Airfields of Leeds

Post by **chameleon** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 8:44 pm

'I'd noticed that too but, on checking have found that the centre points for their mapping are somewhat off on a lot of airfields in the UK.'Does that mean you too believe the location may be as a few of us believe - further into Whinmoor rather than close to Seacroft village?Have you found anything else to support this?

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 8:59 pm

liits wrote: Trips out to York with my old man would always have him pointing out “That was an airfield in the First War – and that was the hanger” at which point he would indicate the brick building standing approximately where the end of Birchfields Avenue is now.Looking on Google Earth I can’t see any trace of this building so I’m guessing that the Birchfields have been built in the last twenty years [?] The Birchfields were built in the late 1980's. I've always thought that carpet sales place on York Road, just over the (also no longer there) Leeds - Wetherby railway line alignment looked like an aircraft hanger - or is that just me?And don't forget that Leeds heliport used to be based up York Road too.

LS16 · Post by **LS16** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 9:11 pm

Chameleon, I certainly would not discount the location of the airfield being as you describe. I'm looking for evidence to confirm the location but I too believe it to be further away from Seacroft Village. I'm fairly certain the website I've been on is only able to accurately plot locations if some features are still in existence.I've found another source of info I'm checking and will report on soon.I hadn't heard of Thorner being used. I suppose with flying being a relatively "new thing" in the early part of the 20th Century it's inevitable that many landing strips were created that were only in existence for a short period.

LS16 · Post by **LS16** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 9:18 pm

Here's more reference to the Seacroft airfieldhttp://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/air ... t.htmlThis clearly shows the location as the opposite side of the ring road to the Seacroft centre.Also found reference in this story:http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... 1269191.jp

liits · Post by **liits** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 10:11 pm

Not to be critical but I’d be a bit wary of locations posted both on and using Google earth. As an example if you type Seacroft into Google earth, it pitched up just south of the village green. While it’s true that this is definitely Seacroft, Seacroft covers a large area. As you’ve seen from posts on here, seemingly it was somewhere else. Also a quick check of a few of the other location listed on their website are well wide of the mark [Kingston Bagpuize in Oxfordshire is over half a mile wrong].I doubt that the location they state would be much good for a landing ground, having quite a slope NE falling to SW and the prevailing winds being easterly! The location proposed by Chameleon being better, still with easterly prevailing wind but ESE by WNW headings.I’ve seen some glaring errors on other forums [and a few on Secret Leeds] brought about looking at Google Earth. You only have to read some of the posts on the Google Earth Community Portal!

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 10:48 pm

Fascinating, i assume we're talking about a grass strip/field rather than a runway.

Post by **chameleon** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 11:46 pm

Cardiarms wrote: Fascinating, i assume we're talking about a grass strip/field rather than a runway. If you can find an OS map from 30 yrs or so ago cardi, and race back along the beck NW from where it goes under York Road close the the Red Lion, you will see where it seems to split into two.This was (is) the bottom of the shallow sided valley which was open field - give or take the patches of woodland which were planted around 1885. The bottom was quite wide with a slightly raised area between the two water courses, quite long and straight. That is the strip of land proposed.

Post by **chameleon** » Tue 01 Sep, 2009 11:55 pm

LS16 wrote: Here's more reference to the Seacroft airfieldhttp://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/air ... t.htmlThis clearly shows the location as the opposite side of the ring road to the Seacroft centre.Also found reference in this story:http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... 1269191.jp There is very little in the way of an expanse of level land in the area that reference brings up LS16, in fact, quite steep and extensive inclines towards the ring Road.The reference in the YEP article is interesting but not one I've heard before so I'm cautious about that. (Contrary to what the YEP presume, the remainder of the article content is well known and extesively documented; (Certainly used to be the stuff of school history lessons for those of us who've been a round a while!) older texts would seem to disagree a little with some of the statements given by their source in terms of locations and extent of the two factions' roamings).Good find though - keep up the search - there must be more

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Wed 02 Sep, 2009 12:28 am

I mean when it was 'operational' and things like the Wage Slave Heffalump landed there. If the airport has been built in Seacroft it would have meant less noise over the city. Without much knowledge or info, I always thought Church fenton would've been a good site to develop. Airbase, railway, Leeds, York, East Coast Main Line A1 etc.

LS16 · Post by **LS16** » Wed 02 Sep, 2009 9:32 am

liits wrote: Not to be critical but I’d be a bit wary of locations posted both on and using Google earth. I couldn't agree more - that's why I started this thread - I'm so wary of information on the Internet/Google Earth as it is so often wide of the mark.Unless I can see features still extant for the airfields I am plotting then I am assuming nothing!To clarify what others have said, I believe that Seacroft WAS a grass landing strip (as were the majority of WW1 fields) this also makes it harder to get an accurate location.