| Summary : A former World War Two military airfield and later civil airport. It began as a civilian airfield in 1936. During World War Two it was taken over by the Royal Air Force and the National Air Communications Organisation as a military airfield providing training functions (principally 10 Elementary Flying Training School), though it was also used intermittently by a fighter squadron and also by the Air Torpedo Development Unit. To divert enemy attacks a bombing decoy was set up two miles to the south at Bleadon. The wartime airfield consisted of a tarmac runway and a number of aircraft hangars, some of Blister design, with temporary accommodation for 120 personnel. From 1940 there was also an aircraft factory to the west of the airfield, test flying of aircraft produced there was carried out at the airfield, please see ST 35 NW 40 for further details of the aircraft factory. The airfield was protected by a number of defensive installations, please see indivual "child records" for further details. After the war the airfield became a civil airport. In 1989 a helicopter museum was opened at the site. The flying field is now disused. |
More information : Weston Super Mare. Somerset, ST 36 SW. A former World War Two airfield. The warime airfield consisted of a 1000 yard long tarmac runway, aircraft hangars including Blister and MAP types and temporary accommodation for 120 personnel. (1)
Weston began as a civilian airfield in 1936. During World War Two it was taken over by the Royal Air Force and the National Air Communications Organisation as a military airfield providing training functions (principally 10 Elementary Flying Training School), though it was also used intermittently by a fighter squadron (128 Squadron) and also by the Air Torpedo Development Unit. To divert enemy attacks a bombing decoy was set up two miles to the south at Bleadon. From 1940 there was also an aircraft factory to the west of the airfield. After the war the airfield became a civil airport. In 1989 a helicopter museum was opened at the site. (2)
For an additional souce on the history of Weston, particularly for the pre- and post- war civilian phases see Kerry Hutchitson's 1997 article in Airfield Review journal. (3)
The Locking Road site was first proposed for the new Weston Airfield in 1933, following a flight given to local councillors by Norman Edgar, Managing Director of Western Airways Ltd. Originally specialising in motor cars, Edgar launched a twice-daily air service from Bristol-Cardiff in 1932 and his new company, Western Airways Ltd, was officially established in September 1933. Throughout the early 1930s the company grew quickly with routes extended to include Birmingham, Bournemouth and even Paris by 1935.
Works began on Weston Airfield in 1936 and the first buildings to be constructed on the site included the 14,000sq ft hanger, the 4,000sq ft airport terminal and the two-storey control tower. A published history of Western Airways Ltd claims that the airport terminal at Weston was converted from a re-erected First World War timber-built hospital and that the two-storey control tower was built by the pilots from an old cab shelter from Weston-Super-Mare seafront, with the important addition of a glass roof.
The first commercial flight flew into Weston on the 31 May 1936. Shortly afterwards, in early June, the first flight left Weston carrying passengers to Cardiff's Pengham Moor Airport. The association between Weston and Cardiff was important during this period, and as a testimony to this relationship the airport was officially opened on 25 June 1936 by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Cardiff. Following its official opening an article in the Weston-Super-Mare Gazette (27 March 1937) reports that: ¿an indication of the confidence the travelling public have in Western Airways is afforded by the fact that 20,000 passengers passed through the airport during the first seven months of its existence.¿
October 1938 saw the first domestic scheduled night flying service in Britain. The flight from Weston to Cardiff was broadcast live on the BBC by commentator Wynford Vaughan Thomas. A photograph from the Bristol Evening News (7 March 1939) shows the large flood-lights attached to the ¿control tower¿ (AMIE NMR number 1510707, ST36 SE58) and the caption below describes the building as ¿the hut which controls the powerful lights¿. Interestingly, the flood-lights also seem to obscure some of the view from this tower towards the airfield.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the National Air Communications requisitioned the airfield and it was taken over by the Royal Air Force in 1940. Also in 1940 production of the Bristol Beaufighter aircraft began at the Old Mixon Shadow Factory on the west side of the airfield.
After the war, commercial flying resumed gradually at the airfield but the popularity of the short haul flights from Weston declined from the 1950s onwards and Western Airways finally relinquished its operating licence in 1978. Although at this time the council intended to close the airfield the Ministry of Defence refused and leased the land to Westland (Helicopters) Ltd. The Control Tower finally became obsolete in 1986. (4)
RAF Weston-super-Mare can be seen on aerial photographs taken during and immediately after the Second World War. It has been mapped as part of the West-super-Mare Heritage Action Zone project.(5-6) |