Newbury flying sites
Note: This map only shows the location of Newbury town with in the UK, although the racecourse can easily be seen.
NEWBURY RACECOURSE: Civil private airfield and helicopter landing site
Note: Picture by the author and taken through perspex. The second picture, which I had totally forgotten taking until finding it in late 2016, was taken when I was involved in transporting, in my truck, a traveling exhibition around various famous racecourses during the summer that year.
Operated by: Newbury Racecourse Plc
Activities: GA strictly for horse racing people and spectators
Charter/air taxi: Airviews
Location: In centre of Newmarket horse racecourse, E of the A34, ESE of Newbury town cenre
Period of operation: 1950s to - 2005 perhaps?
Note: This map is reproduced with the kind permission of Pooleys Flight Equipment Ltd. Copyright Robert Pooley 2014.
Runway: 1990: 09/27 1006x46 grass
2000: 11/29 830x30 grass (with + 300 over-run at eastern end at one time)
(2000: Runway 11-take-off only, runway 29-landing only)
NOTES: The runway position has been moved at least once in last twenty years but was still in the central area of the racecourse and the airfield is normally only available on race days. The landing and take-off restrictions listed in a 2000 flight guide seem deliberately designed to make this temporary airfield arguably amongst the most dangerous of airfields to visit in the UK considering it’s use and purpose as it is used by some pretty powerful, fairly heavy and fast twin-engine types.
NEWBURY: Temporary aerodrome?
NOTES: On the 28th April 1933 Sir Alan Cobham’s No.2 displayed in/near Newbury. Does anybody now know exactly where? In June 2020 I was kindly contacted by Mr Michael T Holder, and result is the THATCHAM FARM entry.
NEWBURY: Military airstrip
Military user: US Army Air Corps
Location: ? (Possibly the racecourse?)
Period of operation: 1943/5?
NEWBURY: Private airstrip
Operated by: 1992: Mr N B Brown
Location: ?
Period of operation: ?
Runway: 05/23 575x18 grass
NEWBURY GASWORKS: Balloon launching site
Note: This photograph has been scanned from John Fabb's excellent book 'Flying and Ballooning - from old photographs'. The caption is: "From left to right: Rev. J.M. Bacon, Admiral Fremantle, Mr Fred Bacon and Mr Percival Spencer before their ascent in a balloon from Newbury Gas Works, July 1900. Their object was to further the use of balloons in war time."
Just how successful this endeavour was in convincing the military to use balloons will of course never be known, as the Army were of course already using them. (See my listing for ALDERSHOT for example). And of course they were used quite extensively for artillery spotting and gun ranging in WW1. And of course we must remember that in 1900 the age of the aeroplane had yet to arrive.
Operated by: Rev. John Bacon
Period of operation: Late 1890s, possibly up to 1901, perhaps even later
NOTES: It seems the Rev. Bacon used his balloon for scientific experiments and aerial photography by his daughter Gertrude and a couple of his exploits pop up elsewhere. He is also reliably reputed to have patented and successfully used a petrol-fuelled burner to inflate his balloon in 1902 anticipating by many years the current vogue for hot-air balloons.
In her book Women with Wings Mary Cadogan gives the following account: “…in November 1899, Gertrude made an especially memorable flight. She accompanied her father and Stanley Spencer, who shared with his brother Percival a long-standing interest in, and knowledge of, ballooning in all its aspects. They went up prosaically enough from the grounds of Newbury gasworks through drizzle and a cloudy night sky, but rising above this they found themselves in what Gertrude described as, ‘the unutterable beauty of fairyland’. Exactly the scene now available to millions of passengers in airliners who, quite frankly, couldn’t care less.
“The main purpose of the trip was to observe ‘that great shower of meteors’ which were predicted to radiate that night from the constellation Leo. The meteors appeared only three times in each century, and, with half England resolving to sit up until the small hours to see them, Gertrude felt privileged to have the opportunity of watching them from the vantage point of a balloon.” The meteors did not appear but the pictures Gertrude took on this and other occasions from a balloon with her plate camera are said to be impressive.
There can be no doubt about it, Gertrude Bacon was a first class photographer and really did know her stuff. In his excellent book 'Flying and Ballooning - from old photographs' John Fabb provides this example from a balloon flown by her father circa 1900. To get such a clear and sharp result, using a plate camera from a moving balloon, seems amazing - so she was obviously 'up to speed' with using the fastest film techniques.
NEWBURY: Private helipad
Operated by: Baldwin Leasing Co perhaps?
NOTES: As mentioned elsewhere private helipads are today ten a penny but in the mid 1970s still pretty rare, hence the inclusion here where it seems the Enstrom F.28A G-BASV was based
NEWBURY see also JARVIS ELCOT PARK HOTEL
NEWBURY see also SHAWDENE
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