Retford Gamston Airport is a small

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

airport, located south of

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterf ...

and close to Gamston, Bassetlaw in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. It is used mainly for small private aircraft as well as a base for several private flying schools. Two

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

-holders, IAS Medical and Diamond Executive Aviation, are also based on the airfield. Retford (Gamston) Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P783) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Gamston Aviation Limited).

History

Gamston airport was originally built as 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 ...

aerodrome with three runways in a triangular configuration (of which only one remains in common usage), and came into service in December 1942. It was part of the

RAF Flying Training Command Flying Training Command was an organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire. History Flying Training Command was formed from the elements of ...

as well as a satellite to

RAF Ossington Royal Air Force Ossington or more simply RAF Ossington is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Ossington, Nottinghamshire, England. History Construction of the airfield began in 1941, with the aim of completion by 1942 ...

, to the south. In May 1943 the field was transferred to No. 93 Group RAF,

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

Training. In June the same year No. 82 Operational Training Unit arrived with Wellington Mk. III and Mk. X bombers,

Miles Martinet The Miles M.25 Martinet was a target tug aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) that was in service during the Second World War. It was the first British aircraft to be designed specifically for target towing. Work o ...

s (used as

target tug A target tug is an aircraft which tows an unmanned drone, a fabric drogue or other kind of target, for the purposes of gun or missile target practice. Target tugs are often conversions of transport and utility aircraft, as well as obsolescent com ...

s) and

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

s. A year later the unit became No. 86 Operational Training Unit with a new role; night training for Wellington bomber crews. By October 1944, Gamston was transferred to No. 7 Group RAF, Bomber Command. A month later No. 3 Aircrew School transferred from

RAF Shepherds Grove Royal Air Force Shepherds Grove or more simply RAF Shepherds Grove is a former Royal Air Force station located in Suffolk, active from 1943–44 to 1966. Shepherds Grove was host to units of the United States Army Air Forces, Eighth Air Force. Du ...

. 1945 saw the disbanding of No. 3 Aircrew School and the arrival of No. 30 Operational Training Unit transferred from

RAF Hixon Royal Air Force Hixon or more simply RAF Hixon was a Royal Air Force station located on the north western edge of the village of Hixon in Staffordshire, England. The airfield was east of Stafford and bounded at the west and north by railway ...

, Staffordshire with more Wellington bombers. After the end of 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 ...

all training ceased and the airfield was closed. In May 1953 Gamston reopened as a satellite for nearby

RAF Worksop Royal Air Force Worksop or more simply RAF Worksop was a former Royal Air Force station located at Scofton, north east of Worksop, Nottinghamshire and west of Retford, Nottinghamshire, England. Station history * No. 18 Operational Training ...

and No. 211 Advanced Flying School RAF (later No. 4 Flying Training School) was based there, flying

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

s and

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...

s. The airport is today owned and operated by Gamston Aviation Limited which purchased the operation in July 1993. In 1975 gliding activities began on the western side of the airfield, using runway 15/33 (now 14/32). Gliding ran alongside powered flying activities for almost 20 years until the gliding club were asked to move away from the airfield in 2005, after safety concerns due to the proximity of powered flights to the gliders. In 2021 the airport was bought by Thatcham Research, in order to carry out motor industry testing on the site. Thatcham said that aviation activities would continue at Gamston alongside the motor testing. In June 2022 the main runway 03/21 was closed in order to reduce the width of the runway, as well as create a car test track running parallel to the runway. During this construction phase, runway 14/32 was used as the main runway, having been repainted and put into regular use for the first time since the gliding club left in 2005. The main runway reopened in September 2022 as runway 02/20, with an upgraded lighting system. It has been reduced in length/width from 1683m x 30m to 1199m x 23m to accommodate the car test track.

Motorsport

Between closing in 1945 and re-opening in 1953, some motor racing took place in 1950 and 1951, organised by the

Nottinghamshire Sports Car Club Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The tradition ...

. It would appear that motor racing first took place at Gamston on 7 August 1950 on a 2-mile track. Main event of this meeting was a non-championship Formula One race in its inaugural season, which was won by

David Hampshire David Alan Hampshire (29 December 1917 – 25 August 1990) was a British racing driver from England. He was born in Mickleover, Derbyshire and died in Newton Solney, in South Derbyshire. Hampshire first appeared amongst the likes of Bira, Vil ...

in a Maserati 4CLT-48. He also set the fastest lap at 74.4sec (96.77 mph). On 19 August 1950, Formula One made its second and last (non-championship) appearance for the 1st

Sheffield Telegraph Trophy Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...

, which was won by

Cuth Harrison Thomas Cuthbert Harrison (6 July 1906 – 21 January 1981) was a British racing driver from England. He was born in Ecclesall, Sheffield, and also died in Sheffield. He participated in three World Championship Formula One Formula One (als ...

driving an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. However, the following year, huge crowds attended meetings on Whit Monday (14 May 1951), and ‘ Autosport’ of 27 July 1951 carried a report of a meeting run the previous weekend by the Sheffield & Hallamshire Motor Club. Reference was also made to improved amenities. Proceedings opened with a couple of sport car races over five laps on a shorter 1.9 miles circuit. The first of which saw

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

winning in one of his Lotus. Main event of the day was the 50-lap

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...

race, won by

Bob Gerard Frederick Roberts Gerard (19 January 1914, Leicester – 26 January 1990, South Croxton, Leicestershire) was a racing driver and businessman from England. He participated in numerous top-level motor racing events on either side of World War II ...

in his 2-litre

who led from flag to flag. His only opposition appears to have come from

Dennis Poore Roger Dennistoun "Dennis" Poore (19 August 1916, Paddington, London – 12 February 1987, Kensington) was a British entrepreneur, financier and sometime racing driver. He became chairman of NVT during the dying days of the old British motorcy ...

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

until it had plug troubles. Lap times were around 77secs, indicating a lap speed of close to 90 mph. For his efforts Gerard won the golden ’''Kenning Trophy''’. Why racing ceased in 1951 is unclear but perhaps, there were strong rumours of the return of the

.Peter Swinger, "Motor Racing Circuits in England : Then & Now" (Ian Allan Publishing, , 2008)

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

Retford (Gamston) Airport Official WebsiteIAS Medical Air Ambulance Official WebsiteDiamond-Executive Aviation WebsiteGamston Flying School Website
{{authority control Airports in England Transport in Nottinghamshire Buildings and structures in Nottinghamshire Airports in the East Midlands Retford