High Post Aerodrome, Wiltshire

[graham]

I belong to a local Facebook group that features a lot of "days gone by" photos and these appeared yesterday. It's the old High Post Aerodrome which sat off the A345 Amesbury to Salisbury road. I've driven this road several times a month for the past 30 years and never even knew of its previous existence. Would anyone on here have any more info at all please?

High Post 2 by Graham Brown, on Flickr

High Post 3 by Graham Brown, on Flickr

High Post 4 by Graham Brown, on Flickr

High Post 5 by Graham Brown, on Flickr

[davebasing]

Originally a Wiltshire School of Flying base in the 1930s. The Canadians based Lysanders there in WW2 and Spitfire (and other Supermarine types) production was carried out there when dispersed from Southampton, including the first flight of the Supermarine Attacker (till someone woke up to the fact that grass runways and tail dragger jets don't mix very well, and the work moved to Chilbolton). Finally closed due to its proximity to Boscombe when the latter was expanded post war. Your local library might have a small booklet on the place published in 2007 by the South Wiltshire Industrial Archaeology Society. A nice bit of trivia is that when the runway was extended during WW2 to accommodate the higher performance aircraft, the road from High Post to Middle Woodford was reportedly closed off using the fuselages of 3 Hawker Tomtits. Anyone checked under the hedges there?

[graham]

Great info Dave as usual, many thanks, I shall indeed check the hedges next time of passing!