Old Alresford
OLD ALRESFORD: Temporary aerodrome
Location: Just NW of Old Alresford village, W of the B3046 and about 7nm NE of Winchester city centre
Period of operation: September 1925
A MICHEAL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The second and fourth items are from an article published in Flight magazine on the 1st October 1925. As is the sixth picture below.
Note: I have added the area view from my Google Earth © based database.
NOTES: Ever since launching this 'Guide' on the interweb, I have been blessed with so many friends offering help and advice. Not least Mike Holder who identified this site. A great deal of work goes on behind the scenes, and I think it is well worth giving this example that Mike Holder sent to me. It is well worth mentioning that Mike was a RAF navigator, serving on Vulcans through to Nimrods. Who better to help identifying so many sites for this 'Guide'.
"Flight Magazine 01 October 1925 reported on a large Army Exercise in the Winchester area involving the RAF doing recce and ground attack. No.2 Army Co-operation was positioned at a temporary airfield close to Old Alresford - 070T/7.0 miles fom Winchester. A map with Old Alresford and other airfields was also printed in the magazine."
"The map is fairly accurate and has a scale printed on it. I checked the distances measured on it against an OS 50K map and they were within 0.1 of a mile. So - Old Alresford airfield is marked 1.0 mile north of the A31 and just west of the B3046 which runs due north out of New Alresford and through Old Alresford. This places it in a large field just north of Manor Farm. The pictures taken of the airfield in operation can be matched to this site, but due to their low quality ie. buildings in the background - cannot be conclusively matched to existing structures."
"From the photos the area is pretty flat but does slope away to the west which ties in with the contours on the map and the aerial photo from Britain from Above. There are some trees on the eastern boundary which were used to hide the "recce" (photo development) truck - just to the right of the wind sock looking through the wings of the Bristol Ac. Temporary communication masts appear to have been erected as well - something for the pilots to watch out for! "
"The view of the aircraft and aircrew appears to be pointing SW across a tributary of the River Itchen. A large field is in the background and on the map there are several large fields to the west of Old Alresford. Contact with the local museum failed to provide any answers and the National Archives has not digitised the Air Ministry NOTAMS which listed most of the airfields in the UK. Google provided not a jot."
So, there you have it. A master class in identification methods which reveals that the final answer is, (concerning the exact location), - maybe!
With all this said and illustrated, the main function of this 'Guide' is to provide reasonable proof that a flying site existed - and that criteria is more than amply satisfied. However, and as always, if anybody can kindly offer advice and extra information, this will be most welcome.
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