Good Bye Alexandra Park, Hello Woodford

1920s

Named after the nearby Alexandra Park Railway station of the Great Central Railway, Alexandra Park was the second Aerodrome to be built in the Manchester area and opened in 1918. Located on the westerly edge of Withington, adjacent to Princess Road, on what is now the site of Hough End Playing Fields. It was used for the
assembly, test flying and delivery of military aircraft built in the Manchester area by Avro at Newton Heath and National Aircraft
Factory No.2 at Heaton Chapel.

The land had been leased from the War Department from the aviation pioneer Lord Egerton of Tatton. The terms of the lease stipulated that flying should cease five years after the war ended.
Recognising the impending closure Avro searched for a new airfield. Alexandra Park closed to air traffic on 24th August 1924, and Avro now desperately needed a new Airfield.

(Monochrome Photograph Top Right) - Above is No 1 Hangar at Woodford 1925. Image courtesy of Avro Heritage Museum.

It is believed that an auction took place on 17th September 1924 and Alliot Verdon Roe won a bid for a patch of land on the edge of Woodford Village known as New Hall Farm. By mid-November the site had a small grass runway and two Bessonneau hangars acquired from Alexandra Park. The first Customer delivery from Woodford was the Avro Bison for Naval Carrier Use. As soon as Woodford was operational the Bisons were transported from the Newton Heath factory, and after assembly flown to RAF Sealand at Chester.

As well as Avro, the Lancashire Aero Club (LAC) also used the aerodrome and used a converted farm building as a clubhouse and a 'Dutch barn' style steel-framed hangar built for Avro. To promote flying, the Air Ministry began subsidising Aero Clubs. Under the scheme, two de Havilland Cirrus Moths were acquired. G-EBLR and G-EBLV. To celebrate the delivery of EBLV an Air Pageant was held on the 29th August 1925.

(Monochrome Photographs Bottom Left & Middle) - G-EBLV at the Woodford Air Pageant in 1925, note the Bessonneau Hangars in the middle image.
Copyright BAE Systems

(Colour Photograph Bottom Right) - G-EBLV In Flight, Years Later
Copyright BAE Systems