I’ve been deperately trying to find the notes of a talk on the history of ATC in the UK I gave some years ago to a group of distinguished visitors to what was then The London Area Control Centre at Swanwick but with no luck. I remember talking about the implementation of the Metropolitan Control Zone and the first airway (Green 1) which ran westwards from Woodley but I can’t for the life of me remember the date – I think it was 1947.

However, I do know a man who will know. He’s been researching a book on the history of UK ATC for many years and has published several fascinating extracts in ATC magazines such as Transmit and the old CAA house journal in the late 90s

He hangs out at the “ATC Issues” section on PPRuNe as ‘xpz67’ – PM me here if you want to know his real name. I suggest you PM him on PPRuNe and he’ll be able to answer your questions in all the detail you could want.
Pete

Many thanks for all the info and pointers – I will give PPRuNe a look.