Bodicote Farm Grounds
BODICOTE FARM GROUNDS: Temporary aerodrome
Note: The first two pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©. The map was kindly provided by Mike Holder and also shows the site used by Sir Alan Cobham's Tour in 1932 and 1933.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Notes: Mike Holder is a great friend of this 'Guide' and his maps and pictures are such a welcome addition.
Operated by: Berkshire Aviation Company
Location: About 1nm SE of Banbury town centre (Banbury Cross)
Period of operation: From the 7th to the 23rd September 1920
NOTES: In May 2020 Mr Michael Holder kindly sent me a scan of a page in The Banbury Advertiser dated Thursday, Sept 16th 1920. The article was titled 'Joy-Flying Over Banbury' and sub-titled 'Getting Off The Earth: Some Daring Stunts'. Of special interest is a picture of two wing-walkers between the wings, (one either side), of an Avro 504 - a stunt I have never seen a picture of taken in the U.K.
To promote the event the Berkshire Aviation Company and Banbury Advertiser issued ten coupons to its readers for free flights. Also, members of The Banbury Advertiser literary staff were offered flights over the town and all attested to the; "....absolute comfort, care and efficiency with which the journeys are conducted...." and, for: "Bad sailors" it was assured there would be no rocking or swaying of the machine whatever." I wonder how the pilots managed to turn without banking, as skidding turns are much more uncomfortable. But of course we need to take into account poetic license.
The article states that booked flights cost £0 10s 6d or £1 1s in any desired direction. As a typical manual workers wages were around £1 a week, it seems clear that going on a joy-ride was very much the prerogative of the more affluent middle classes. The 'stunt flying' displays were conducted during the weekend. It is, I think, well worth looking up this comprehensive article, not least because the style seems so quaint to our eyes.
ANOTHER REPORT
Mike Holder also found this article, from the Berkshire Aviation web-site, from the Banbury Advertiser published on Thursday the 16th September 1920:
"For the first time in its history Banbury is this week enjoying - and thoroughly enjoying - an Aviation Week. On Saturday last, according to their announcement, the Berkshire Aviation Company took up their abode close to the town and opened a ten-days' course of aeroplane trips for the benefit of the residents of the town and district. They had commissioned a field on the left-hand side of the Oxford Road, as you go out of the town - part of the Bodicote Farm Grounds - and here, from 10.30 a.m. till dusk, they are giving passenger and exhibition flights daily at modest fees."
Today of course we might well wonder if the price for a short passenger flight, very roughly about half a weeks wages for a non-skilled worker, might be described as "modest". What is also very striking is that they stayed here for ten days. Starting from just over ten years later, the major flying circus operators usually stayed just one day - two at most at the most popular venues. But of course Berkshire Aviation were using a handful of Avro 504s which could carry two passengers.
A typical Sir Alan Cobham display, even in 1932 at the start of his 'classic' four years of Tours, had up to twenty aircraft participating, of which seven were owned by his company National Aviation Day Ltd.
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