Some equine visitors to this morning’s Tremorfa Parkrun. On the first lap, one very nearly made it on the course! Did anyone check if they had a barcode? #parkrun #loveparkrun #tremorfa #splottlife (at Tremorfa Parkrun) https://www.instagram.com/p/B46_sLOg6Mk/?igshid=1l6m7jqem64v2
Cardiff Airport (aside from not actually being in Cardiff) has not always been used for civilian flying, it started life in the 1940s as an RAF base before passenger flights were added in 1954. However, these were not the first passenger flights out of the city; they had actually started almost 20 years earlier - but if not from Cardiff Airport, then where? The answer is Cardiff Airport...
History
Based on tidal fields near Pengam Farm, Cardiff Aerodrome (also known as Splott Aerodrome, Pengam Moors Aerodrome and Pengam Moors Airfield) opened in September 1931. Months of poor weather and an unusually high tide in December that year led to the airfield becoming flooded, forcing the facility to close until April 1932. The airfield suffered regularly from flooding until a man made sea wall was constructed. In the years that followed the site was developed to include offices, a canteen and a number of hangars in the south-west corner.
During the Second World War the airfield was handed over to military use and from 1937 it became known as RAF Pengam Moors. The Glamorgan Auxiliary Air Force were formed in June 1938 using Pengam Moors as a base, military operations meant a halt to civilian flights from the airport. As well as a military base the airport also became a base for the No.43 Maintenance Unit, principally tasked with dismantling and repairing fighter aircraft (specifically Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires).
RUMOUR: It is believed that one unfortunate Spitfire got lost in thick fog above the airport and descended too late, over-shooting the runway and crash landing in mudflats at the eastern end of the runway. Parts of the wreckage could still be buried in the mudflats today!
The airport was handed back to Cardiff Council in January 1946 after military operations had ceased. A number of civilian flights soon resumed flying, though it soon became apparent that the facility was no longer suitable. Ten years earlier the adjacent Pengam Farm had closed and the land was carved up and sold to developers, ending centuries of farming on the land. Huge new housing estates were developed in the 1940s, a number of which backed right on to the airfield.
Relocation and closure
With the population of Cardiff rapidly rising, and civilian flights becoming increasingly popular, it became apparent that airport facilities in the city needed improvement. Pengam Moors' transport links and proximity to the city centre made it a seemingly obvious choice for redevelopment, though its close proximity to high density-housing meant they were unable to schedule night-time flights. Aviation experts had also noted that at 853m the Pengam Moors runway was too short for heavy commercial flight use, and with the River Rhymney to the east and heavy industry to the west there was no room for expansion.
In April 1954 all civilian flights were relocated from Pengam Moors to the former RAF airfield in Rhoose, 6 miles west of Cardiff. Built in 1941 in rural land in the Vale of Glamorgan, RAF Rhoose opened in 1942 and boasted a considerably larger runway and no nearby areas of high-density housing. In the years that followed a new terminal building was built, new flight routes were added and the runway was extended numerous times to cope with larger planes. Known previously as Glamorgan Airport, Rhoose Airport and Cardiff International Airport, today Cardiff Airport caters for up to 1.5m passengers a year.
Site redevelopment
Following the relocation of civilian flights, the airfield at Pengam Moors was closed down and sections of the site were sold off for other uses. Land to the western end of the runway was developed into a secondary school to serve the built-up areas of Splott and Tremorfa, while the northern tip was developed for housing and business use.
The main part of the airfield lay vacant for almost a decade, until 1963 when the Rover car company purchased the site and built two huge warehouses running parallel with the existing runway. The factories were used to build gearboxes for Rovers, and to improve access the existing airport perimeter access road was developed into the aptly-named Rover Way.
The Wind in the Willows
The site had been associated with flying as early as 1905, when Cardiff-born inventor Ernest Willows used the site to create a series of Airships. His first creation, Willows No.1, had its maiden voyage in August 1905 piloted by the 19-year-old Ernest. The 74ft airship took off from the site and circled the city before landing safely after 1 hour and 25 minutes. The ship undertook 5 further flights before being retired, the longest lasting 2 hours.
In November 1909 Willows unveiled the 86ft Willows No.2 and in June of 1910 he managed to fly it across the city and land it in front of Cardiff City Hall. In July Willows flew his airship to Cheltenham before successfully flying 122miles to London in August - a record for a cross-country flight in the UK.
By October 1910 Ernest Willows had relocated to London where he redesigned and rebuilt Willows No.2. The 120ft Willows No.3 was first spotted above White City in London on October 29. Less than a week later the renamed City of Cardiff airship took off from Wormwood Scrubs for Paris, France. Despite dropping the maps overboard and being blown off course to Douai (120miles North of Paris) Willows successfully landed on December 28. The journey made Willows the first person to pilot an Airship over the English Channel at night, as well as the first person to pilot an airship from England to France.
Ernest Willows relocated to Birmingham in 1911 and created two further airships. One of these, Willows No.4, was bought by the Admiralty and became His Majesty's Naval Airship No. 2, before being developed into a prototype for the very successful World War I SS class blimp. Ernest continued to develop airship and balloon technology until August 1926 when, aged 40, he and two other passengers were killed in a balloon experiment in Bradford.
Modern day legacy
Compare this 1965 OS Map with this aerial shot of the area taken in 2010
Today you'd be hard pushed to find any clear evidence that an airfield ever existed here, but those with a keen eye (as well as an unhealthy obsession in aviation) would spot a number of streets carry names relating to the airport and flying in general (Runway Road, Avro Close, De Havilland Way). The industrial estate on Seawall Road was originally built to serve the airfield before being converted for commercial use in the years that followed its closure, a number of the larger warehouses were originally built as airplane hangars.
The Rover factory surrounding the disused runway closed in 1984 and lay derelict until the 21st century when it was developed into a Tesco supermarket. Land to the north of the runway had previously been developed into housing estates, but the majority of the airfield remains as undeveloped wasteland.
The decaying remains of the original runway, looking west from Tesco
The name of Ernest Willows also lives on in the area, the aptly-named Willows High School was built on land not far from where he once owned a work shed. Willows Avenue is also named after the inventor, as well as a J.D. Wetherspoons pub just outside the city centre.
Further reading and references:
Pengam Airport website proved an invaluable tool in research for this article and is well worth a visit: http://www.pengamairport.co.uk/
