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Dorset has always been an important railway county, catering for
holidaymakers heading to the resorts of Bournemouth, Swanage and
Weymouth. As part of the mid-nineteenth-century desire for railways
to reach many parts of the country, a line from Southampton reached
the county town of Dorchester in 1847. This was to become part of
the London & South Western Railway. The Great Western Railway
arrived in the county in 1857 with a line from Yeovil to Weymouth
built to Brunel’s broad-gauge standard. Another name associated
with the county was the Somerset & Dorset Railway, which opened
between Bath and Poole in 1870. Development of the various lines
are covered – their heyday was the 1950s when they were used by
holidaymakers heading for the sunny south coast. Then came the
Beeching closures, but also the electrification of the main line to
Weymouth. The various routes within the county are covered by a
wide selection of photographs, many of which have not been
published before.
Flying boats have been a familiar sight in the Solent since the
dawn of aviation. Two of Britain's major manufactures, Saunders-Roe
and Supermarine, were based in Cowes and Woolston respectively. The
area has been home to flying boats of Imperial Airways and,
latterly, BOAC and Aquila Airways. With a terminal at Hythe and
then Southampton Docks, one could view not just majestic ocean
liners but huge flying boats too, from the Empire boats of Imperial
Airways to the majestic Saunders-Roe Princess, built in the
post-war period. During wartime, BOAC operated their vital flying
boat services from Poole Harbour. In fact, BOAC was based at Poole
for longer than Southampton - a fact frequently overlooked, mostly
due to wartime censorship. Post-war route expansion was also
undertaken while still at Poole. Military aviation in the area saw
flying boats operated from RAF Calshot and RAF Hamworthy, with
types ranging from elderly biplanes to Sunderlands. Mike Phipp
takes us on a tour of the Solent area and Poole Harbour's flying
boat heritage using many previously unpublished images of the
aircraft plus the men and women that flew and maintained them.
Often regarded as a quiet holiday county, in fact Dorset has many
aviation connections. As early as 1908 Bleriots were being built by
Bournemouth businessmen, the Royal Navy undertook first landing on
a warship at Weymouth in 1910, the Schneider Race was held at
Bournemouth in 1913, Dorset was at the front line of the early days
of the Battle of Britain with attacks on Portland Naval Base, the
Dam Busters bouncing bomb was tested on Dorset ranges in 1943, and
aircraft production factories at Christchurch and Bournemouth
existed in the 1940 and 1950s. With a wealth of previously
unpublished images, Mike Phipp tells this remarkable story.
Bournemouth Airport was first opened as RAF Hurn on 1 August 1941,
one of the bases established by the RAF to counter the Luftwaffe
presence across the Channel in northern France. RAF Hurn would go
on to serve as a base for the development of radar in aircraft and
as a base for bombers and fighter-bombers supporting the D-Day
invasion of France. BOAC operated civilian services from Hurn as
early as January 1942, flying at first just to Cairo but later to
Madrid, Lisbon and Ireland, and between the end the war and 1 June
1946 Hurn was Britain's main international airport. After the
departure of BOAC, Hurn was used as an industrial centre by
companies such as Airwork, de Havilland and Vickers-Armstrongs, as
well as playing host from 1948 until 2011 to the College of Air
Traffic Control. Bournemouth Airport today serves airlines such as
Ryanair and various charter services. In this book, Mike Phipp
takes a look at the history of Bournemouth Airport from its early
years to the present day.
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