Dizzy Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Fascinating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Interesting video Dizz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks Dizzy. Brings back memories of laying in the grass at the end of the runway, all the way from the B-17's to the Super Forts. Had to inspect the grass carefully first though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks Dizzy. Brings back memories of laying in the grass at the end of the runway, all the way from the B-17's to the Super Forts. Had to inspect the grass carefully first though. Stallard great to hear you'r still around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks Algy, just chillin', but keeping my eye on y'all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks Algy, just chillin', but keeping my eye on y'all. Always great to know the old timers are still watching Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted January 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks Algy, just chillin', but keeping my eye on y'all. Hiya Stallard. So great to see you on here again and I've missed you. Maybe we should call you 'stalker' from now on though I thought of you the other day actually when I was walking through the snow with my dog up a road you once mentioned living on around here and wondered what you were upto these days. I guess you must have got some rain though since you were last on here .... got any snow yet ha ha Glad you enjoyed the video and that it brought back some memories for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Great stuff Dizzy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Hi Dizzy, Just as exuberant as ever I see - God bless you. Caught a quick view of the old town center in that video, brought back New Year's Eve feelings. Sorry, no snow, back to playing golf in shorts every day, but getting down into the 60's next week. Never miss a Man U. or Everton or Wigan soccer game so I get to see your weather - I'm not that tough anymore !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Hi Dizzy, Just as exuberant as ever I see - God bless you. Caught a quick view of the old town center in that video, brought back New Year's Eve feelings. Sorry, no snow, back to playing golf in shorts every day, but getting down into the 60's next week. Never miss a Man U. or Everton or Wigan soccer game so I get to see your weather - I'm not that tough anymore !! I envy your climate Stallard but not the hurricanes etc. we have a blanket of snow about 2" deep over everything this morning 0613hrs, hopefully if the met office is correct we should have rain this later and that will clear it away, that of course will mean floods for some poor soles, can't win can we. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazandmalc Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 some world war 2 usaaf finds at burtonwood airfield last year http://www.historicaviationmilitary.com/aircraftfindings.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 some world war 2 usaaf finds at burtonwood airfield last yearhttp://www.historicaviationmilitary.com/aircraftfindings.html Did you ever find Mike McGrath ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 some world war 2 usaaf finds at burtonwood airfield last year http://www.historicaviationmilitary.com/aircraftfindings.html Interesting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazandmalc Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hi Wavydavy, I never found Mike Mcgrath. Has he definately gone living in Winsford? Or is he still living at his old address at Orford? I'd love to get in touch with him Davy. Malc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazandmalc Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hi Peter T, Thanks for the nice comments about my website www.HistoricAviationMilitary.com Today I found a aircraft re-fuelling trigger nozzle made of some kind of brass or bronze alloy that hasn't rusted in any way at Burtonwood airfield. I'm going to put a photo of it on my website ASAP but it has the words USA on it and other words and these are: Barnes Manufacturing Co. Mansfield Ohio / 41-727-P Regards Malc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 Hi Wavydavy, I never found Mike Mcgrath. Has he definately gone living in Winsford? Or is he still living at his old address at Orford? I'd love to get in touch with him Davy. Malc Malc, last i heard was Winsford , but i know his old address was 84 West Avenue when he lived with his mother. He did have a workshop off Sharp Street which he even got the post office to call Baker's Lane because otherwise his premises would have had no mailing address . He was repairing & servicing fruit machines. I have even been to address a couple of times in the last 5 years but it's been locked up both times. From what i can gather he was using the business name MJM SERVICES. Best wishes Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee Posted July 11, 2013 Report Share Posted July 11, 2013 That was interesting, ta for posting! Does anyone know why Burtonwood was selected. Why not an airfield closer to the sea where the airctaft could be off loaded.and transported easier How come it did not continue life as a airfield, with its huge runway I thought it make sence? What was the purpose of the other airfield in Applton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 The US airfield was built at Burtonwood because - a) It is a large flat expanse of land enabling long runways to be built. Strategically at the time it was far enough from Germany to make it difficult for the German airforce to carpet bomb. c) Close to the port of Liverpool to allow crated aircraft to be transported by ship, then moved by road to the base. d) In 1940 the RAF built a airfield on the Burtonwood site, consequently the initial groundwork had been done. I'm sure there are many more complex reasons that i can't think of at 0700hrs on this friday morning. Coffee, this site will provide you with a massive amount of information. http://www.enginehistory.org/raf_burtonwood.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Coffee, there was some talk in the 60/70s that an airport was on the cards to be built on the site , but due to mining subsidence that was shelved. The former main runway was used to build on top of as the carriageway of the M62 between Winwick & the Widnes junctions. Wikipedia has an article about Burtonwood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Thanks!!!! I have only just found this topic, expect some old threads to be revived Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Coffee, the RNAS HMS Blackcap airfield at Stretton, go to this link it will explain all, and don't be put off by the blue screen minus the photo just scroll down. http://www.rafburtonwood.org/blackcap.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Thanks for the links. I used to work on a farm on the edge of the airfield. Started there just as the camp was closing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luasredline Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 My father worked at Burtonwood air base, in the stores. It was probably during the first half of the 1950s. He used to tell a story that a certain amount of stock couldn't be reconciled with the written records, for some reason. One of the American officers instructed him to take some men and dig a hole with a mechanical digger, then bury the offending material. Apparently, included in the latter was a quantity of gold-cased wrist watches, brand new. My father was disgusted at such a waste, given that everything was in very short supply here so soon after the war. He said he was tempted to pocket a couple of these watches, but he was very honest and wouldn't have done. I wonder if any of this material ever came to light during recent construction work? My own first experience of the base was at the end of 1969. I'd recently left school, and for some reason decided to cycle out to take a look at the base. Unfortunately, I left it a few months too late to see fixed-wing aircraft using the main runway, although the latter was still there. It ran across Burtonwood Road, and had level-crossing gates like a railway which would have been closed against the traffic (such traffic as there was) if an aircraft were taking off or landing. This is now the route of the motorway, and the present road has been elevated over it. Before the motorway was constructed, the runway was sometimes used for drag racing and other motor sports, and often for people learning to drive on a Sunday morning. Now, it's hard to believe how remote the area around the base felt. The land was so level, and you could see for miles in all directions. There were, in addition to the main runway, a lot of subsidiary runways which were disused and overgrown with weeds. Everywhere, there were notices proclaiming that it was a prohibited place within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act, and that unauthorised persons entering the area would be arrested and prosecuted. I used to trespass with my bicycle on the part of the base opposite the main buildings, and never got into any trouble. At this time, 1969 -70, although fixed-wing aircraft no longer used the base, there were helicopters coming and going. I believe they were Hueys, similar to those used in the Vietnam war. Local air cadet squadrons also used the base for gliding lessons, launched by a jeep. American servicemen and their families lived in a secure compound near the base, with lots of neat little prefabricated houses which must have been quite comfortable inside, although they weren't very big. A green school bus used to take the children to school on the main part of the base. I remember attending a couple of events there on the Fourth of July, to which local people were invited. In the evening, there would be a bonfire and fireworks. I recall standing beside the bonfire and listening to some Americans singing "America the Beautiful." I reflected that it must be nice to believe in something so unquestioningly. Anyway, it's hard to believe that all the base has disappeared, and been replaced by so many houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergy53 Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 Remember in the sixties the Burtonwood road from Sankey to the other side (which is now the M62) being closed when Vulcan bombers visited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Cross Posted October 24, 2023 Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 I am now 76 years old and I often reminisce about the mid 1950s when my farther used to take me on the cross bar of his bicycle from where we lived in Queens Drive, Newton-Le-Willows, Lancashire to the US Air Base at Burtonwood. We used a narrow side road to the North side of the main run way which ran about 20 yards away parallel to it at the Winwick end. From behind a 6ft high wire fence we would watch the B17, B29 bombers and Super Saber, Shooting Star jets and many more different aircraft. In about 1962-63 6 Avro Vulcan's visited and I remember them very loudly circling over head my house waiting to land. The Base is no longer there only one very large hanger and a couple of very small air strips for gliders etc. The M62 Motor Way was built directly over the top of main run way and the rest of the area is now covered with houses and commercial sites. Many fond memories of my father and the base in my youth. Wayne. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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