Lodge Farm - Castle Acre
LODGE FARM: Private airstrip
Location: Probably about 1nm NNE of Castle Acre, roughly 5nm N of Swaffham
Period of operation: 1980s only?
NOTES: This area abounds with potential airstrips, but even looking at Google Earth images as far back as 1999 I can find no evidence. Perhaps it was only operating in the 1980s?
If anybody can kindly offer advice, this will be much appreciated.
It may not be widely known that the UK, since WW2, has the most amazing aviation heritage regarding private airstrips, normally referred to as 'Farm Strips'. Some exist for just a year, a few move from field to field over time, and some resemble established airfields with several aircraft, (up to twenty or so), based.
No other country in the world can match this heritage, based on head of population and area. Nobody knows how many there are, or how many there have been. The main reason being that under the '28 day Rule' planning permission is not required. In other words, if the airstrip is not being used more than 28 days a year.
This might not sound much, and many private pilots can struggle to fly this often. There are of course several sensible regulations which apply to private pilots, but we need to remember that this only applies to the days of operation. For example, I used to fly from a 'Farm Strip', (not with the 28 day rule applied), and often flew to destinations around Europe. So clearly a pilot governed by this rule can still amass a considerable amount of flying experience.
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