Ascott House
ASCOTT HOUSE: Temporary flying display venue
Note: Ascott House was on the western edge of Bedfordshire, whereas the village of Wing, barely half a mile to the west, is in Buckinghamshire.
Location: In the grounds of Ascott House, S of the A418, about 0.5nm ESE of Wing village and about 2.25nm SW of Leighton Buzzard town centre
Period of operation: 3rd August 1914
NOTES:
In April 2017 I was very kindly contacted by Rory Morrisey who provided this information: "In various local newspapers there was a notice between middle and the end of July 1914 that there would be an exhibition of flying by Mr William Birchenough of the Grahame-White Aviation Co. Ltd at the Wing Flower Show in the grounds of Ascott House, Wing, Bucks on the Bank Holiday Monday, 3rd August. It says he will fly from Hendon to Wing during the morning and passenger flights may be booked for £3 3s each."
Also; "Transport was provided from Leighton Buzzard station to the venue." Plus; "Ascott House is not the same place as the WW2 Wing aerodrome, of course. Ascott House was and is still occupied by the Rothschild family."
QUITE GOOD VALUE?
The fee of £3 3s might seem to be very reasonable, even allowing for inflation over the last hundred years or so, but the average worker might well have been paid less than £2 a week. Even so, at this period down in Paignton, Devon, a flight was costing £4 per person, although they could have been flying with a much more famous pilot - like the French aviator Henri Salmet. See my entry for PAIGNTON FLYING SITES for much more period info.
As far as I can make out, the duration of the majority of these flights was roughly between five and ten minutes. In other words, basically a single circuit. Then again, we need to remember that for the vast majority of people in those days, having the opportunity to just have a flight was an amazing experience.
It is difficult to think of an equivalent situation today, but I suppose it wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration, (but it is of course), to equate how many people saw the opportunity then, compared with people paying in advance, several million dollars for a flight into space today. This comparison reflecting of course, just how far aviation has advanced. Let's face it, the majority of pasengers boarding a modern airliner are so unimpressed with flying, that, even if they have a window seat they will probably pull the blind down to better see the in-flight entertainment screen.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
In 2025 Mike Holder, a long term friend of this 'Guide', decided to see if anything can be found to illustrate this listing, and has kindly provided the following items.
The advert was placed in the Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette on the 14th July 1014.
The excerpt is from an article published in the Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News on the 8th August 1914.
SOME HISTORY ABOUT MR WILLIAM BIRCHENOUGH (From Military Wiki)
The photo is from Bing.
The local area and area views are from my Google Earth© derived database.
NOTES: I will very happily admit that when I started this project, now just over a quarter of a century ago in 2025, I had almost no idea about just how much fixed wing aviation activity had been going on in the UK prior to WW1. Hopefully this 'Guide' helps to illustrate the extent of this astonishing period in powered aircraft development. Without any doubt the French were the leaders and the British were slow to catch on and catch up. However, trying to be fair to the global history, once we got going, by heck did we respond!
Led, I think it reasonable to propose, by Claude Grahame-White based at HENDON, although we really must pay tribute to French pilots coming across the Channel to show us the way forward, especally Henri Salmet.
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