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Northam Burrows flying sites


          

 

NORTHAM BURROWS: Temporary flying site
 

NOTES: Long before Sir Alan Cobham visited this area, (see listed below), it appears that on the 6th June 1912 (and possibly for a couple of days? ) Henri Salmet made a visit displaying his Blériot monoplane.

Looking at the information available about this area I strongly suspect that the site used was an area in front of the Bath Hotel which is now a cricket ground. This is situated just N of Westward Ho! and at the southern edge of Northam Burrows. His next venue was BUDE on the 10th June and he continued to Launceston and Newquay via a forced landing at Bodmin.

 

 

NORTHAM BURROWS: Temporary aerodrome      (Aka WESTWOOD HO!  see seperate listing)
 

Operated by: Sir Alan Cobham’s 1929 UK Municipal Aerodrome Campaign. This was the 68th venue on this Tour which started in May and ended in October with one hundred and seven venues planned to be visited. Mostly in England but with two in Wales and eight in Scotland. In the end, due to a couple of crashes and other setbacks, he managed to visit 96 venues, which of course was still a magnificent achievement.
 

Location: On a peninsular 2.5nm NNW of Bideford and possibly using the same site Henri Salmet used (see above) in 1912?

Period of operation: 29th August 1929


NOTES: Cobham normally arrived in his ten-seater DH61 'Giant Moth' G-AAEV, named “Youth of Britain”. The punishing schedule he set himself seems astonishing today. Highly recommended reading are his memoirs in 'A Time To Fly'.

What might seem odd today, is why Cobham selected Bideford for being a suitable location for an aerodrome, let alone a regional airport? Perhaps somebody can kindly explain? With Barnstaple not so far away and much better suited to the purpose, the decision to land here seems rather odd?


A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY

Local map c.1938
Local map c.1938
Newspaper article Part One
Newspaper article Part One
Newspaper article Part Two
Newspaper article Part Two
Google Earth © local view
Google Earth © local view

 

Note: The newspaper article, divided into two parts to make it easier to read, was published in the North Devon Journal on the 22nd August 1929. It gives a good insight into just how much planning was involved to enable Cobham to undertake his campaign. Much of which had to be re-planned as the Tour progressed.


Aerial photo c.1947
Aerial photo c.1947
Google ground view
Google ground view
Local area map c.1958
Local area map c.1958
Area view
Area view








  

 

Note:  The last item, the area view, was added from my Google Earth © derived database.


As a general rule at most venues Cobham would aim to arrive at around 11.00, and soon after take the local dignitaries for a flight around the local area. Then, depending on the timing around a gala luncheon being held for him at the town hall or a grand hotel, he would take schoolchildren for flights, at least forty, the cost being sponsored by a then anonymous donor. Who we now know was Lord Wakefield of Castrol Oil fame who had told Cobham he would pay for 10,000 schoolchildren to be taken for flights throughout the Tour.

Afterwards Cobham would carry fare-paying passengers usually until dusk, presumably to help off-set the costs of mounting the campaign. The principal aim of which was to extol the benefits of every town having a municipal aerodrome/airport. It is of course impossible to say how many were built due to Cobham's efforts, but without any doubt his campaign provided a huge boost. 

What is clear is that the formation of many regional airlines, serving most of the UK, mostly came about from the early 1930s. Because, of course, as these facilities became available. Not that we'd recognise most of them as being such today - many, such as HALDON in Devon for example, being just a field with a windsock and a tent or shed for passengers. No fuel, no hangarage, at least at first.



 

 

 

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