Ross-on-Wye golf links
ROSS-on-WYE GOLF LINKS: Temporary Landing Ground
Location: Just SE of Ross-on-Wye town centre
Period of operation: 19th and 20th July 1912
In 1912 the Daily Mail sponsored six aviators, (as pilots were then called), to conduct 'exhibitions of flying' around the U.K. Two especially, the then famous French aviator Henri Salmet and the equally famous British aviator Claude Grahame-White, made quite extensive tours. In the case of Salmet his tour commenced in May from WORMWOOD SCRUBBS in west London and terminated in Ireland in September.
By the time Salmet reached Ross-on-Wye in July, he had displayed at a multitude of venues. Reaching as far west in South Wales as LLANELLI and as far west as FALMOUTH in the West Country. On the way back from the West Country he had made a second visit to Cardiff, when he became seriously ill having to return to London for major surgery. After making a remarkable recovery in about three weeks, he set off once again, but without any doubt he should have recuperated for a much longer period. Indeed, the major newspaper article below alludes to his weakened condition.
Plucky he most certainly was, and foolish too of course, but being by then a national hero in the U.K. no doubt he felt an immense obligation to try and fulfil his commitments. Having been féted as a hero everywhere he went, with huge crowds gathering to witness his 'exhibitions of flying', must have spurred him on. We need to remember of course that powered aviation only got started in the U.K. in 1909, and very few people had ever seen an aeroplane, let alone one actually flying.
Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', has researched this tour extensively, and a full schedule can be found in my article; 'The 1912 tour by Henri Salmet'. This shows for example that when Salmet left Cardiff intending to fly to Ross-on-Wye, he diverted into Raglan and left his machine, (as aeroplanes were called in those days), leaving it there overnight.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The newspaper article was published in the Ross Gazette on the 18th July 1912.
Note: This newspaper article, divided into four parts to make it easier to read, was published in the Ross Gazette on the 25th July 1912.
Note: The area view is from my Google Earth © derived database.
WHY ROSS-on WYE?
For many people I suspect, they might well be asking this question? Why would Salmet, under the guidance and advice of the Daily Mail, decide that this minor market town warranted a visit by Salmet? Delightful though it is to visit today, there is no obvious clue as to why it once had considerable status. For the answer we need to go back quite a long way in history.
It was a major staging post, in the days of horse-drawn transport, between London and South Wales. The route used was later called the A40 when road numbering was introduced, in its present form, in or around 1958-59. It was it appears, as early as 1913 when the first plans to give major routes numbers in the UK were introduced. So, in 1912, when Salmet was flying around, using roads to navigate by was, by and large, probably not very useful? Although, I suspect, well used major routes such as this one, probably showed up quite well.
A PERSONAL MEMORY
Looking back, I now find it astonishing how the road network has developed. As a lad, when our family decided to go on holiday to South Wales in the mid 1950s, starting early in the morning from our home next to London Airport, we pitched our tent on the water meadow by the river in Ross-on-Wye in the evening. It seemed an idyllic spot until it became dark - then a seemingly endless convoy of lorries started coming. Seriously underpowered, and many overweight, they needed to be in first gear to manage the hill up into the town centre. The noise was horrendous and we had no sleep that night!
In those days the A40 was mostly if not entirely just two lanes. The maximum speed limit for heavy goods vehicles was 20mph, so, if you got stuck behind one, it could be ages before you could safely pass - only to soon get stuck behind another.
PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE?
I trust you will agree that compared even to the 1950s on most of the roads in this country, the apparent ease with which Salmet and other early pioneer aviators in 1912 could traverse, (relatively), large distances in an hour or so, taking much, much longer by road, (or even by rail in most cases), and routeing directly, really was a sensational advance. Going by air certainly had its perils, (still has of course), but the course of history was being set.
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