Hi gang!
Would like to ask if any member has photies of the outsides and insides of Royal Flying Corps guardrooms please! I’m also interested in the guardroom at Hendon which still has the carved wings on it!
My reason for asking is that i’m interested in the former RFC aerodrome Stow Maries which is still relatively intact (hangars long gone along with a few bldgs), and suspect the guardroom was of wood construction.
Work started on the airfield in 1915, and was still ongoing in 1918, but the station was not on the ‘retained’ list, so was sold off/handed back to the local landowners.
What i would like to know is what the interiors of the guardrooms were like, paint schemes, fixtures & fittings, etc, and did they have one or two cells!
If anyone can help in anyway, it’d be greatly apreciated!
tim
By: SADSACK - 2nd June 2006 at 13:52
what is happening
they said they were going to resite the Hendon buildings, but when the developers must be losing patience?
By: Ewan Hoozarmy - 2nd June 2006 at 09:26
Theres still quite a few buildings remaining on the old RFC aerodrome at Rendcomb in Gloucestershire.
By: gwrco - 1st June 2006 at 19:29
English Heritage survey of Stow Maries aerodrome
p.s forgot to mention that Eh have surveyed the site, and i have a copy of the report from them – but there are a few errors in it! also, bldgs that shoud be there including the flagpole base aren’t even mentioned!!
tim
By: gwrco - 1st June 2006 at 19:26
ref RFC guardrooms
Hi gang!
If an organisation can remove delapidated bldgs and relocate them to a new home, then why can’t the same be done for airfield buildings?
It appauls me that those in powers of high position can spend millions of taxpayers money on crap, but cannot be bothered to do something about the heritage around us that is fast disappearing.
Duxford is a good case of an original 1stww aerodrome that has gone thru the expansion period, thru WW2, and into the 60’s, and has been a crowd puller since it was ‘rescued’. The former RNAS Eastchurch has now been released from the prison services mitts, and it is only thanx to them that the station survived. this will hopefully be an incredible site and museum in the long term, with hopefully flying displays taking place too – i’d love to see something like Old Warden in the south of England. Stowe Maries aerodrome, though considered a ‘quiet’ station compared to the likes of Hainault farm (which is also still relatively intact and used by light industry today) is still relatively intact too, and could be turned into an incredible museum dedicated to the RFC, etc,.
The bods who use the site at present, fly remote control a/c there, and though the owner of the site passed away last year, nobody knows what will happen to it when the dust has settled, and it’s been decided by the family what to do with it, but from what i’ve managed to find out so far, is that the site is relatively intact, one of the hangar bases is now someones house, and a gentleman runs a garage business from the former Officers mess, thereby keeping the local scroates/vandals away!! it would also be a delight to see a former RFC aerodrome ‘brought back to life’ and put to good use. There are many frmer sites which may only have the odd one or two bldgs left on them in poor condition, but surely a way to preserve them would be to relocate them to a site such as Stow Maries, Eastchurch, etc.
The only way i can think of getting a site such as Stow Maries preserved for future generations would be to contact those organisations who have taken over places like East Kirkby, the former RAf technical site (also a RAF museum)& whose name has slipped my mind for the moment, Eden camp, etc, and to see what they say & how they did it!
tim
By: cdp206 - 1st June 2006 at 19:09
Stow Maries is an airfield complete with buildings that should be on the Heritage Preservation List. How do we go about it?
You might want to start by reading this: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/20cSites.pdf
You can order a copy from EH as well. This is a free publication and there are a few more to go at, too, either for download or order.
In all likelyhood, EH have actually survey the site although I can find a list of current scheduled military sites, although I think there is one. Must have another look.
By: Beaufighter VI - 1st June 2006 at 18:58
Stow Maries is an airfield complete with buildings that should be on the Heritage Preservation List. How do we go about it?
By: TEXANTOMCAT - 1st June 2006 at 17:32
Sadly been watching the demise of the guardroom for many years at Hendon – last time I was there you could only just see it behind screening next door to a new homes ‘sales centre’ – at the very least the wings should be preserved… 🙁
TT
By: SADSACK - 1st June 2006 at 14:28
re:
I spent a lovely afternnon poking around in the Hendon control tower, just before they moved the Graham White hangar. The atmosphere in there is incredible, not spooky at all and the uppper part of the tower is full of messages from former airmen.
Its simply appaling that the Hendon mess is in such a state it could easily be removed.
The tower is incorporated with the former theatre it really is worth having a look if you can still get in, the sign “Graham White players” is intact (or was)
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June 1, 2006 at 12:29 pm