Manor Road, Oxford
MANOR ROAD: Presumably a quasi-military aerodrome?
Location: SW of the centre of Oxford
NOTES: The first mention of MANOR ROAD aerodrome came from Stuart McKay’s excellent book Tiger Moth. In this book he has a picture (page 85) captioned: “Tiger Moth T-6026 ‘RUOD’ of the Oxford Squadron.” This was one of eleven University Air Squadrons around the UK, after WW2, operating the Tiger Moth which; “….was built at Cowley and based at both Abingdon and Manor Road aerodromes near the university.”
ABINGDON is of course some distance from the centre of Oxford, roughly 5nm to the SSW, but to the ENE of Oxford City centre there is indeed a Manor Road, and, even today, it has Merton College Recreation Ground (just south of) and New College Recreation Ground to the north, large enough to enable Tiger Moth operations, and especially when considering these areas were surely much larger in those days? Plus, to the NW the area known today as Hinksey Heights Golf Club, would surely have been more than suitable.
However, a detailed history of the Oxford UAS makes no mention of a flying site being located here. Despite stating that in 1929 a lecture hall was built adjoining the hangar. This ‘hangar’ could of course have been used purely for ground instruction purposes? And indeed, throughout the detailed history of these early years, the only flying occurred on summer camps initially, with a more permanent arrangement being established at UPPER HEYFORD, later moved to ABINGDON.
On the other hand, it has been mentioned that there was local resistance to this site in fear of it becoming a major ‘air centre’ and liable to enemy attack – even in the late 1920s. But, if Stuart McKay reckons there was an aerodrome here, I would take this claim very seriously.
In January 2022 I was kindly contacted by Laurence Garey. He was in the Oxford UAS from 1961 until 1963. (They used to fly from BICESTER). He tells us that the hangar-like building was the Oxford UAS headquarters, and that there was never any kind of airfield here. I shall keep this listing posted simply because of the reference appearing in a publication.
We'd love to hear from you, so please scroll down to leave a comment!
Leave a comment ...
Copyright (c) UK Airfield Guide
