Winchester visit

If you go to Old Sarum – and it is very worth the visit – take a look to the top of the next hill. Site of High Post airfield. The Stones hotel is located in the area of the old base buildings and you could prop there for an evening. I can recommend their steaks ! At Old Sarum, not only can you see the WW.I hangars but also on the Middle Wallop side have a look at the tall brick structure at the end of the runway. It is the original WW.I gun butts.

Again , better late than never – these from my Hampshire Aviation since 1900 website..

WINCHESTER: In 1910 Mr A C Hawkins and Mr Bertram Ogilvie built a Triplane(image below) here with a view to competing for the Baron De Forest prize .
It is not when the machine flew. They tested the aircraft in the vicinity of Pitt village and Down and reached a height of 61 metres .
Ogilvie was a New Zealander but Hawkins may have come from the Stoneham area (near Eastleigh)
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WINCHESTER/BESTS FARM:Private airstrip herein 60/70s.
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WINCHESTER/St JOHN MOORE BARRACKS:5105N/0012W.Army Helipad.
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WINCHESTER(N51.03/W001.20):There was a strip used by liason aircraft during the build-up to D-Day located in the area of what
later became the Montgomery of Alamein School(to the west of Winchester alongside Sarum Road). The aircraft were L-4s of the 9th Infantry Division Artillery HQ.
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WINCHESTER:BUSHFIELD CAMP(N51.02.36/W001.20.00).There are unconfirmed reports of a US Army Liason strip here during 1943-44.
Possibly used post war by liason aircraft.Exact location uncertain .However Google Earth shows a cleared strip in the bushes to the North of the camp that may be an indication.
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WINCHESTER:The photo below shows the pioneer aviator Mr Sydney Pickles flying at an unidentified site at Winchester – probably in 1913
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Their is also a couple of miles from Winchester the I.B.M head quarters at Hursley which I believed was a Fighter command group HQ :rolleyes:

Ken

Hi Ken,

Bit late in the day but just to clarify… Hursley Park was requisitioned in late 1940 by the Ministry Of Aircraft Production to house the bombed out design and production departments of Vickers Armstrongs Supermarine. It remained their HQ throughout the war and the post war period, only finally being relinquished in 1958, when IBM became the new tenants.

So the majority of Spitfires as well as Seafires and all if the Supermarine jets were designed and prototyped there.

It had earlier aviation links too. In 1917 it first became the home to no.2 cadet wing of the Royal Flying Corps (before they moved to Hastings in October) and the the Wireless Operators, later renamed the Artillery and Infantry Cooperation School of the RFC moved there, remaining until May 1918 when the camp was handed over to the US AEF. The RFC observers were based in Hursley but flew from Worthy Down, in a similar way to Supermarine who built prototypes at Hursley but never flew them there, initially using Worthy Down again and then later High Post etc.

Unfortunately, it’s both a private site and there are no visible signs of either the RFC or Supermarine … So a fantastic history and a beautiful location in the Hampshire countryside, but not practical as a site to visit, without prior arrangement with IBM.

Their is also a couple of miles from Winchester the I.B.M head quarters at Hursley which I believed was a Fighter command group HQ :rolleyes:

Ken

The Wykeham Arms is always worth a visit. It’s in behind the cathedral. Whilst there, just outside, be sure to find the tiny chapel above the arch. The rising sun is a bit more spit and sawdust, but very old, again near the cathedral. For aviation interest, venture east from Winchester to alresford. Here you will find a pub called the globe in the lake. The garden runs down to a large lake, the other side of which was the site of a B17 crash. There’s a good deal on the walls inside the pub telling the story of how the crew managed to avoid the village. Alresford is also the end of the watercress line, which is a steam railway of about 15 miles in length, which runs through some great countryside. Alresford itself is a nice place too. On the way to alresford you may well cross above the M3 motorway on the replacement spitfire bridge. The old bridge was pulled down when the motorway was widened. The bridge got its name after a spitfire flew under it way back, although there is some dispute over whether it may have been a P40. You’re not too far from the airfield and museum at old Sarum either, which is worth a visit. Likewise the Solent to the sky museum in Southampton is only 20 minutes away. Whilst in Southampton, there is a memorial showing the exact spot of the “spitfire factory” under the big bridge on the woolaston side of the river. A nice place, you should have a great time…

I believe there is/was a Pembroke cockpit preserved in Alresford!!

Great advice, thank you lots!

Try also a visit to Marwell Hall. Most of the site is now a zoo but there are still relics to be seen.
http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/airfields/mwh.html#

If you’re going to Chattis hill don’t forget its near neighbour Middle Wallop. As for historic pubs if you can make it to Amesbury have a look at Amesbury Aviation centre in the George Inn, the pub is not much but the collection covering all the nearby historic airfields (Larkhill, Stonehenge, Netheravon, Upavon, Boscombe Down) is interesting.

The Wykeham Arms is always worth a visit. It’s in behind the cathedral. Whilst there, just outside, be sure to find the tiny chapel above the arch. The rising sun is a bit more spit and sawdust, but very old, again near the cathedral. For aviation interest, venture east from Winchester to alresford. Here you will find a pub called the globe in the lake. The garden runs down to a large lake, the other side of which was the site of a B17 crash. There’s a good deal on the walls inside the pub telling the story of how the crew managed to avoid the village. Alresford is also the end of the watercress line, which is a steam railway of about 15 miles in length, which runs through some great countryside. Alresford itself is a nice place too. On the way to alresford you may well cross above the M3 motorway on the replacement spitfire bridge. The old bridge was pulled down when the motorway was widened. The bridge got its name after a spitfire flew under it way back, although there is some dispute over whether it may have been a P40. You’re not too far from the airfield and museum at old Sarum either, which is worth a visit. Likewise the Solent to the sky museum in Southampton is only 20 minutes away. Whilst in Southampton, there is a memorial showing the exact spot of the “spitfire factory” under the big bridge on the woolaston side of the river. A nice place, you should have a great time…