Market Rasen Racecourse
MARKET RASEN see also COCKTHORNE
MARKET RASEN RACECOURSE: Private helicopter landing area & also once a landing strip for fixed wing types
Operated by: Market Rasen Racecourse
Location: S of the A631, about 1nm ESE of Market Rasen town centre
Helipad: 2000: Grass pad 50x20m (Probably much expanded since?)
Runway: 1990: 10/28 549x21 grass
Note: Fixed wing runway used from May 1966 to 1990 at least?
NOTES: Prompted by Mr Graham Frost in 2022, a great friend of this 'Guide', I decided to take another look at this listing - and soon ran into trouble - as Graham told me an early edition of Pooley's stated the runway was 3300ft (1006m) by 150ft (46m). Which of course was typical of a WW2 RAF aerodrome runway. But where? RAF LUDFORD MAGNA being 4.5nm to the east was the obvious choice - but could it be proven?
Added to this an entry in a 1990 edition of Pooleys, stated the runway, within the racecourse, was E/W 549 x 21 grass. It was clearly time to ask our very good friend and 'super slueth', Mike Holder, to come to the rescue. As the results he unearthed clearly illustrate below, the orginal Pooleys entry did indeed refer to a runway being used at LUDFORD MAGNA.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY (With a few additions by me)
Notes: The newspaper article was published in the Coventry Evening Telegraph on the 28th December 1964. The aerial view in 2003 was obtained from Google Earth ©.
Note: The fifth item, the newspaper article, was published in the Nottingham Observer on the 13th May 1966. The local area view is from my Google Earth © derived database. The last item, the book excerpt, is from Racecourses of Great Britain by James Gill.
Note: Trying to trace the precise history of this location has been quite an epic. Ostensibly it should have been easy, but we have been unable to find any pictures or maps regarding the airstrip.
A mention in the 1990 Pooley's Flight Guide is a text only entry, stating: "Woodlands 30ft high, 50m from East threshold of strip, and HT wires 40ft high 274m from West threshold." The runway is also referred to as being 600 metres long.
HELICOPTER LANDING AREA?
Note: The last item, the area view, was from my Google Earth © derived database.
As always in this 'Guide', if anybody can kindly offer advice and information, this will be most welcome. Pictures are of course much appreciated.
We'd love to hear from you, so please scroll down to leave a comment!
Leave a comment ...
Copyright (c) UK Airfield Guide
