Postcards: Flying in Merrie Olde England

My hometown of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, is unique in its flying, historic, geological, cultural, military, and even sporting features, making it one of the most fascinating, yet underappreciated, places in the country.

Worksop, “the Gateway to the Dukeries,” is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book, the first survey of England by King William the Conqueror; the town features a twelfth-century Norman Priory church and gatehouse and a Dark Ages castle. A minor skirmish occurred during the Wars of the Roses between Lancashire and Yorkshire in the fifteenth century. Worksop is 15 miles south of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (EGCN), formerly the Royal Air Force field Finningley. Terrified no one would recognize either Doncaster or Sheffield, planners originally called the airport simply Robin Hood; unfortunately, passengers expected Nottinghamshire, not Yorkshire! The towns of Scrooby and Austerfield—home of several Mayflower Pilgrims—sit directly under its flightpath.

The original Sherwood Forest occupied a quarter of Nottinghamshire; much reduced, it still contains a National Nature Reserve with Robin Hood’s hideout, the famous 23-ton Major Oak; Thoresby Hall (former home of the Duke of Kingston, now a five-star Warner Hotel); Clumber Park (Duke of Newcastle and a World War II training area set up by Sir Winston Churchill); Worksop Manor (Duke of Norfolk), and the stunning Welbeck Abbey (the eccentric fifth Duke of Portland drove his coach through tunnels under his estate to the Worksop railway station), all just south of Worksop.

Creswell Crags Heritage site has the oldest Neolithic (13,000 years old) cave paintings found anywhere in the world at this latitude, and it was another legendary hideout for Robin Hood and his Merry Men; it forms part of a limestone geological fault linking all three lakes of Creswell, Clumber, and Welbeck, all viewable in a single amazing flight.

Former World War II RAF bases, the two local airfields here could hardly be more different: Three miles west, Netherthorpe (EGNF) has the shortest (1,250 feet) licensed grass runway in England, home to a flying school, enthusiastic owner operators, cafe, and an occasional Tiger Moth biplane; the 613 RAF Squadron Auxiliary Air Force operated reconnaissance/rescue flights during World War II. A slightly longer runway (1,800 feet) is available.

Gamston Airfield (EGNE), six miles east, was built in 1942, and as RAF Gamston, operated Wellington bombers and Hawker Hurricane fighters. A 5,500-foot hard-surface runway accommodates a Citation business jet hub and flight schools. Night flying warning: There are no free pilot-operated lights in the U.K.

Nearby is the defunct RAF Worksop, once home to the Gloster Meteor, the first British jet fighter. Until recently it was still possible to see the runway and make practice approaches.

A little farther afield (still less than an hour’s flight) are many other operational World War II RAF bases, including RAF Scampton in the city of Lincoln, 25 miles east and the former home of the famous 617 Squadron Dambusters, is currently home to the equally famous RAF Red Arrows display team operating the BAE Hawk fighter. The 617 Squadron later moved a few miles east to Petwood House Hotel, carrying out the sinking of the battleship Tirpitz; the squadron’s temporary Officers’ Mess has the small bar preserved, just as in wartime, and the atmosphere is eerily powerful.

The Peak District National Park offers views of another famous stately home, Chatsworth House, and the nearby Ladybower Reservoir, where the 617 Squadron practiced flying—at 60 feet agl, at night, over water to prepare for the “Bouncing Bomb” raids on the Eider, Mohne, and Sorpe dams, which supplied the Ruhr Valley factories. The reservoir can be over flown to simulate low-level practice with the same dams the 617 Squadron used. Many aircraft were lost on training flights both during and soon after the Second World War, and the area known as Dark Peak was the site of many crashes, sadly now mostly scavenged for relics.

For an airfield cafe and £100 hamburger/coffee try Tollerton’s Nottingham City Airport, and check out the castle and statue of Robin Hood, and two of the oldest (twelfth century) pubs in England, visited by King Richard the Lionheart before the Crusades.

No trip to Britain would be complete without mentioning the nearby Lindrick Golf Club, which hosted the 1957 Ryder Cup; Doncaster Racecourse, home to the famous Saint Leger Stakes; or Grantham, home of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Sir Isaac Newton (Woolsthorpe Manor). Please come over and say hi!

Peter Hewkin is a retired RAF flight lieutenant, CAA flying instructor, and FAA commercial multiengine land/seaplane pilot who lives in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom.