Braunstone
BRAUNSTONE see also BRAUNSTONE PARK
BRAUNSTONE: Civil airport later military aerodrome (Aka LEICESTER MUNICIPAL AIRPORT)
Note: This picture (2016) was obtained from Google Earth ©
Operated by: Pre 1940: Leicestershire Aero Club*
Airline users: Pre 1940: Crilly Airways, Provincial Airways
Flying school: Pre 1940: Leicestershire Aero Club
Military user: WW2: RAF Training Command 51 Group
7 EFTS (Desford) Used as a satellite field
Manufacturing: Pre 1940: Reid & Sigrist
Location: Roughly 3nm W of Leicester City, just N of the A47 and just E of the A563
Period of operation: 1935 to 1945?**
Runways: All-over grass airfield initially?
Possibly in the late 1930s: E/W 731 grass N/S 548 grass
WW2? N/S 609 grass E/W 716 grass NE/SW 579 grass
SE/NW 640 grass
An aerial photograph, (courtesy of the Luftwaffe), is on display in the control tower club room at LEICESTER EAST (now LEICESTER AIRPORT) and the flying ground dimensions were E/W 900m and N/S 700m
NOTES: *There is some debate about this. The important factor is that Leicester Corporation built and funded BRAUNSTONE so were therefore the principal operator. It appears they sub-contracted the day-to day running of the aerodrome to the Leicester Aero Club. Many say, in the East Midlands at least, it was forward thinking by some City Councils backing aerodromes to become Air Ports was a major factor in the success of these sites – DONCASTER is another example.
This said it is certainly questionable if BRAUNSTONE and DONCASTER were strictly speaking commercially viable, or rather somewhat subsidised as status symbols? Nottingham tried to establish an airport, but not very hard, refusing to offer assistance to establish the infrastructure required and Derby showed no interest at all in having an aerodrome until BURNASTON was established, but airline operations didn’t commence there until after WW2.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
We have Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', to thank for researching this location. Much of what he found relates to the 'official' opening of the aerodrome, but, it was usually the case in those days that the 'official' opening ceremony took place some time after the aerodrome became operational.
Article One was published in the Leicester Evening Mail on the 8th July 1935.
Advert One was placed in Flight magazine on the 20th June 1935. Photo One was published in the Leicester Daily Mercury on the 13th July 1935.
FLIGHT MAGAZINE GOES TO TOWN
As can be seen below, Flight magazine regarded the official opening ceremony day as being one of considerable interest. And quite rightly too as I cannot think of another regional 'airport' during the 1930s which arranged a similar range of events which exceeded those held here. This article with pictures was published on the 18th July 1935.
SOME PICTURES
The first picture is of Lt. Cdr. C W Philips, winner of the Grosvenor Trophy air race. The fourth picture gives some idea of the crowd of spectators that had attended the opening ceremony.
AND, THERE'S MORE
Advert Two was placed in the Leicester Evening Mail on the 1st July 1935. Article Three was published in the Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail on the 19th July 1935.
Article Four was published in the Leicester Evening Mail on the 24th July 1935. The local area view, and area view below, are from my Google Earth © derived database.
The last photo was published in the Leicester Chronicle on the 20th July 1935. Advert Three was placed in the Leicester Daily Mercury on the 12th July 1935.
FLYING CIRCUS VISITS
From the 24th April to 3rd of May 1931, Aviation Tours visited BRAUNSTONE during their UK tour of Britain. But, did they use the same site later to become the established aerodrome in 1935?
Not much appears known about this Tour. It appears to have started in April and ended in September. However, venues ranging from Penzance in Cornwall to Inverness in Scotland were visited. If anybody can kindly offer more advice, this will be much appreciated.
Venue (2nd May 1936) for CWA Scotts National Aviation Day Display
SOME HISTORY
In 1932 a regional planning report noted that a site at Braunstone Frith had been acquired for a future Leicester Airport. In July 1935, after the official opening and air show, scheduled airline services commenced** and the airport was managed by the Leicestershire Aero Club. One source claims Crilly Airways made it their base using three DH.84 Dragons, a DH.83 Fox Moth, (reserve aircraft), and three GA Monospar ST.25 Jubilee types. Other sources state Crilly operated two Dragons and two GA Monospar ST.25s, Incredible is it not, that there should be any disagreement about such basic facts regarding a well established airline operation.
As Neville Doyle agrees in his book The Triple Alliance with the former fleet strength, all I need to do now is supply the registrations:
De Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth
De Havilland DH.84 Dragons G-ACLE (Plus ?)
Monospar ST.25 Jubilees G-ADPK, G-ADPL & G-ADPM
Despite quite a search I cannot find registrations for the Fox Moth and the other Dragon. Can you help?
**There is some good evidence that Crilly commenced a Northampton (SYWELL) – BRAUNSTONE – Nottingham (TOLLERTON) – DONCASTER service in May 1935 and on the 6th June a BRAUNSTONE – TOLLERTON – SKEGNESS service commenced. On the 7th August 1935 another service linked Liverpool (SPEKE) – TOLLERTON – BRAUNSTONE – SYWELL – Norwich (MOUSEHOLD HEATH).
A NOVEL IDEA?
Something I think well worth mentioning, discovered in ‘TOLLERTON, an airfield for Nottingham’ by Howard Fisher, Bob Hammond and Nigel Morley concerns an announcement by Mr Crilly at the inception of his airline service to SPEKE, held at the Adelphi hotel in the centre of Liverpool, “After lunch Mr Crilly announced a new arrangement of 1,000 mile tickets costing £10.10s. 0d fully transferrable between family members or a firm’s employees and applying to any Crilly service.” The cost was 2½d a mile which he said was little over the cost of a First Class rail travel. Today, at least in 2012 when writing this, most of us are still awaiting the arrival of a truly flexible ticket - which suits our travel needs!
Crilly started an air mail service to Lisbon, Portugal in February 1936 using four ex-KLM Fokker F.XIIs, but they operated from CROYDON.
BECOMING MILITARY
It appears that with WW2 starting, BRAUNSTONE was requisitioned for military purposes on the 27th October 1939 as a ‘Forced Landing Ground’
POSSIBLE AIRLINE OPERATIONS AFTER WW2?
In July 2012 I met somebody at LEICESTER AIRPORT (LEICESTER EAST) who, as a boy and living near BRAUNSTONE saw Dragon Rapides regularly using the airfield up till around 1957. But, were these an airline operation or a charter concern or even company hack(s)?
Howard J Smith
This comment was written on: 2016-11-07 22:53:17Remember at an early age in the 1940's watching Tiger Moths flying 'bumps & circuits' from my bedroom window on Kirkland Road.
Reply from Dick Flute:
Dear Howard, Many thanks for adding these memories. Best regards, Dick
Ken Naylor
This comment was written on: 2017-02-06 13:22:41Both my brothers remember seeing tiger moths flying around Braunstone airport in the 40s/50s
Reply from Dick Flute:
Hi Ken, Many thanks for this info. Regards, Dick
Ken Naylor
This comment was written on: 2017-02-06 13:27:06I can also remember the control tower which had a sign in large letters saying Pilots Only would love to see a picture of this . Does anyone one?
Reply from Dick Flute:
Hi Ken, I shall keep both your comments posted, and, regarding your second request, I do hope that somebody can oblige. Best regards, Dick
John Bloxham
This comment was written on: 2018-07-02 21:41:45Greetings from British Columbia. As an early teenager I remember many times watching the yellow Tiger Moths doing circuits and bumps from the humpback railway bridge close to Braunstone Aerodrome.My home then was on Braunstone Lane, close to the old village. Later (1951), I served four years in the RAF.
John Finney
This comment was written on: 2018-11-11 18:00:40I have a magic lantern slide which shows a lot of people at the opening of the aerodrome
Reply from Dick Flute:
Hi John, Would it be possible to get jpg scan of this picture? Regards, Dick
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