Westleys Meadows
WESTLEY'S MEADOWS: Temporary Landing Ground
This entry concerns a series of flights conducted by William Barnard Moorhouse in October 1911. It was in effect a publicity stunt arranged between the Barratt Shoe company in Northampton and Moorhouse. We do not know how the Barratt shoe company reacted to the final result. What is obvious is that the Barratt shoe company, only recently established in Northampton in 1903, were very aware of publicity opportunities, and having a consignment of their shoes flown to London by air was something they took full advantage of, placing an advert in the Daily Mirror newspaper on the 16th October 1911, in advance of the flight.
It appears that Moorhouse made a forced landing here, whilst unable to find the racecourse due to poor visibility.
A MICHEAL T HOLDER GALLERY
Moorhouse set off from PORTHOLME (near Huntingdon), on the 17th October, and seems to have landed here to collect the shoes. For some reason he elected to stay overnight and at some point, flew across to the nearby racecourse. Presumably this site offered better facilities and security?
On the 18th he set off for HENDON but was forced to land at FENNY STRATFORD, (see seperate listing), due to fog.
What we need to remember is that these very basic aircraft had no instruments, flew very slowly and could not fly safely in windy conditions. Hence most flights took place in the early morning or evening, when winds tend to be calm.
Location: Just NE of Northampton town centre
NOTES: What we need to remember is that W B Moorhouse changed his surname in 1912 to Rhodes-Moorhouse. In 1915, flying with the RFC in Belgium, he was very seriously wounded, but managed to land and make his report before he died shortly after. For this he was awarded the VC. (Victoria Cross).
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