Liverpool’s "original airport" could soon be lost, warn campaigners

Mar 25 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

IT IS the original “Liverpool airport” dating back almost 80 years, but now Hooton Park is in danger of being irretrievably lost. The Hooton Park Trust (HPT) was formed in 2000 with the aim of managing the restoration of the remaining World War I and II hangars.

But the buildings are now in such a state of disrepair, one of those leading the battle to save the historic site, Chris Grocott, said they are racing against time to save them.

He said money had been allocated by English Heritage to help save the buildings but has not been used until a formal agreement on how to proceed has been drawn up.

The site, alongside the Vauxhall Motors site at Ellesmere Port, covers around seven acres and includes three of the original Belfast hangars.

He said: “They were going to flatten it about seven years ago but there was uproar.

“It’s so late in the day and costs have risen since the grounds were given over. We need all the help we can get.”

The plan is to save one of the hangars and to provide conferences/seminar facilities.

The site was part of Hooton Hall’s grounds before being requisitioned by the armed forces at the start of World War I.

By 1917, it was being developed into an aerodrome and a Royal Flying Corps pilot training unit was stationed there until 1919.

In 1927 the site was purchased with the intention of creating a major airport serving Liverpool and the Northwest of England.

During the twenties and thirties, Hooton became a flourishing centre for aviation and in 1930, Hooton officially became Liverpool Airport, a position it held for three years until near neighbour Speke took over in 1933.

On February 10, 1936, No 610 (County of Chester) Squadron was formed at Hooton as a light bomber unit in the Auxiliary Air Force taking possession of one of the Belfast hangars to house its aircraft.

The fliers there were later to use Hurricanes and then Spitfires and all non-military flights ceased from Hooton.

Following the war civil and military Aircraft assembly and repair continued, until the mid 1950s, and in its final years three Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons operated from Hooton.

Hooton Park finally shut its gates as an aerodrome in 1957, and in 1962, was purchased by Vauxhall Motors. The last aircraft to use the site was in 1988, during the “Wheels” show, when two Harriers used part of the old runway prior to their display.

Much still remains of the ex-610 Squadron Hooton Park airfield and its buildings, with three original, Belfast-trussed hangars which dominate the landscape, surrounded by the original access roads, taxiways, and offices.

VOLUNTEERS to help out on site are needed by the Trust, which is aiming to rescue the aerodrome, and they can contact them by email: info@hootonparktrust.co.uk

liammurphy