A Sprog from the South coast

Hello to all fellow enthusiasts.
As i'm sure some of you can relate to, my interest in airfields was started by my dads enthusiasm for the place where he served his time in the RAF
as part of National Service back in 1950. Whereas many people were sent to far flung reaches of the commonwealth, my dad was posted 30 or so miles down the road to the famous fighter station of RAF Tangmere. So proud was he to serve at this historic place he spoke about his time there like nothing else was worth a mention (apart from family of course). Dispite this after 2 years he accepted his demob papers much to his regret latter on.
In the early 1980s a new museum was being started at Tangmere and my dad was asked if he wanted to be involved. This involved weekends spent renovating the derelict prefab buildings that were to form the museum. At the time the late Jim Beedle was then at the helm along with aviation historian and archaeologist Andy Saunders as well as a growing army of volunteers. I was only about 12 or 13 at this time and although I helped as much as possible, clearing ivy from broken windows and sweeping floors became tedious at times so I'd slip away to investigate the old airfield.
Unlike a lot of kids at that time I wasn't a brick throwing hooligan and seeing those old decaying buildings filled me with curiosity. What were they for? What famous pilots would of stayed in there? And of course why was all this left to decay? Many of these questions were eventually answered when my dad took me on a guided tour of the site and told me what was what. Now, with all but a few buildings gone, I feel privileged to have walked those paths in the footsteps of such famous and inspiring men and women, to of entered buildings like the officers mess and the workshop where dad worked all those years ago, the barrack block he stayed in and the guard room cell where he spent a few hours for speeding on the airfield! In fact I too was picked up on one occasion by the local constabulary for being inside the control tower.
So that's how it all started really and with that my interest in Tangmere grew and hopefully having researched so much about the place I maybe able to offer something to those who have questions to ask. I've certainly learnt some things myself from browsing this forum. I have visited many other airfields over recent years with a friend of mine who's equally interested in it all. Some of the bomber stations in Lincolnshire as well as most of the Battle of Britain stations in the southern corner. How sad it can be to see so much history being wiped away at such an alarming rate....

Matt Field

Fighting Cock 43

Non-existant user wrote:

How sad it can be to see so much history being wiped away at such an alarming rate....

Matt Field

Fighting Cock 43

Hi Matt

Looks like you are only just down the road from me...welcome aboard. Sorry for the delayed response, but I haven't been on AIX for a month or two.

Back in th 1970s I used to go gliding at Tangmere with the Air Cadets, before the museum was started, so have fond memories of the airfield when it was closed but still very much intact. I was horrified to see the news on here that the three hangars have recently been demolished.... and even more horrified to hear the tower and fire station may be under threat too.

Somewhere I have some old aerial photos of the airfield I took on one of those gliding trips, long before it started to vanish under new housing and glass-houses - if I can find them I'll try and scan them in and post them on the Tangmere thread.

Cheers
Paul F