Hi all,
I had a walk around the old WW1 aerodrome at Joyce Green today.
There are no buildings left from that era but I did manage to spot what I thought was probably an air ministry mark on a brick in an old fireplace.
Could anyone confirm that it does show an air ministry mark, and if so when did they start to use this type of marking.
I also saw some plates in the ground near where the old hangars would have been located – are they part of the hangar or am I totally incorrect?
Many thanks in advance for your help
Gerry
By: SqL Scramble. - 23rd February 2011 at 16:51
Just for your information, this is what an OS Benchmark looks like.
Always with four lines.
By: gedburke3 - 23rd February 2011 at 10:20
Hi Andy,
Very possibly a connection point for a besoneau hangar.
The picture of the arrow is the right way up, so the arrow points downwards.
It is built into an old fire place that can now be found in a pig pen!
I have an old map of the airfield and it shows a sentry post at the location where the fire place now is. Also, the map clearly shows two hangars in the position where I found the plate.
Not too far away in a drainage ditch I found this old beer bottle.
The stopper is made of what appears to be glass, the bottle itself is very heavy duty and the glass about 10mm thick.
All in all an enjoyable day out.
Gerry
By: Arabella-Cox - 23rd February 2011 at 09:09
Gerry
Could the steel plate be an anchor point for one of the canvas Besonau hangars?
And is your photo of the broad-arrow upside down, or is it actually pointing downwards?
By: Frazer Nash - 23rd February 2011 at 07:07
Another line of thought: it looks like the ‘broad arrow’ as worn by long-suffering convicts creating bricks for building out of very big rocks. Quite common here in Australia.
By: gedburke3 - 22nd February 2011 at 20:58
Cheers Gents,
That’s a disappointment. I had thoughts of Mannock and McCudden sitting in front of this!
The plate is firmly fixed into the ground – heaven only knows what that is for.
Many thanks
Gerry
By: RPSmith - 22nd February 2011 at 20:43
In brick/stonework this is more likely to be an Ordnance Survey mark – but it is upside down. That means it has probably been relocated from it’s original position.
When correctly placed the level written in the appropriate location on the OS map would be at the top (point) of the arrow.
Roger Smith.
By: MerlinPete - 22nd February 2011 at 20:40
Hi Gerry
I can`t make out what is on the steel plate, but I would guess it`s more likely to be an Ordnance Survey benchmark. These are the same arrowhead but should have a line above the point. and perpendicular to the arrow centre line, if that makes sense!
The one above the fireplace is upside down.
Pete
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February 22, 2011 at 8:14 pm