...was once the air port of London, and world-famous because it was from there that Amy Johnson flew solo to Australia, and Lindbergh arrived after his great solo flight across the Atlantic... During the Second World War it was the Headquarters of No. 11 Group in the Battle of Britain, crucial to our survival as a nation.
The airport closed in 1959 - the last commercial flight out was piloted by a Captain Last! - and when I was growing up in the 1960s in a house not far from what had once been the most famous aerodrome in the world, it was just a great glorious endless grassy territory that stretched gently uphil towards Purley. Then a big housing estate was built on it, and in 1974 I was elected as borough councillor for the district. I was, I think, an irritating young woman - the youngest councillor in Britain and enthusiastically aware of the fact. But among my few redeeming traits was a passion for local history, and over the next years, a team of us produced a series of books on the history of the airport. You can find out about them here and here and there's a pic of a Mayor holding one of the books here and...oh...trawl the Internet with "Croydon Airport" and "Joanna Nash" and see what you get...
And last night, at the John Fisher School in Purley, there was a showing of a film, made by pupils, about the history of Croydon Airport. And a very good film it is - a good piece of work from boys at a very good school. They had interviewed all sorts of people who remembered the airport, had worked there or lived nearby, or were caught up in the big air raid of Augut 1940s, and also some other people, including Auntie, and they also found some fascinating old archive footage of aircraft taking off in the 1920s and 30s (the HP42, a wonderful machine, on the 12.30 flight to Paris...).
The school hall was packed - actually almost to discomfort, as it was very warm - and there was enormous interest and enthusiasm. The Croydon Airport Society, and a local history group, the Bourne Society, had combined to support the venture, and the teacher who had initiated the project spoke, and there was a great feeling of local pride...
An evening of nostalgia for Auntie...made me feel a bit solemn and full of memories. I started to make my way to the station, but then on a whim suddenly turned back and knocked on the door of some local friends, the Phillips family and am so glad I did as they welcomed me in and we had a long happy time of chatting. They have a lot of children, now all in teens-and-twenties, and lots of other young people always visiting, so it's a place where there is always a welcome and a mug of tea...
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3 comments:
When i first went to the John Fisher School in 1957, Croydon Aerodrome was still used as a flying club. I remember it being very noisy when small aircraft passes overhead at low altitude.
The flying club must have closed down soon after, as activity stopped after my first year. I presume that this was when the airfield began to be developed for housing etc. Later the school purchased a part of the airfield for its sports ground.
I was at the school in 1995/96 during the selective admissions stage for A Levels - we used to go by the former aerodrome which is now used as a hotel and conference centre.
Et Expecto, anonymous,
When was interview selection banned in the top Catholic schools like John Fisher?
Apparently it's a lot more inclusive thesedays.
RJ.
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