Everyone knows about Exeter Airport. And the South West has plenty of other airfields as well where private plane owners can get in their aircraft and take to the skies.
But the opening of the airport on the edge of Exeter spelled doom for what was the first aerodrome in the county. Little trace of it remains, but before the Second World War, there was a thriving aerodrome high above Teignmouth on the Haldon Hills.
Haldon Aerodrome was the first airfield in Devon, and, established in the 1920s as a private flying field, it developed into an airport with a scheduled airline service.
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Aircraft regularly flew in and out. Thousands turned up to watch the thrills of air circuses that flew high in the sky above the Little Haldon airfield.
But a combination of the Second World War, the arrival of Exeter Airport, and the altitude at Little Haldon meant that its heyday as an airfield lasted only a few years, and now all that remains is a suspiciously flat piece of land next to Teignmouth Golf Club, a few patches of hardstanding, and a toposcope plaque set up by the Teignmouth Museum and Historical Society in 1998.
Once the Second World War - when it was used by the Royal Navy - was over, efforts to re-establish the airfield were unsuccessful with the main air operations taken over by the new Exeter Airport, due in part to the bad weather on Haldon. The last time an aircraft used the site was in 1968 when a Piper Tri-Pacer 160 owned by a member of the landowner's family flew in.
The airfield was the brainchild of William Richard "Bill" Parkhouse, an ex-Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) pilot, who having established the Agra Engineering Company as a motor company in Teignmouth, hoped to expand, become the dealer for the De Havilland aircraft in the South West, and wanted an airfield for himself.
So in 1928, he rented 80 acres of heathland at Little Haldon, and despite the unfavourable conditions of rough ground and altitude of the field which was often hit by high winds and low cloud, he established an airfield.
The land was rolled as flat as possible with a concrete roller pulled by an ancient tractor, boundaries were marked with some white-painted rocks, and on May 6, 1928, Parkhouse flew in the first aircraft – an Avro Avian III, G-EBXO – and landed it on his new airfield. But with the airfield literally just being a field – and having no hanger – he then had to fold the wings of the aircraft and tow it into his car showroom in Teignmouth.
Subsequently, a small corrugated iron hangar was built, capable of holding two light aircraft, a fuel tank and pump, and a landing circle was marked out. The name "Haldon" in 16 feet (4.9 m) high letters was marked out, and Parkhouse started giving flying lessons. By the end of the year, 13 student pilots were in training.
Parkhouse had failed in his first attempt to become the dealer for the De Havilland aircraft, but he saw another opportunity when the dealership that had been established in Teignmouth failed, not selling a single aircraft. In 1929, he succeeded in taking it over and immediately purchased one for himself to fly. Now owning the dealership, he became the only garage in the country that also sold aeroplanes.
The official opening of the airport took place on September 21, 1929, and a flying display was held, but a planned air race was abandoned due to poor weather conditions, foreshadowing some of the problems that the airfield would eventually face.
The Haldon Aerodrome had become Exeter's de facto airport and started to provide a regular air service in 1933. GWR Air Services had set up the first scheduled service at Haldon, starting on April 12, 1933 as a stop on their twice-daily Cardiff — Plymouth service, and a suitably timed bus service connected their passengers with Teignmouth and Torquay.
Although the service only operated for a single summer season, it served to encourage other operators to use the aerodrome, and Provincial Airways arrived in November 1933 with its West Country Air Service connecting Croydon, Southampton and Plymouth, while in May 1934, Railway Air Services revived the GWR route, with its planes also staging through Haldon as a request stop on the Liverpool to Plymouth service.
However, Haldon’s poor weather record and the siting of electricity pylons in the vicinity saw the airlines have to switch to alternative landing sites at Denbury near Newton Abbot, with only RAS returning to Haldon for the 1936 summer season, before they transferred their route to the newly opened Exeter Airport in 1937.
A survey in 1933 had been undertaken to find a suitable site for an airport to serve the city, and after land close to the river was rejected, 180 acres of land belonging to Waterslade Farm to the east of Clyst Honiton east of the city was selected – the site now known as Exeter Airport.
After a public enquiry in 1934, the land was compulsorily purchased the next year at a cost of £10,470, and on June 1, 1937, a 21 year lease was signed by Exeter Airport Ltd, a company formed by the Straight Corporation – run by Whitney Straight – who was one of the students Parkhouse had taught to fly at Haldon.
In 1937, Straight formed Haldon Airport Ltd which took over the management of the airport from Parkhouse, and the following year it bought the freehold of the land from him, with Parkhouse devoting with his involvement and time to establishing airports at Plymouth and Exeter – with Parkhouse going on to be the director of Exeter Airport Ltd, and also a member of the board of Airways Union, the Straight Corporation's holding company.
The Straight Corporation took over the running of Haldon in 1938, but by then it had become somewhat overshadowed by the superior facilities at Plymouth and Exeter airports, with the regularly scheduled routes having all ceased landing at Haldon.
But the airfield did find other uses as in the summer of 1937. The Devon Gliding Club took up residence and early in May, newsreel film of the recent Coronation of King George VI was flown in especially for local cinemas, together with pictures of the event for the Express & Echo newspaper.
Jockeys and trainers also used the airfield as a convenient dropping-off point for race meetings at Exeter, Newton Abbot and Totnes. Notable visitors of the period were HRH The Prince of Wales, Neville Chamberlain and fascist leader, Sir Oswald Mosley.
But on September 3, 1939, ahead of the onset of World War Two, all civilian flying in the UK was prohibited and after initially laying unused, it was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and for a while played host to the Research Development Flight, engaged in developing balloon cable cutters and airfield rocket defences.
Being too small for larger aircraft, more land was requisitioned, some from the neighbouring golf course, and the runways were extended, which enabled larger aircraft such as Boulton Paul Defiants and Miles Martinets to use the airfield.
But just as had been the case with the commercial flights to Haldon, the high winds and low cloud hampered the operation, and in January 1943 HMS Heron II, which had been set up at Haldon, moved to RNAS Charlton Horethorne. It meant the airfield was reduced to a Care and Maintenance status and there was very little activity at the airfield for the remainder of the war.
And once the war was over, efforts were made to re-establish the airfield, but they went without success. The land requisitioned from the golf club was returned to them, and the rest of the land reverted to rough moorland.
And now, all that remains of the airfield are a few patches of hardstanding, and a toposcope plaque set up by the Teignmouth Museum and Historical Society in 1998.
The last time an aircraft used the site was in 1968 when a Piper Tri-Pacer 160 owned by a member of the landowner's family flew in.
In 2002, the Teignmouth Historical Society, which runs the local museum commissioned a special plaque to commemorate the old aerodrome.
Three generations of the founder's family were there when the stainless steel plaque was official unveiled. Grandson Nick Parkhouse flew in by helicopter from West Sussex with three of his children, and the unveiling ceremony was performed by the founder’s son, Peter Parkhouse.
And the last windsock to be used at the aerodrome was brought up from the museum and hoisted to help guide the helicopter in. The plaque is in the National Trust car park on the main road opposite the golf links and not far from the site of the runway.
It gives a brief history of the aerodrome and was designed by Michael Hayward, deputy curator of the museum, and made by Teignmouth man Peter Hillage, who donated it free of charge.
And the following year, the airfield had one last attempt to give it a lease of life rejected. An attempt to turn the aerodrome into a base for model aircraft was dashed by the presence of rare nightjars which mistake miniature aircraft overhead for birds of prey.
English Nature had raised concerns about the possible purchase of Little Haldon Aerodrome, just outside Teignmouth, by the British Model Flying Association as a permanent base.
The land had been offered to the association by landowner, Major Ranulf Rayner of the Ashcombe estate, but who wanted Teignbridge District Council to provide a certificate of lawfulness before proceeding with the purchase, which would confirm it would be able to fly model aircraft from the 74 acres of heathland on the B3192.
But the council refused to issue a certificate after English Nature raised fears that birdlife on a site of special scientific interest was being disturbed, with a planning inspector subsequently dismissing the appeal.
