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The Centenary of Flying off Formby Beach 2010

Reg Yorke - 27 February 2010

14th May 2010 marks the Centenary of the first successful flight from Freshfield beach and below are the outline proposals in which this event will be celebrated.

During the afternoon of Friday 14th May there will be a fly past of a number of vintage Planes over the Formby point, National Trust property, Victoria Road, where the first experimental flights originally took place in the period 1910 to 1912. At that historic time, there were of course, no constructed aerodromes so the early fliers took advantage of this long stretch of firm sandy beach to use instead. It was in fact known as ‘Freshfield Aerodrome’. Five wooden hangers were constructed behind the frontal dunes where the planes were kept.

Prior to the flypast on the afternoon of 14th May the vintage aircraft will assemble at RAF Woodvale to form a display for invited guests/enthusiasts and the press. Unfortunately it will not now be possible to land these aircraft on the beach at Freshfield but a photographic display will be set up in Formby Library during May to celebrate this historic event. A special pull-out supplement to the Formby Civic News will also be produced and be distributed to schools and also be available at Formby National Trust and other outlets throughout the year. A special meeting to describe these early flights and the achievements of the pioneer pilots is to be held at Ravenmeols Community Centre. (Details available soon).

The celebrations will be extended into September at the Southport Airshow by means of an display in the Aviation marquee with talks to engage the general public.

Further information about the Centenary will be available on the Sefton Council

and this website