone plus a taxi service were all available from J E Herbert & Son at the ‘Aerodrome Garage’.
Rather oddly it seems the Landing Ground plan given by the AA shows a roughly ‘L’ shaped area tilted about 30º clockwise with the ‘toe’ offering a much longer area. It is also listed as a Landing Ground by the magazine; Flying – The Light Aeroplane Weekly in their compilation of “UK Clubs & Landing Grounds” 1933-34.
What now interests me is exactly why such a well provided Landing Ground in the 1930s was so desirable in this location? Can anybody now help to explain this? However, it seems, by 1933 at least, there wasn’t even a hangar on this LG.
Buck
This comment was written on: 2017-08-21 00:05:53I think LEIGHTERTON airfield was where Beaufort Polo club is just down the road from BOWLDOWN FARM, if you look on Google earth and go back to 1945 aerial pics you can see some planes there
Reply from Dick Flute:
Hi Buck, Many thanks. I shall keep this posted. Best regards, Dick
Dave Tigwell
This comment was written on: 2017-11-11 18:18:40Hello, Back in the 1980s I flew a home-made microlight around Gloucestershire and force landed at Leighterton WW1 aerodrome. I was invited to take tea at Aerodrome Cafe while my engine cooled down. The cafe was once an aerodrome building right alongside the A46 road, 4 or 5 miles from Nailsworth and the aerodrome is a little farther along that road. As a school boy, I roamed around the aerodrome and once discovered an armoured gun position on a concrete base. There were fittings and iron shields, presumably to house a Lewis gun. Babdown Aerodrome, and Babdown Farm are a few miles away on the road to Tetbury, a quite different site. Dave Tigwell
Reply from Dick Flute:
Hi Dave, Many thanks for the memories and information which I shall definitely keep posted: Best regards, Dick
Nigel Brown
This comment was written on: 2019-01-05 11:47:03I'm afraid Buck is wrong. The Leighterton Airfield was down on the A46 (see my other post - it was just behind where Google Earth shows "Starkey Hire") whereas the Beaufort Polo Club is off down the Bowldown Road.
Crew
This comment was written on: 2019-02-24 20:12:17Hi all, current owner here. I can confirm the WW1 site and 1930 site are the same place. Used between 1916 - 1919 the buildings were torn down after the end of the war. Then put up for auction in the 1920s. The new owners built two bungalows, a cafe and garage on the foundations of the officer's mess (reusing the original material -bricks etc- from the site). The airstrip, hangers and officers mess were kept separate from each other in case of accidents, which is why there is so much conflicting information about what was were. The landing ground's exact location is a mystery, after the end of the war all the buildings were pulled down, the concrete was broken up and pushed to the side of the fields, so they could be used for agriculture once more. So we have a rough idea however don't know exactly. The next and current owners of Bowldown, do fly, so if their airstrip is in the exact same location we will never know, - by this I am referring to the L shaped landing strip you can see today. Bowldown farm and Babdown farm are very much separate sites.
Buck
This comment was written on: 2020-08-12 16:08:52Nigel Brown, if I am wrong why is there 6+ twin engine planes on the site of Beaufort polo club, use Google Earth and use the time slide to 1945, may the mystery continue
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