Llanwrtyd Wells
LLANWRTYD WELLS: Location for exhibition flights pre-WW1, pleasure flights shortly after WW1
(Aka ABERNANT HOTEL and ABERNANT AERODROME)
Location: Roughly S/SE of the Abernant Hotel which is just E of Llanwrtyd town centre on the A482. About 15nm SW of Llandrindod Wells town centre.
Period of operation: Very hard to say, records found from 1913 to the 1920s
NOTES: The existence of this location having a flying site came from a passing mention in an article. So, I asked Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide' and a wizard at finding maps, pictures and obscure articles and adverts, if he could kindly look into it? Needless to say the results were astonishing - see below. Fact is that Mike looked into this subject twice over a period of years as more information became available. This last version being compiled in July 2025. Basically it is divided into two sections - Pre WW1 and Post WW1.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The 1904 map shows three possible sites, these being later refined to what seems most likely on the 1914 map.
THE FIRST RECORDED VISIT BY AIR?
This would now appear to be a short visit by Mr Prosser in 1913. Probably landing here? In this area it does seem to be the most sensible place to land.
Note: The newspaper article regarding the visit by Mr Prosser was published in the Brecon County Times on the 6th November 1913.
A SECOND AND THIRD VISIT
This article, in two parts, was published in the Brecon County Times on the 21st August 1913. The advert appeared, also in the Brecon County Times, but on the 30th July 1914.
NOT EVERYTHING ON THE RAILWAYS WORKED WELL IN 1914
However, this does raise aspects of the time before WW1 that I think are probably not so well understood today? At this time Gustav Hamel was a 'super-star', feted throughout the land and much favoured by many young ladies. But, from my point of view, not so much of a pilot as such, compared to, for example the French aviator Henri Salmet, equally regarded in the U.K., but, older and already married.
The main difference between the two being that, apart from flying fairly short trips between venues, generally Hamel had his aeroplane taken apart and transported by rail and road. The very gutsy Salmet on the other hand, invariably flew, often in very difficult conditions - since 1912. Which is why I regard him as being, most probably, the true aviator hero of that era, in this country. Would anybody like to disagree?
THE POST WW1 ERA
The photo was published in the Cambria Daily Leader on the 14th August 1919. The Advert One was placed in the Western Mail on the 15th August.
A NUMBER OF NOTICES (Or something similar)
What did rather surprise me, was the number of 'Notices' that Mike Holder found - five in total - laid out below in chronological order.
Notice One is from the Brecon County Times, 14th August 1919. Notice Two appeared in The Aeroplane magazine on the 20th August 1919.
Notice Three was published, here again, in the Brecon County Times, but on the 8th July 1920.
Notice Four, yet again, was also published in the Brecon County Times, this time on the 2nd September 1920. Last but not least, Notice Five was published in Flight magazine on the 11th May 1922. What we have so far failed to discover, is how long was this aerodrome used?
WHAT THE PAPERS HAD TO SAY, AND AN EXCERPT
Article One was published in the South Wales Weekly Post on the 16th August 1919. The excerpt is from Avro Aircraft by A J Jackson.
Article Two appeared in the Brecon County Times on the 21st August 1919.
SO, WHERE WAS IT?
Roughly about 35nm NNE of Swansea city centre. The local area and area views are from my Google Earth © derived database.
NOTES: Regarding the Avro Company holding a joy-riding operation here, Avro, after WW1, generally concentrated on holding joy-riding operations at seaside resorts. The aircraft, all Avro types of course, mostly the 504K and 504N, being either on wheels or floats. This venue being one of several inland locations.
MORE NOTES
It is interesting to see that in the period just before and just after WW1, Llanwrtyd Wells was seen, by aviation concerns, as a highly desirable destination to operate from.
When the railway system was hugely expanded in the Victorian era, places in this central part of Wales became available as holiday destinations for the middle classes. Although largely ignored today, as so many elect to jump onto an airliner to further far flung places, it really is a most scenic region.
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