Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire: Portholme Aerodrome

Available for over a year

Portholme Meadow in Huntingdon is one of the largest meadows in England. It’s as flat as a pancake and at 257 acres it was perfect for the early days of flight. Pioneer aviator James Radley made the first ever flight from Portholme in April 1910. Radley met Will Rhodes-Moorhouse and they formed Portholme Aerodrome Ltd in 1911 to design and build aircraft at St Johns Street in Huntingdon. The business didn’t take off, and in 1912 they had to sell out to Handley Page who was already established in aircraft manufacture. During the war, Will Moorhouse joined the Royal Flying Corps on 24 August 1914, and during the second battle of Ypres after an urgent call from headquarters, he took off to bomb a railway junction at Courtai in a BE.2b aircraft, which was a two-seat bi-plane with a single engine. During the raid he was shot from ground fire, but although severely injured made his way back to base, refused aid after landing until he had made his report. He died the following day. His actions earned him the first Victoria Cross to be won in the air. In 1918, the aerodrome was used to train Royal Flying Corps pilots and the factory at St Johns Street was used to build Type 840 Seaplanes, Sopworth Camels and the Sopworth Snipe. Portholme ceased as a training depot at the end of the war, but remained as an aerodrome until 1922. after which it was used for flying circuses and local events. Location: Portholme Aerodrome, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE29 Photograph of a Wight Seaplane belonging to the Portholme Aerodrome Company under construction with a group of officials standing beside it (1916), courtesy of the Cambridgeshire Archives