Kirkbride Airfield
| Kirkbride Airfield | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Code | |
| County | Cumberland |
| Operator | Solway Light Aviation Ltd |
| Location | NY227548 54°52’56"N, 3°12’20"W |
| Website | Kirkbride Airfield |
Kirkbride Airfield is a small airfield for general aviation near Kirkbride in Cumberland. It is owned and maintained by Solway Light Aviation Ltd.
The field is in the north-west of Cumberland, 9 miles west of Carlisle with Lake District fells visible to the East and the Solway coast to the west.
History
The airfield was opened in May 1939, as the war-clouds were darkening, as RAF Kirkbride: its assigned role was as a storage and maintenance base to keep safe the aircraft that were being built at various factories before going onto be delivered to the frontline units. When war was declared in September of that year its value was clear.
No16 Ferry Pilots Pool of the Air Transport Auxiliary was formed at the airfield because of the number of movements the airfield was seeing during the first years of the War. Their base was set up in what is now the White Heather Hotel. No.12 MU (maintenance unit) was also set up on the airfield: between 1939 and 1960 they would of dealt with just about every aircraft in RAF service.
After the end of the War, the airfield was as a giant storage area for unwanted airframes. No12 MU remained at the airfield until 1960 when the last aircraft to leave was a Gloster Meteor NF14 and the airfield was closed by the RAF.
Today many of the old hangers are used by local farmers or for industrial storage. The airfield is used for general aviation, by light aircraft.