Long Marston Airfield was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

base between 1941 and 1954, situated approximately south west of Stratford-upon-Avon near the village of Long Marston in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

. It is now managed by Anthony Hodges, and is home to: * Second World War airfield buildings * Unusual F.C. Construction 'Mushroom' pillboxes * Microflights Flying School * Avon Microlight Club * Freedom Sports Aviation - club and flying school; Chief Flying Instructor

Simon Baker Simon Lucas Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor in television and film, as well as a director. He is known for his lead roles in the CBS television series ''The Mentalist'' as Patrick Jane and ''The Guardian'' as Nicholas Fallin ...

) * MotorGlide - gliding club specialising in motorgliders * the Shakespeare County Raceway

dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

* the Long Marston Clay Shooting Ground. It is also well known as a venue for summertime music festivals, including

Godskitchen Godskitchen is an international superclub brand which is associated with dance music and organises events, particularly in the UK and US. The company used to run a club night of the same name at their nightclub AIR, in Birmingham. Godskitchen ha ...

Global Gathering Global Gathering was an annual dance music festival by Angel Festivals Limited. Festivals are held in countries such as the UK, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and feature leading electronic music artists from around the globe. The festival ran ...

, the Bulldog Bash, and the

Phoenix Festival The Phoenix Festival was set up by John Vincent Power of the Mean Fiddler Music Group in 1993 as an alternative to the established Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. It was held at Long Marston Airfield near Stratford-upon-Avon and was one of t ...

. In 1981 the tv series Crossroads filmed there, ATV relocated the set of the Crossroads reception area to the Airfield to set light to it as part of the motel fire storyline. In 1983 the Evesham Motorcycle Club hosted held the British Masters Grasstrack Championships at the Airfield.

Runways

Main runway, hard surface: 04/22 (of which the SW third is used as a drag strip)
Grass strip: 02/20
Disused runway, hard surface: 11/29 (buildings, Sunday market, ''etc.'')
Disused runway, hard surface: 16/34 (used for aircraft movements to hangars, driver training, ''etc.'')

History

The airfield was previously RAF Long Marston a

station used for training during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The station closed during 1954.

Future

On 26 November 2015, a Stratford District Council planning committee approved plans by CALA Homes to build 400 houses on the site, part of their proposed development scheme which aims to eventually feature 3,500 houses. As a consequence, the remaining airfield buildings will be demolished, the runways and drag strip removed and the businesses will be forced to close or relocate.

References

https://grasstrackgb.co.uk/evesham-1983/

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Marston Airfield Buildings and structures in Warwickshire Transport in Warwickshire Airports in the West Midlands (region)