Tencreek Farm
TENCREEK FARM: Temporary Landing Ground
Location: Just SE of Liskeard town centre
Period of operation: 20th to 22nd June 1912
In 1912 the then famous French aviator Henri Salmet was sponsored by the Daily Mail to undertake a tour. Starting in May from west London he first made his way to South Wales, then turned back crossing the Bristol Channel to travel down to the West Country. It was quite an adventure, not least in having to cope with the vagaries of British summer weather, heavily influenced of course, much of the time, by weather systems blowing in from the North Atlantic.
This visit to Liskeard being a good example. Leaving Fowey he soon collected a strong tailwind, quite possibly of gale force at times, and when he reached Liskeard he was so preoccupied with trying - often barely - to maintain control of his machine, (as aeroplanes were called in those days), that he overshot the town. Eventually, and lot long after, he succeeded in safely landing at LANDRAKE. (See seperate listing). Here, he was so exhausted that he lay on the ground, by his machine, and slept for two hours. When the winds had subsided somewhat, he made it back to Liskeard.
Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', has thoroughly researched this Tour, and the full itinerary can be found in my article.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The second item, a 'notice', was published in the Western Daily Mercury on the 20th June 1912. The third item is a schematic map showing the relationship between Fowey, Landrake and Liskeard, and not the actual route flown.
Note: The photograph was kindly supplied by the Liskeard Old Cornwall Society. The seventh item was published in the Daily Mail on the 21st June 1912.
Note: The ninth item was published in the Gloucester Journal on the 22nd June 1912. The tenth item was obtained from Google Earth ©. The eleventh item, another newspaper article, was published in the West Somerset Free Press on the 29th June 1912. The final item, the area view, is from my Google Earth © derived database.
NOTES: It cannot today be overstated regarding the sheer impact those early pioneering aviators had on the population at large. They really were superstars and féted at every major venue. Crowds of thousands would turn up to see an 'exhibition of flying' featuring one pilot (aviator) with his machine, and civic receptions arranged. Some towns declared public holidays if the event was on a weekday.
Indeed, unless somebody had already seen an aeronaut in a balloon, the others, and these were the majority, had never seen somebody in the sky! Plus of course, we need to remember that fixed-wing powered aircraft were still in their infancy. Aircraft such as these only appearing in the UK from 1909 and even by 1912 very few pilots ventured far away from their home aerodrome.
In fact, the French term aerodrome, originally denoted an area within which flying took place! These being few and far between in 1912. Right from the start the Daily Mail had sponsored events, such as long distance air races, with fabulous cash prizes to really encourage the development of aeronautics in all respects. Many far sighted individuals shared similar ambitions, including many in the armed services, although the top brass by and large showed little interest initially. That attitude very quickly changed of course once WW1 got into its stride.
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