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jonah #205652 9th Feb 2008 6:40pm
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Looks about right to me but i dont know if its a practical landing spot !! - Just to clarify i rang up the Golf Club and asked them about it. But they didnt know anything about a previous airfeild ?


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Just found a bit of info. on the website of Bidston Golf Club which seems to reinforce my idea of the location: see my previous post with map.

Quote from Bidston Golf Club website

"The Early Years

Bidston Golf Club, founded in 1913, was an amalgamation of Golfing Societies who had previously been playing on the Wallasey Corporation Municipal Course, The Warren. A lease was secured and a nine hole course was created on the site of the present eighth to eighteenth holes. Further ground was leased in 1925 between the railway and the River Fender to provide an eighteen hole Golf Course." End quote

The piece of land acquired in 1925 is about 35 acres, between the railway & the river Fender/Birket & now contains holes 2-7. From the original reports of Bidston aerodrome, there's no indication that it survived very long after the gala opening at Easter 1920, in fact, (from the original post), "there is no record of it re-opening at Whit".

I think there's now strong evidence that this land, leased in 1925 by the Club, is the site of the airfield. Opinions please.

Cheers, Chris.




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chriskay #205959 11th Feb 2008 5:20pm
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The amount of places it can be is very limited, and this is the strongest evidence yet to support the whereabouts.

Doctor Frick Says .... Thumbs Up smile

Last edited by DoctorFrick; 11th Feb 2008 5:21pm.

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That is very intruiging evidence Chris, and seems to tie in with the aerodrome covering "35 acre's of land near Bidston Railway station".

However this information leaves a question in my mind, was it more towards the bidston village side of the railway station:

Quote
Bidston aerodrome, which was overlooked by Bidston Hill, covered an area of some thirty-five acres of grassland lying between Bidston railway station and the sand hills, a spot completely free from telegraph wires, trees, and other obstacles. It was within two minutes walk from the railway station, and was only a short distance from Hoylake Road, which was served by buses of Birkenhead Corporation Transport, who had promised to transport the public to the aerodrome. There are no records of the aerodrome reopening at Whit. The Bidston site would be considered for possible use during the Second World War as a site for aircraft off loaded in Birkenhead docks from ships that had transported them across the Atlantic from the USA.

It does seem to suggest to me that it may have been nearer Bidston Hill then the train station is and still very close to the train station is, maybe where the Fender flyover is nowadays, around that area and into the fields towards Bidston Village, overlooked very closely by Bidston Hill.

However, to be honest, I am inclined to prefer you're placement as to where it actually was. The docks bit from the above quote also seem's to backup this theory.

smile

MattLFC #205973 11th Feb 2008 6:18pm
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This map seems to suggest it was on part of the golf course also:

http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/Bidston.html

smile

MattLFC #205994 11th Feb 2008 7:01pm
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Matt; I think that the original description, part of which you quoted above, of it being "between Bidston station & the sandhills" rules out the direction of the hill or Bidston village.

Cheers, Chris.


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chriskay #206079 12th Feb 2008 12:01am
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Put point to call.. The aerodrome was not a Runway of tarmac it was just a Piece of gras... If you look at the map matty posted and look at where the Tesco's is go back before the steel works and look how Stright that piece of field is if Tesco's wasnt there smile Remember it was an Aerodrome not Airport..


Lee Mills

SoundLad #206082 12th Feb 2008 12:24am
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http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/CHESHIRE/2004-07/1090344343

Quote
This airfield started operating in April 1920. It was probably located where Bidston golf course now is. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has any information or photographs of it or who can exactly locate it.

Another airfield operated nearby in the 1930s. This was owned by E D Ward Ltd who had a garage on Leasowe Road somewhere near where Longacre Close now is. This airfield was behind the garage. E D Ward was Eric Darwent Ward who was born in Welshpool in 1900 and retired there.

Interesting... think

MattLFC #206109 12th Feb 2008 10:27am
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@Matt; yes, I came across that too.
@Soundlad; you're right, of course, about it being a grass field. What you also need to bear in mind though, is that in those days, what was needed was not a nice straight piece of land. Before the days of powerful jet aircraft, it was necessary, to achieve flying speed, to take off into the wind, so you needed a site which had room to take off in any direction. Planes also landed into the wind to minimise groundspeed at touchdown.(This is, of course, why all airfields had a windsock). In the 1939-45 war, when planes were heavier & needed a tarmac runway, the standard configuration was to have 3 runways in a triangle, 60 degrees apart.

Cheers, Chris.


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chriskay #206111 12th Feb 2008 10:52am
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happy @ Chris smile


Lee Mills

SoundLad #206119 12th Feb 2008 1:28pm
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A fly in the ointment guys..I'm reading a book at present called Wirral gleanings ,although it makes no reference to the Aerodrome it does say and there is a map from 1909 and the land where the golf course and the station are was all salt marshes .I suppose things might of changed in the eleven years before it opened but wouldn't that have been a major engineering task to drain them..
I am in the process of trying to get an appointment at the archives to do a little more research


It all makes perfect sense expressed in dollars and cents ,pound shillings and pence
SoundLad #206120 12th Feb 2008 1:36pm
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an aerodrome, well blow me over with a feather, bloody easyjet are everywhere arn't they


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raftl


It all makes perfect sense expressed in dollars and cents ,pound shillings and pence
jonno40 #206126 12th Feb 2008 2:20pm
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Okay asking around i got a reference to a RAF Station off Leasowe Road. It wasnt a big affair it stored the barrarge balloons "Deflated Ones" in the Building. Like i say it was only small,
but an RAF Station in its own rights, as it had security etc.
And one of them barriers that counter balance and you send it
up in the air with the minimum of effort.

Anyways.
This is where it was.


Attached Images
raf01.jpg (81.22 KB, 152 downloads)
You can see the Distance from Tesco's Bidston Moss
raf02.jpg (71.87 KB, 150 downloads)
Just off Leasowe Rd and North Wallasey Approach (Green lane)
raf03.jpg (96.72 KB, 151 downloads)
From memory the Building could have been either side. Not sure, but it wasn't big.
Mark #206129 12th Feb 2008 2:44pm
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There are several references to theses barrage balloon sites,there were quite a few on the Wirral ,even a couple on bidston hill.They also used to set huge oil fires close to these sites so as to dis-orientate the German bombers(slightly off thread)


It all makes perfect sense expressed in dollars and cents ,pound shillings and pence
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