Hatfield Local History Society looks at the heritage of the town - this week starting with the former Hatfield Aerodrome and its Heritage Trail around the former airfield.
Here’s a great walk for kids or adults – the Hatfield Aerodrome Heritage Trail. Only 4km – or 3km if you are pushed for time – it is fascinating.
Instigated by the University of Hertfordshire’s History Department, and funded largely by the National Lottery, it was opened in 2010.
Its aim was to explain the history of the aerodrome which stood here from 1930 to 1994. Walking it today also shows the immense changes wrought since the aerodrome closed.
First, download a guide to the Heritage Trail. It fits onto both sides of an A4 sheet and can be found at www.herts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/57328/dehavillandheritagetrail.pdf
The full Trail has ten waypoints, each with an explanatory board. The shorter Trail omits a couple of stops.
Park your car in the Galleria, then make your way to the start of the Heritage Trail, admiring the Comet Hotel en route.
Built in 1933, it was listed Grade II in 1981 as “a pioneer hotel in the modern style.”
It was named after the Comet DH.88, designed a stone’s throw away for the 1934 England Australia MacRobertson Air Race, which it won in world-record breaking time.
The model of this plane on the plinth is believed to be the third such.
The Hatfield Aerodrome Heritage Trail proper starts at the Beacon, set on a grassy knoll on the university's de Havilland Campus, believed to be the last of its kind in existence.
In 1934, it was placed on the roof of the recently completed squash courts belonging to the London Aeroplane Club.
After sunset its white flashing light - just under one second's duration every five seconds - was used by pilots to find their way to the Hatfield Aerodrome.
In clear weather this could be seen up to 38 miles away.
Although made redundant by the introduction of radar during the Second World War, the Beacon remained in place until 1988, when it was moved to the North Weald Airfield Museum.
In 2011 it was restored and returned at a cost of £11,000, mostly paid by the National Lottery Fund.
Don’t miss the early jet engine on display in the main University building, near Reception. It is a de Havilland Goblin, used to power the Vampire.
Stop 3, where the shorter Trail branches off, gives a view over Ellenbrook Fields, where Tiger and Gypsy Moth planes once took off.
After the aerodrome’s closure they were used to film Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.
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Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and St Albans City & District Council secured the land as part of the original planning permission given to Arlington (originally British Aerospace's property arm) for redeveloping the airfield in 2000; it was turned into a nature park ten years later.
Whether you take the longer or shorter Trail, do walk along Mosquito Way, which runs through the heart of the old airfield.
The Acropolis had three temples honouring the goddess Athena. Mosquito Way has a line of temples for worshippers of the luxury motor car.
These glittering buildings of steel and glass eclipse the grey windowless distribution sheds around them, huge though they are.
Starting at the end nearest the A1(M) is the Porsche temple. Moving south we come to those owned by Grange Motors, dedicated to Jaguar/Land Rover and McLaren/Aston Martin.
Finally we reach the Parthenon – the brand-new HR Owen complex of five vehicle showrooms, aftersales facilities, a multi-storey car park, and corporate headquarters.
These are for devotees of Ferrari, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and Maserati. Interestingly, this was designed by Louis de Soissons Architects, whose founder designed Welwyn Garden City.
To complete the impression of a ceremonial concourse, Mosquito Way has just seen the installation of a 25m high obelisk - a 5G mast – a fitting tribute to technology.
What a contrast these buildings make to the relatively modest Art Deco buildings at the conclusion of the trail – the former de Havilland Administration Block (now a police station) and Gatehouse (a KFC fast food restaurant). Enjoy!
- Next time: Geoffrey de Havilland.
Geoffrey Hollis - contact@hatfieldhistory.uk
www.hatfieldhistory.uk
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