Marylebone Cricket Ground
MARYLEBONE CRICKET GROUND: Forced landing site
NOTES:
This site is LORD'S CRICKET GROUND, for which I have a seperate entry.
Although never intended to be a ‘flying site’ a great many places have over the years become one, albeit very temporarily. This is, I think, an excellent example. In the late 1930s Geoffrey Alington, the Dart Aeroplane Co demonstration pilot, was flying the Dart Kitten G-AEXT, (still flying!), from HATFIELD to HESTON, (obviously not taking a very direct route), when the engine revs reduced to idle. Not being very high at the time a forced landing was an immediate priority but fortunately, just beneath him, was the Marylebone Cricket Ground. The problem being a match was in progress! Cupping his hand Geoffrey shouted to the players and they stayed still while he landed on a ‘spare’ patch of the grass.
A grounds-man rushed over on a motor-mower to discover what was going on, and, hearing that a small nut and bolt were missing from the throttle linkage drove off, quickly returning with a suitable replacement which was quickly fitted. Advised that a policeman was on his way to ‘book’ him Geoffrey immediately took off. (Hence the term, “Just in the ‘nick’ of time”, I suppose?)
A few years after making this entry I decided to find out exactly where this cricket ground was. It turns out to be a venue quite well known amongst fans of the game, but now known as ‘Lords Cricket Ground.’ Being just a tad pedantic, seeing as how I’ve proposed to try and put locations to as many flying sites as possible, this puts the site just W of the junction of St John’s Wood Road and Wellington Road and NW of Regent’s Park
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