Trafford Park
Note: This map only gives a general position for Trafford Park within the UK.
TRAFFORD PARK: Originally just a landing site, later a civil company aerodrome? Probably not on the same location.
Users: WW1: A.V. Roe, Central Aviation Company
Period of operation: 1911 to 1918
Note: I have recently (2017) found a mention that when TRAFFORD PARK aerodrome closed in 1918, all activities were transferred to ALEXANDRA PARK, situated on the far side of Manchester in the SE.
This picture of a photograph in the Science Musuem, London, shows one days production. Without too much doubt these aircraft were transported by lorries to TRAFFORD PARK. The usual method was to mount the wings and tailplane onto the lorry, and attach the tail of the fuselage onto the back of the lorry. At TRAFFORD PARK the aircraft would probably be assembled, and flight tested.
It appears that other aircraft might well have been transported by road or rail to Aircrcraft Acceptance Centres before being inspected and assembled.
NOTES: The first aviation event recorded at this site, which is quite a large area, was on a golf course. This was when Mr Henry G Melly and Mr A Dukinfield-Jones landed here on the 7th July 1911 in a Blériot XI after making the first Liverpool to Manchester flight. Their departure point was AINTREE RACECOURSE near Liverpool
I have since found another photograph captioned; “Avro 500, 1913, 50hp Gnome, at Trafford Park – Manchester. But were the two sites the same? Highly unlikely I would have thought, but, could anybody kindly inform us as to the site in Trafford Park used by the A V Roe Company and the Cenral Aviation Company in WW1.
This area has of course, since at least WW2, become a huge industrial and commercial estate.
Nick Forder
This comment was written on: 2019-03-19 10:58:48Humphrey Verdon-Roe was involved in promoting the site. He reported on the suitability of the site for a shed for one of ET Willows' airships. The Manchester Evening News promoted the flying event, carrying the same advertisement on all days from 12 to 16 May: FLYING at Trafford Park Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Whitweek George Lee Temple, London Aerodrome Admission 6d Take Tramcars to Trafford Park Road" George Lee Temple flew his Caudron biplane there. Also, this was a stop on the 1914 Hendon-Manchester-Hendon Race. See Louis Strange's 'Recollections of an Airman' for his account as a participant.
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