Woodborough is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Gedling Gedling is a village and former civil parish which gives its name to the larger Borough of Gedling in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies north-east of Nottingham city centre. The parish was abolished in 1935 and absorbed into the urban distr ...

district, in the county of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. It is located north-east of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,852, rising slightly to 1,872 at the 2011 census, and 1,909 at the 2021 census. St. Swithun's Church, Woodborough is a 13th-century tower with a 14th-century chancel. Woodborough was a framework-knitting village, and some two-storey cottages with ground-floor knitter's windows remain at the junction of Main Street and Shelt Hill. Woodborough also has a primary school called Woodborough Woods Foundation CofE Primary School, where 200+ students attend at any one time.

History

At 8.45am on 26 May 1966 there was a mid-air collision over the village between the

BAC Jet Provost The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and l ...

aircraft ''XP631'' and ''XM384''. Both aircraft flew from

RAF Syerston Royal Air Force Syerston, commonly known simply as RAF Syerston , is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, England. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during t ...

. Three ejected, two instructors and one trainee. One was Flight Lieutenant Don Henderson, who was the leader of the Viper Red aerobatics team, at Syerston. The other instructor was Flying Officer

Tim Thorn Air Commodore Timothy Gane Thorn, (born 21 September 1942), often known as Tim Thorn and nicknamed "Tiger", is a retired Royal Air Force officer and up to January 2010 was a pilot and flying instructor at 6 Air Experience Flight at RAF Benson, O ...

of Ipswich. Air Commodore Tim Thorn would later be a

SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. As of 2025, the Jaguar remains in service with the ...

pilot, later Station Commander from 1987 of

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the RAF Colleg ...

, and from 1993 to 1995 he was the

Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment The Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment (CG RAF Regt) is the Royal Air Force commander of the RAF Regiment. The post was established in January 1942 immediately prior to the creation of the RAF Regiment. The first two holders of the post we ...

; he had acquired a series of narrow escapes. One aircraft landed at Roe Hill. The other aircraft landed in apple trees on Calverton Lane. A tail plane landed at a former Borstal ( HM Prison Lowdham Grange since 1998). A wing and fuel tank landed in the Main Street. One person parachuted near Calverton Lane, on the property of Len Russell. One person parachuted in the village main street, on telephone wires near the Four Bells pub. One person landed towards Lowdham, picked up by ambulance. The pilots were taken to a hospital in Nottingham, then to

RAF Nocton Hall RAF Hospital Nocton Hall was a 740-bed RAF hospital in Nocton, Lincolnshire serving the predominantly RAF personnel based at the large number of RAF Stations in the area. History Officially designated as No. 1 RAF Hospital Nocton Hall, the fac ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. The last mid-air collision in the area was on the evening of Monday 26 September 1949, when two RAF

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

bomber aircraft ''RE374'' and ''RF407'' collided at

Averham Averham is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 187, increasing to 294 at the 2011 census (which included Staythorpe), however Averham ...

, when all 14 were killed; both aircraft were from

RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington , commonly known as RAF Waddington, and informally known by its nickname 'Waddo' is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England. The station is th ...

.''Newark Advertiser'' Wednesday 28 September 1949, page 8

Notable people

Mansfield Parkyns Mansfield Harry Isham Parkyns (16 February 1823 – 12 January 1894) was an English traveller, known for his travel book ''Life in Abyssinia: being notes collected during three years' residence and travels in that country'' (1853). In this book ...

(1823–1894), traveller * John Story (1812–1872), cricketer

Bus services

Nottingham City Transport * 61: Nottingham, Woodborough Road, Mapperley, Mapperley Plains, Lambley, Woodborough, Calverton.

References

External links

The Woodborough Web – What's on in Woodborough

Premiere Travel

Woodborough Heritage site

Woodborough Parish Council

Woodborough Community Association
{{authority control Villages in Nottinghamshire Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire Gedling

History

Notable people

Bus services

See also

References

External links