Little Gransden Airfield is an unlicensed airfield located near the village of

Little Gransden Little Gransden is a civil parish and village in South Cambridgeshire, England. In 2001 the population was 262 people, including Waresley and increasing to 296 at the 2011 Census. It is 11 miles (18 km) from Cambridge, on the border with ...

, southeast of St Neots,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Little Gransden Airfield is located in the grounds of Fuller's Hill Farm. It is also the home of Yak UK Ltd., who import, service and sell the

Yakovlev The Joint-stock company, JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau (russian: ОАО Опытно-конструкторское бюро им. А.С. Яковлева) is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head offi ...

range of piston engined aerobatic aircraft.

Location

Pilots climbing out on runway 28 will be able to see the disused runways of

RAF Tempsford RAF Tempsford is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Sandy, Bedfordshire, England and south of St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England. As part of the Royal Air Force Special Duty Service, the airfield was perhaps the most ...

on the left side just before the railway. RAF Tempsford was a secret airfield operated by the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

during

World War II 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 opposing ...

. Nearby are other former RAF airfields:

Gransden Lodge Airfield Gransden Lodge Airfield is a former wartime airfield located west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. The Cambridge University Gliding Club (now Cambridge Gliding Centre) moved to Gransden Lodge in October 1991, having previously shared ...

, now home to the Cambridge Gliding Club; and

Bourn Bourn is a small village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. Surrounding villages include Caxton, Eltisley and Cambourne. It is 8 miles (12 km) from the county town of Cambridge. The population of the parish was 1,015 peo ...

Events

Each summer the airfield is home to Little Gransden Families Day Out Air & Vintage Vehicle Show which raises money for the Children in Need charity. The 2012 show, the 20th annual event, took place on 26 August, raising over £26000. In 2013, the show will be held on 25 August.

Planning controversy

In 1992

South Cambridgeshire District Council South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

served a planning contravention notice on the airfield, which had been operating since 1966. The council was supported by a local pressure group Cambridgeshire Airfields Action Group (CAAG). In 1995 the council served a planning enforcement notice. The airfield, supported by planning consultant Peter Kember and some of some local villagers, argued at a public enquiry that they were operating lawfully based on 10 years' continuous use. The airfield's

planning appeal Development Management, formerly known as planning control, or development control, is the element of the United Kingdom's system of town and country planning through which local government or the Secretary of State, regulates land use and new bu ...

succeeded in 1999 and the airfield was allowed to continue operating. Furthermore, in 2002 Peter Kember succeeded in challenging South Cambridgeshire District Council's Small Airfields Policy which attempted to put further restrictions on Little Gransden and other airfields in the area.

References

External links

Airfield information

Yak UK

Little Gransden Families Day Out Air & Vintage Vehicle Show

Air Displays by Mark Jefferies

Cambridge Gliding Club
(at nearby Gransden Lodge) {{authority control Airports in England Transport in Cambridgeshire Airports in the East of England

Location

Events

Planning controversy

See also

References

External links