Brockworth
| Brocckworth | |
| Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|
 St George's Church, Brockworth | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 51°50’51"N, 2°9’18"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
Brockworth is a village in Gloucestershire, just east of Gloucester, on the old Roman road that connects the City of Gloucester with Barnwood, Hucclecote and Cirencester. Since the mid-19th century, Brockworth has been known locally for the annual rolling of a Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper's Hill.
During Second World War its Gloster Aircraft Company produced the famous Hawker Hurricane fighter, and following the war it gained renewed fame for producing several notable aircraft, including Britain's first jet aircraft, the Gloster Meteor, which was test flown here.
History
Brockworth was the third in a series of rural villages located along an old Roman road following a more-or-less straight line to the inland port city of Gloucester. Its original semi-remote location made it ideal for the location of an aircraft factory (now the Gloucester Business Park) where aeroplanes could be built and tested without worries about noise. Land availability also made the area ideal for a flight test airfield.
Gloster Aircraft Company
The Gloster Aircraft Company was formed at Hucclecote, Gloucestershire in 1915, as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. In 1926 the name of the company was abbreviated to Gloster because customers outside of the United Kingdom found the original name too difficult to pronounce. The company produced the Gloster Gladiator; Hawker Hurricane; Hawker Typhoon; Gloster Meteor and Gloster Javelin and its runway became famous for the first flight of Sir Frank Whittle's turbo-jet aircraft.
Brockworth bombed
The Gloster Aircraft Company (known locally as GAC) drew upon an employment pool from the surrounding area and it was responsible for much of the growth in the development of housing estates which was halted by the outbreak of Second World War. During the war Brockworth and the surrounding area were bombed by the Luftwaffe in an attempt to halt its production of vital war materials.
1939–45 WWII production
In 1939 the company built 1,000 Hawker Hurricanes in the first 12 months of Second World War and it delivered its last of 2,750 Hurricanes in 1942. Production was then switched to building 3,330 Hawker Typhoons for the Royal Air Force. On 8 April 1941 the first test flight of the Gloster E28/39 with a turbo-jet engine invented by Sir Frank Whittle took off from the company's flight test airfield at Brockworth. This formed the basis for the Gloster Meteor, the only jet to be used by the Allied Forces during Second World War. In 1945 it gained a world speed record of 606 mph and it was eventually put into service by 12 nations.
Developments after the war
Following Second World War it took the area many years to revive; but after the mid-1950s, renewed housing growth, the development of motorways and redistricting eventually changed the entire look of Brockworth and what were once adjoining villages. In 1952 the Brockworth factory produced the two seat, delta-winged Gloster Javelin which was developed as an all weather fighter that could fly above 50,000 feet at almost the speed of sound. In 1962 the Gloster Aircraft Company closed down and its once famous runway fell victim of redistricting and it is now within the boundary of Hucclecote. The airfield has now been redeveloped as the modern Gloucester Business Park, with additional housing developments continuing to grow around it.
Cooper's Hill
Cooper's Hill is a local landmark within the parish of Brockworth, and is known in Britain and beyond for its annual cheese rolling contest.
A large round cheese is rolled down the steep slope of the hill and chased by a group of "runners", who in fact spend most of their brief descent to the bottom of the hill falling and tumbling. Two hundred years ago this was part of a larger mid-summer festival with other activities and competitions, but the event is now confined to the cheese-rolling and is held in May during the Spring Bank-holiday Monday.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Brockworth) |
References
- Gloster Javelin pictures and story
- Cooper's Hill Annual Cheese Rolling and Wake
- BBC coverage of the 2004 Cheese Rolling event
- Injuries suffered at 2004 annual Cheese Rolling.
- Video of the 2014 Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill
- More about Frank Whittle
- Royal Air Force History of the Gloster E28/39/Meteor
- Hucclecote Parish where the E28/39 aircraft, with a jet engine designed by Sir Frank Whittle, became airborne in taxiing runs for the first time