Heathrow village and its roads

[Berk]

I did some reading last night, and was interested to see that the B379 near Heathrow was diverted, not once, but twice. Our own OS Maps confirm it.

Was even more surprised to learn that that was the only classified road in the area (other than the Bath Road).

Best of all, there is actually a survivor of the demolition of Heathrow: The Three Magpies pub.

[Isleworth1961]

Interestingly, there was another pub nearby to The Three Magpies - called The Old Magpies, and that was lost:

[Berk]

Yes, that’s it. Together they made a sort of neighbourhood off the Bath Road. There was a church and about a dozen houses dotted about.

Interestingly, Heathrow seemed to have been the same, except the houses were larger, most of them farms, and dotted around Tithe Barn Lane, as was.

So near (and yet so far from) London too.

[Isleworth1961]

Yes, that’s it. Together they made a sort of neighbourhood off the Bath Road. There was a church and about a dozen houses dotted about.

Interestingly, Heathrow seemed to have been the same, except the houses were larger, most of them farms, and dotted around Tithe Barn Lane, as was.

So near (and yet so far from) London too.

I hail from nearby, if you hadn't already worked out...

[Berk]

This is the area in 1947.

And this is the area in 1952.

The 1947 map appears to be out-of-date, because demolition had already begun by then. In fact, Heathrow was pretty much gone, and Perry Oaks was soon to follow.

Also just noticed that the A312 had disappeared as well. It used to run past the terminals.

[KeithW]

There was an aviation presence in the area in so far as Fairey Aviation moved its testing facility to what was then called the Great West Aerodrome on Hounslow Heath. For obvious reasons pre war maps tended not to show airfields. Similarly De Havilland moved from Stag Lane Queensbury to Hatfield. Aircraft had become too big and noisy to operate from London sites such as Croydon, Burnt Oak, Hayes, Hendon etc.

[Berk]

Yes. The MD of Fairey Aviation complained the government waited for the private sector to do all the spade work, then acquire the land using wartime compulsory acquisition powers, but no compensation.

Basically securing a prime development site for free. They had to wait 20 years, and several court cases later, for the money.

[Isleworth1961]

Yes. The MD of Fairey Aviation complained the government waited for the private sector to do all the spade work, then acquire the land using wartime compulsory acquisition powers, but no compensation.

Basically securing a prime development site for free. They had to wait 20 years, and several court cases later, for the money.

The compensation was based only on the value of the land, not what Faireys had used it for - but the compensation was first calculated only at agricultural land values (such as it was when Faireys purchased it - £10 per acre in 1929), and not at airport land values (such as when the government were doing the calculating - which probably should have been many thousands per acre). Hence the long legal battle.
Faireys hangar was used by the airport fire service after London Airport opened (it appears in many photos with BOAC adverts on it) - it was promptly demolished once compensation had been paid to Faireys.
My dad worked at Faireys in Hayes during the war and for several years after. He left when he could see his long-term prospects weren't great in a now-struggling company.

[Isleworth1961]

There was an aviation presence in the area in so far as Fairey Aviation moved its testing facility to what was then called the Great West Aerodrome on Hounslow Heath. For obvious reasons pre war maps tended not to show airfields. Similarly De Havilland moved from Stag Lane Queensbury to Hatfield. Aircraft had become too big and noisy to operate from London sites such as Croydon, Burnt Oak, Hayes, Hendon etc.

Fairey was a bit different to De Havilland at Stag Lane, and Handley Page at Cricklewood, in that there was never an on-site runway at the factory. Their aircraft were usually towed down the road from the factory at Hayes, first to RAF Northolt, then, after eviction, to their new Great West Aerodrome for flight testing and delivery. The area near the Great West Aerodrome never got so surrounded by housing as the other sites did.

[Berk]

It’s interesting to note that Heathrow absorbed three airports.

First Southampton/Bournemouth. From the early days of long-haul flights, passengers would check in at the Empire Terminal in Victoria, then take a train to Southampton before boarding their seaplane to the Far East, or Africa.

Around the start of the war, or just before, some of these services moved to Poole. The rest to Whitchurch at Bristol. By 1945, turbo-props and early jetliners had been relocated to Bournemouth airport, and the services from Poole reduced and moved back to Southampton until they finished altogether.

Then Northolt was also offering Bealine services during the same period whilst Heathrow was being developed. BEA had terminals in Cromwell Road, Kensington, and later Waterloo, before moving back to Kensington.

[RichardA626]

Possibly Croydon as well, as eventually airliners outgrew it's airfield.

[Berk]

Possibly Croydon as well, as eventually airliners outgrew it's airfield.

Croydon and Blackbushe were eventually replaced by Gatwick - 10 years or so after Heathrow.

The difference being there already was a smaller airfield and terminal at Gatwick.

However, Croydon was also served by the Empire Terminal (nowadays home to the National Audit Office).

Blackbushe Airport was interesting for a different reason. Part of the airfield actually crossed the A30, which meant that part of the A30 was closed during the war (not sure what diversion was set up there).

[Isleworth1961]

Possibly Croydon as well, as eventually airliners outgrew it's airfield.

Croydon and Blackbushe were eventually replaced by Gatwick - 10 years or so after Heathrow.

The difference being there already was a smaller airfield and terminal at Gatwick.

However, Croydon was also served by the Empire Terminal (nowadays home to the National Audit Office).

Blackbushe Airport was interesting for a different reason. Part of the airfield actually crossed the A30, which meant that part of the A30 was closed during the war (not sure what diversion was set up there).

Heston Airport was originally planned to replace Croydon as London's main airport. The Air Ministry purchased the privately-owned Heston Airport and made plans for its extension. All of Cranford north of what is now The Parkway A312 would be compulsorily purchased and demolished (some of it was demolished), roads stopped up, the original airport buildings demolished and replaced by new ones, even a possible branch railway from the GWR main line was proposed. Then along came 3rd September 1939... some work continued for a while before being put on hold for the duration. Later in the war, when the Air Ministry realised the Heston plans were by then outdated and not large enough for modern aircraft, they looked to Fairey Aviation's Great West Aerodrome as a site for a new airport, sorry, RAF base...

[RichardA626]

OK thanks for the feedback.

[doebag]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNEVStCCVUE

Watched this on YouTube last night about the demolition etc.