Thirsk flying sites
Note: This map only gives the location of Thirsk town within the UK, although the racecourse, presumably on the same site in WW1 (?), can also be seen.
THIRSK see also BAGBY
THIRSK see also FELIXKIRK
THIRSK see also SUTTON BANK
THIRSK: Temporary aerodrome?
NOTES: On the 10th August 1933 Sir Alan Cobham’s No.2 Tour displayed in/near Thirsk. It seems the exact venue isn’t now known? Possibly they used the 1930s Landing Ground listed below or perhaps the racecourse used in WW1?
THIRSK: Civil Landing Ground
Operated by: Mr J Bell, York Road, Thirsk
Location: “0.5m E of town imm S of A170”
Period of operation: 1930s only?
Runway: Max landing run: 421 grass (Another source states 457)
NOTES: Listed in the 1930s ‘A.A. Register of Landing Grounds’.
Most unusually both fuel and transport, (the latter typically a taxi service), were available from J Bell & Son, so presumably this Landing Ground was close to a garage they operated? The recommended hotels were The Golden Fleece Hotel and the Three Tuns Hotel. A telephone was at a ‘Public Phone Kiosk’ 500 yards west of the Landing Ground.
In 2014 both The Golden Fleece and the Three Tuns Hotel, both in the Market Place, Thirsk, were still in business although it seems the J. Bell motor business has moved down the road to Holme-on-Spalding Moor .
THIRSK RACECOURSE: Military Landing Ground
Military user: RFC (Royal Flying Corps)
76 [Home Defence] Sqdn (Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2s and B.E.12s)
Location: S of the A61, just WSW of Thirsk town centre
Period of operation: 1916 only it seems
NOTES: It appears, in common with many other Home Defence squadrons in WW1, they saw no action whatsoever. The degree of hysteria amongst the civilian population, and anxiety in the senior ranks of the military, regarding the threat of aerial attacks from Germany, was hugely inflated and totally without grounds. Yes, attacks did take place of course, but the damage done and casualties inflicted were minimal to say the least.
It seems odd perhaps that just some twenty years years later, when the Luftwaffe unleashed the horrific 'Blitz' regime on the UK, mostly on England, the resistance and stoicism of the civilian population was quite remarkable.
THIRSK: Private airstrip?
Operated by: Farm Supply Co (Thirsk) Ltd?
Location: ? (Obviously in/near Thirsk)
Period of operation: 1970s only?
NOTES: In the mid 1970s it seems the only aircraft based at this particular THIRSK location was the Cessna 188 Agwagon G-AXXG. Was this possibly FELIXKIRK or BAGBY?
But, as Mr Graham Frost, a great friend of this 'Guide' has since pointed out, G-AXXG was a Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander. Always a constant problem of course, in compiling this 'Guide', that I try to rely on other people to provided accurate information.
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