Morpeth flying sites
MORPETH see also LOANSDEAN
MORPETH: Temporary aerodrome?
NOTES: Some time ago I made these notes:
"Venue on the 28th July 1933 for Sir Alan Cobham’s No.2 Tour. Did they perhaps use the site established above in WW1, later used in WW2? It would when seen today appear obvious that the Cobham organisation would have used the pre-existing site. But, this was not often the case either for the Cobham Tours or the other 'Flying Circus' operators of the period. The whole operation revolved, to some extent, around money - how much would they be charged to use a site for a day or two? In some cases these major events took place from a field across the road from an established aerodrome!"
In 2022 I was kindly contacted by Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', and he has investigated this event. It was, as I had somewhat expected, held at HEPSCOTT MANOR, roughly five miles away to the ENE. See seperate listing.
MORPETH: Military Landing Ground in WW1, aerodrome in WW2 (also known as STANNINGTON)
Note: This picture (2017) was obtained from Google Earth ©
It certainly helps to have a map of the airfield from WW2, (which I have even though its just a thumbnail sketch), but the airfield perimeter and most of the position and extent of the runways can still be discerned.
Military users: WW1: Landing Ground for 52 Training Depot Station based at CRAMLINGTON
WW2: RAF Flying Training Command 29 Group
4 AGS (Avro Ansons & Miles Martinets)
72 Sqdn (Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
80 (French) OTU [Operational Training Unit] (Miles Masters & Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
Air Gunnery School (Blackburn Bothas)
Location: In/near Stannington Station, alongside the A1, 2nm SW of Morpeth
Period of operation: WW1: 1918 only? 1942 to 1948
WW2 runways: 05/23 1280x46 hard 11/29 1006x46 hard
17/35 1006x46 hard
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