Historic Croydon Airport - a key part of aviation history
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- Historic Croydon Airport - a place steeped in history, pivotal in the design of the modern airport and an essential part of the development of the whole air travel experience that we very much take for granted nowadays.
In this film Ian Walker from the Historic Croydon Airport Trust tells us its fascinating story and with the support of the excellent work of Roger Potten@archivesketcher2365 we can visualise exactly how it would looked and operated throughout its core years from 1928 until its closure in 1959.
When I visited this site on one of the monthly Open Days (see below for booking details), I was captured by it. I undertook to put this together to share its story as wide as possible. Croydon should be proud of this place, and if you are in the area I would highly recommend a visit, you will not be disappointed!
Jump To:
00:00 Start
00:13 Opening from Ian Walker
01:17 Location
02:10 Aircraft at the Front
02:47 The Gate Lodge
04:23 The Architecture
08:00 Rear of the Terminal Building
08:42 Control Tower
12:33 World War II Bomb Damage
14:12 Booking Hall
15:13 Inside the Control Tower
17:42 Closing Summary
Thank you for watching, I really appreciate it.
If you would like to make a contribution towards the costs of making content then please click on the “Thanks” button on any video, or alternatively you can buy me a coffee here: www.buymeacoffee.com/philswallow
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#croydon #croydonhistory #croydonairport #historiccroydonairport #localhistory #amyjohnson #purleyway
I was a nine year old when I left England with my brothers and parents, September 1947 headed for New Zealand. We took off from Croydon in the early hours of the morning bound for Shannon in a Lockheed Constellation, then on to Newfoundland and New York. In those days the air travel was a series of short hops and it took nearly a week to get to Auckland. I was so enthralled by flying that led to me becoming a pilot and flying my own aircraft. Now 86 I still make flying model aircraft and pass the skills on to students at the local school.
What a wonderful story, Ian. Thank you for sharing it!
I'm open to correction but I don't think any aircraft as large as a Constellation flew commercially from Croydon, which never had paved runways. More likely a transatlantic flight would have departed from the then new London Airport (now known as Heathrow).
@@Shamrock100 I can assure you that it was a Pan Am Constellation and it was Croydon. I have clear memories of having a three hour delay to take off due to a loss of oil pressure on one engine.
@@A_kiwis_view I have checked further (the in-depth Air-Britain book on the Constellation which can be regarded as the definitive history) and have established that Pan Am Constellation operations to London began on 3 February 1946, using Hurn (Bournemouth) as the UK terminus, as Heathrow was not yet operational. Services transferred to Heathrow on 1 June 1946. European airlines, including BEA, flew from Northolt from 1952-1956 until Heathrow had been sufficiently developed. Therefore Croydon did not serve as a significant London airport after the end of WW2.
Brilliant! Pass on the enthusiasm for flight.
A massive thankyou for helping keep the history of Croydon Airport alive.
It is a wonderful place, very special locally as well as in the general history of aviation 😊
Fantastic, interesting history of Croydon Airport. I visited the museum a few years ago and it was really interesting. I lived nearby in Wallington for 19 years and passed the site many times. My Father, together with his Father, were on the top of the viewing platform, to witness Amy Johnstone returning from her solo flight.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Anne. Wow, that must have been an amazing experience for them!
Amazing! Were they really?!
Fascinating piece of history.
Incredible! Thank you for keeping this important piece of history alive!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I lived in Croydon shortly before joining the RAF in 1976 as an aircraft engineer. I am apalled that a larger part of this important airport hasnt been kept or even in use as a working airfield? Im a big supporter of our heritage and this sort of thing digusts me. I was a trustee at Brooklands until i witness how much of it they have DESTROYED to build a damn industrial estate.....EXCEUSE ME. This was the birthplace of Aviation and motor racing in the UK. The banking could have been restored and historic races taken place. Instead they let MERCEDES demolish and takover most of the old runway (so it can never be used again) My late father worked there building Vickers aircraft. He said the Germans ALWAYS wanted to get their hands on or destroy Brooklands...........they achieved BOTH🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬. Great video about the airport. In the States - their historic sites have EXTREME PROTECTION orders on them and they respect them - not like us in UK? WE just bury them under concrete or another unwanted council estate.
The airfield wasn't large enough to cope with modern jet aircraft unfortunately and with Heathrow designated as "the" London Airport that was that. It is sad. It is great that the building exists and people can visit once per month. I would love to see such orders over here. I have been slightly encouraged recently where two local sites have been earmarked for development but in both cases the original structures are being retained and extensions added to them. On many of my videos I make your point! I often say that there should always be a way that the buildings can be protected. I'm glad there are more of us with this mindset and thank you for watching my video 👍🏻
Money ....
The Greedy Don't Care.
Do you remember when Britain Was Great?
Honestly, many important city airports in the States have been shut and redeveloped, including Denver Stapleton. One difference is that WWII led to a lot of airports being built in the States with long enough runways to accommodate smaller jets, such as Chicago Midway, where the longest runway is 6500 feet, or nearly 2000 feet more than the longest runway at Croydon when it closed.
I was a 9 years old when my Mother worked at the Airport in 1956.Canteen assistant,we only lived a few blocks away in Bates Crescent,certainly changed since then,we left in 1958 for Australia.
Thanks for this, driven past so many times, will call in one of these days. My Dad watched the dog fights over Croydon that day, so glad there is a big memorial there.
Glad you enjoyed it, it is open for guided tours on the first Sunday, monthly, and is thoroughly worth it, Brian
Thank you for the very informative history of Croydon airport. I drive by periodically on my way to Costco and have wondered about the building, many thanks.
By forwarding to two likely interested people a chain has developed among aviators and hobby enthusiasts. I am SO thrilled that this historic place is now receiving more attention. Congratulations to all involved.
That’s great to see, Elizabeth. It is an amazing place with such incredible history!
Very interesting clip.My first proper job back in the early 80s was with a company called Jackson Brothers.We used to make tuning capacitors for,amonst others,the MOD and Marconi and i have no doubt that some of our products were in the equipment used at Croydon Airport.The other interesting thing is that the building myself and a colleage called Jim worked in,was refered to as 'The Bungalow' by Jackson's staff but was actually the old field hospital for the airport and had a brick cross, which presumably was once painted red, built into the front of the roof.I have seen a picture of it during its operational time with the nurses present but couldn't find it to post here unfortunately.The building is long gone now as is the road it once stood on,Kingsway.It's a shame and really should have been listed rather than being built over
Have always had an interest in this aerodrome as it appears in newsreels as Neville Chamberlain proclaimed 'peace in our time' on returning from Germany. I am amazed it was never bulldozed for office development.
Hi George, it is amazing that it still stands and does have some protection now, thankfully. Offices do occupy much of the space in the building. A minor correction Chamberlain flew into Heston Airport with the famous white piece of paper!
The greatest shame about the decline of the airport buildings was the old airport hotel. When I used to go there in the early 1970s the main bar was a wonderful original bar serving the airport's hotel. The decor of the bar was in its original state, with a 1920s art deco mural around all the walls and the art deco styling of the doors, the windows, the bar itself, which complemented the art deco style of the hotel building and that of the main terminal building next door. All along the Purley Way (which was built because of the airport, not merely as a by-pass) down to Five Ways all of the walling and most of the older buildings (including the old petrol station at Five Ways) was all built in a similar style - much of it still remained when I was there last.
But how the owners of the hotel were allowed to ransack what was an original historic feature I shall never understand. It was not the only such thing to occur within Croydon, but in my mind it ranks as one of the worst cases of historic vandalism. There were other commercial and art deco buildings in the general area, many are now gone - including the old George Payne factory.
This video reminded me of a conversation that I had back in the 1970s. In the bar, mentioned above, one of the old regulars was an old man who liked to tell his stories. However, they were not fiction. He told us of how he came to be trained as a pilot, this was in the period at Croydon Airport before the First World War, around 1912. He told us that he first had to earn the right. In his case he was given the job of working along the main take-off and landing areas (it was grass, no tarmac runway) and he needed to pick up detritus. He said that it was a hazard of flying in that bits simply dropped off the aircraft, these became a real problem for other aircraft who might be damaged from flying metal parts kicked up by passing over them.
Nothing changes - look what happened to Concorde.
I was an occasional visitor to 615GS in the early/mid 70s, although I mostly operated as a staff cadet with 618GS at West Malling, even tho I lived just across the valley from Kenley in Warlingham. Thank you for your informative tour.
So interesting. I flew from Aucklands' Whenuapai Airport which was developed in the 1930s , as a child in the late 1950s , on a early 30s airliner Dragon Rapide ,and later that year a Dakota to stay with relatives in another part of the country . I never forgot that experience which felt different from the later travels in the more massive airports and airliners .
I lived on the hill to the south-west of the airport in the 50s. (Woodcote Park.) From my bedroom window I could see the roof of aircraft landing and taking off. There was a daily DC3 at about 05:30 which took newspapers to Jersey. When it took off towards our house I listened to the drone of the engines until they passed over the house. Then I relaxed and went back to sleep. At weekends there was a flying club at the airport and all day a stream of Tiger Moths flying over. The very last flight from the Croydon Airport, if I remember correctly, was a private aircraft belonging to Lord Derby. There had been a technical problem which delayed it.
When a great video, thanks for posting.
I flew from there in 1957 to Jersey with my brother and parents in an old WW2 plane where you had to step over a cross brace for the wings halfway down the the plane.
Paul, it’s amazing how many people have commented that they have flown from Croydon - I have to say that I’m jealous!
What an interesting video - I have always wanted to visit. I recall my mum saying she first flew on a aircraft from here on a trip from Croydon to Dublin in the late 1940s.
Wow, glad you liked it!
The VR sections were particularly additive to this excellent overview. An overlay of the airport in its pomp over the current topography would be nice to see in the future too. Thankd for putting this together.
Thank you, yes I am extremely grateful to @archivesketcher2365 for him helping me with this, he has great content on his channel. In the control room there is a great window overlay which helps with the visualisation but I may do some research and sit down with Roger to see if we could perhaps collaborate on something along these lines. I've done some "Then & Now" videos of some of the local area and it really helps to tell the story I think.
My dad was born right opposite of the Aerodrome Hotel in 1922.
His family opened the outside toilet for people coming to see Amy Johnson , charging 1d a time, making a few quid.
He got bombed in 1940 and one day told his younger brother that he'd joined up , volunteering for Bomber Command as a Radio Operator....
His brother asked him why .
He answered " I'm fed up with those Bastards bombing me, so I'm going to bomb the Bastards back ".
He soon volunteerd again, this time for SOE and went to France at least once...
During his spare time he organised dances at the Airport hotel , getting swing bands in...
One night he met my mother.
I hope to make a pilgrimage this year ...
Wow Jay, what a collection of stories! It is well worth a visit - open on the first Sunday of every month. I think the team would be very interested to hear your stories.
I used to go to a training centre in Imperial Way, off Purley Way, very close to where the airport control tower was. I got off the 194 bus right by the old airport buildings, where there used to be a swimming pool (I think they kept the diving board?). I've flown my radio controlled plane there too. Amazing memories of Croydon where I lived for a huge chunk of my life. I hate how so much has changed and old buildings (including where I worked) now torn down.
That would have been the Purley Way pool that later became Rockingham’s Garden Centre. The diving board is indeed still there! Croydon is suffering, some of the buildings still remain but much has changed, sadly.
@@philswallow Thanks for the info Phil. Yes now you say it, Rockingham's Garden Centre does ring a bell in my head. I'm glad to hear the diving board is still there!
I remember the old 194,and the pool back in 57.
Unless things have changed, the old swimming pool is now a garden centre, and the diving board is still there.
The garden centre (Wyevale, formally Rockingham’s) closed in 2018 and nothing has been done since. Bellway Homes had an application refused, to demolish the site except for the diving platform last May. They are looking to build homes on the site but the listed diving platform will remain.
Fascinating documentary. Thank you 👍
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Great video. It was very run down in the 80s so fantastic to see it looking in such great condition and functioning as offices and the visitors centre.
Yes Andy, it’s had an odd existence over the years but is a great site with a presence to it for sure
Great history thanks for shearing love it 👍🏻🏆
The position fix mentioned was achieved by a fixed telephone link to various radio direction finding stations (RDF) around southern England. An aircraft would request a fix from Croydon tower and the remote receiving stations would report the bearing to the aircraft and the CATO's would plot the different bearings on a special chart resulting in a pretty exact location which would then be transmitted to the aircraft. Took about a minute. Must have saved a lot of pilots.
Amusingly you can still do this by calling an ATC and requesting QDM (Q code, Direction Magnetic TO the station) and they will give you your bearing to them.
Thank you, that’s useful to know!
@@philswallow It is explained here @ 8:30 in.
czcams.com/video/dBKgiDkITUQ/video.html&ab_channel=NationalAerospaceLibrary
@@philswallow All explained at 8:30 in on CZcams video "Airport - first-ever film made film by the Shell Film Unit describing a day in the Croydon Airport"
@AnthonyHigham6414001080 ah thanks, I saw that film a while ago so will take another look.
Fascinating video
Thanks!
Fascinating thankyou so much I’m glad it’s been preserved
Thanks - it's a very special place, well worth a visit if you are in the area!
Outstanding video; really informative. Thank you
Many thanks Alan, glad you enjoyed it!
Brilliant documentary, thanks for posting !!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating history of Croydon airport, one of which I drive pass on a regualr basis.... On a further note, a subtitle glitch, at 13:44, replaces very skinny 'columns' with 'condoms' just thought an fyi
Thanks - I have now amended it and thank you for highlighting it! 🫣
I went on holiday to Alderney from Gatwick in 1967, aged 7, on Morton Air Services’ Heron G-AOXL!
That very plane!
That was in 1967 not ofcourse in the last 15 years i was never on holiday
A great video…❤
Thank you!
Very interesting. I always wanted to dig into London Airport ( Croydon) history. Britain pioneered the air travel.
Great history to be proud of.
An aviator
Idris, have you visited there? Usually the first Sunday of every month, well worth it!
@@philswallow I intend to.
Will definitely
Most interesting and a very professional presentation. My brother and I were taken on a flight in the 50's, to an altitude of 9,000 feet, to ease (it was said) our wrteched whooping cough. Btw, modern aircraft use VHF frequencies from 108 mgcs - 135 mgcs (I believe) - I guess Croydon airport used Short Wave?
Thank you for your kind words. I will have to check with the team to find that out.
Hi Phil, At the moment, every Wednesday i work on some educational material about Croydon Airport for schools, and since I had CZcams on thought I'd search for Croydon Airport and was deliighted to stumble across this video along with the lovely comments. Ian has met me once but may not remember as I'm sure he meets lots of people.
He reminded me that the anniversary of the Airport closing is coming up. It'll be 65 years next year since sadly Croydon Airport stopped functioning as an airport. i swear I read somewhere though that people were campaigning to re-open it?
Serena
Hi Serena, I'm glad you found my video about this very special place. I haven't heard anything about a campaign. If the runways weren't big enough in 1959 and the land has now been repurposed I couldnt see that getting off the ground nowadays (terrible pun, please excuse me!). I like that we can all enjoy visiting the site and learning about its history, it has a certain presence to it, and long may that continue!
my dad used to take me there when I was small to watch the planes, we would sit on the grass on the other side of the road near where the swimming pool was put, I can also remember going to Brighton on the train from west croydon station [or was it east?] and going past Gatwick when they were building the airport there.
Nice memories there, John. I think the train to Brighton would have been from East Croydon, as it is today - it would have been quite something to see both of those things happening - history in the making!
@@philswallow yes, the downside is I’m now in my 70’s
My Parents met in 1958, they both lived in Croydon, and worked at Croydon Airport for Transair (spelling?) Mum was a telephonist, along with Shirley (who passed recently) Dad was an accountant, they married in 59, had me in 60, and my sister in 62, as a family, we still regard Croydon as a home to a degree, yet moved and live in Crawley, as Gatwick opened, after Croydon closing, and both Mum and Dad, worked at LGW, as i did for 39 years, also my Sister, for 25 Years
Why is this only getting 800 views?
I’m still trying to understand the CZcams algorithm - it’s a bit of a mystery! I always do the best job I can with my videos, within my skill set, and hopefully people see an improvement over time. It’s then just a matter of 🤞🏻 that people find them!
Interesting video, thank-you. I grew up living on Link Lane between 68-78 right next to the airfield. I played in many of the surviving buildings from the war, though many had been demolished by then. I remember too finding a hinged manhole cover over a ladder that went way down. Don't know what it was but too deep for a shelter, I think. The terminal buildings and tower were semi-derelict then sadly. I remember the Propeller just down towards Fiveways and the big Phillips valve factory on the other side of the road. My Dad used to fly control line aircraft on the patch of apron left just along from the terminal. All a long time ago now........ I read that the buildings are now being used to house immigrants. Is that true?
Hi, some great memories there! Regarding your last comment I hadn't heard that, there are offices in most of the airport building run by different companies as I understand it.
@@philswallow if you've not already done so, do read 'A Million Miles in the Air' by Capt. Olley. He flew for Imperial Airways and documented his life at the airfield.
Thank you, I will look out for that 😊
Good educational video. I give it thumbs up but do not see the symbol.
Thanks David, it should be the first symbol along, underneath my logo. Glad you enjoyed it.
Hi there, I just saw that CZcams have fixed this problem, it should be there now 👍🏻
Of course it was Britain’s premier airport. This is where the dominant Mercedes team flew in for the British Grand Prix at Donington.
I’ve been past here.
What about the runway? Or were there two runways? I always wonder what direction that was in, and what's happened to the rest of the airport since it closed? There was a housing development I believe, called Roundtree, and is the rest mostly industrial, and is there still a lot of empty space? I never walked across there, and always wish I could have done! I'll have to check Google's satellite view!
It is the Roundshaw estate that was built on much of it. There is an impression of it on the window of the control tower area but it will be on mapping sites for sure. Have a look at the Britain From Above website for some great aerial photography of the time it was operational. For pure mapping check here: maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5.0&lat=56.00000&lon=-4.00000&layers=1&b=1 - it allows you to reveal one map beneath another and is very useful indeed
@@philswallow Many thanks! I'll check into those when I get a chance. After your video up came a recommendation for the Shell video on airport operations and I watched that; I do believe that in one of the aerial views after takeoff there's what looks like a large excavation going on where the outdoor swimming pool was--perhaps that was the start of it. And in one of my very earliest memories I remember people--as spectators--leaving the airport area, and there were planes in the background; it must have been 1959! We used to do cross country running and training diagonally across the Purley Way playing fields, then back down Pampisford Road; I love that area, but never got into the airport area itself.
They didn't have runways as such when Croydon airport opened. Just a very large, clear, area where they took off and landed into wind, whatever the current wind direction was at the time. Take off and landing speeds were much slower than modern aircraft.
The main runway, grass, ran roughly NE/SW. I think only one but was used in both directions. On the west side of the airport, adjacent to Foresters Drive, was Roundshaw Park; a children’s park. I believe still there.
Too bad we can't have a tour of the tower.
Not all of it is accessible publicly unfortunately, the museum area is on two levels, one that I showed part of and another part below. If you can get to visit there in person it is well worth it!
It's like Newark Airport (ugh!)
I notice a lot of the superlatives of the actual airport tour have been toned down significantly for this video.
Ian actually led the tour when I went to the HCA as a visitor a few months before he kindly offered to present for me in this video and I’ll be honest, the content was pretty much the same in both settings. I still believe it’s a highly worthwhile visit and something Croydon should feel very proud of!
I heard the place is very haunted is that true?
I’m not sure, quite possible though I expect. A number of former RAF stations have reported such things!
@@philswallow Yep I guess so heard it was an RAF pilot .👍
So I have been into the building on a few occasions and whilst I would never say it has a "haunted" feeling it does feel like one is stepping into an age gone by. The high ceilings , the brass and the wood (oak ) do give it an almost cathedral like sensation. One day I was waiting at the front desk and someone's smartphone rang on the desk. It seemed very very out of place and an anachronism. I always half expected someone to come out of a room into the foyer with a cut glass English accent and a 1930's dress.
@@JohnJones-ct9pr I just found out one of the ghost was a Dutch pilot warning about the fog .