Nottingham City Airport ( Tollerton ) as it is now known was granted its license on 27 July 1929.
Supporters of the airfield presented a specially made cake provided by Chocks Away! Café which was cut to mark the 95th anniversary of the aerodrome.
Also at the airfield today was a De Havilland D.H. 87B Hornet Moth – built in 1935 it’s almost the same age as the airport.
Tollerton Village History group has a comprehensive history of the airfield on its website – this is an excerpt from the site.
The airfield was officially opened on 27th July 1929 by Sir Alan Cobham, a famous aviator.
The Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Alderman Atkey, was flown down to London by Flight Lieutenant R. Lee Bateman, the Flying Instructor of the Nottingham Aero Club, where he was presented with the Air Ministry’s License for Tollerton to officially open the aerodrome.
© westbridgfordwire.com
Tollerton was the second municipal aerodrome in the UK to receive an operating License and the first with a permanent site. The first License was issued to Manchester in April 1929. The idea was to have private and commercial flights from and to Tollerton.
© westbridgfordwire.com
The Prince of Wales flew his Puss Moth to Tollerton aerodrome on several occasions when he visited Grove Farm in Lenton which he had bought in 1927. The rumour at the time was that he used it to entertain lady friends. The farm is now part of the University of Nottingham. There was an active social side to the Club with dances, tennis and badminton contests as well as flying competitions. Non-members also had an opportunity to be flown for a fee.
Flying wasn’t only the domain of men – Muriel Robinson was the first woman to gain a pilot’s License at Tollerton (and the first in Nottinghamshire). She took her first solo flight in a Puss Moth at the age of 27 on 7th November 1929 after only eight hours of dual instruction.
Nottingham Airport Ltd was formed in March 1934 and took over the aerodrome. The Nottingham Flying Club was taken over as part of this arrangement.
Crilly Airways started a new daily service between Liverpool (Speke), Leicester, Norwich, Nottingham and Northampton in August 1935. This did not run in the winter months and Tollerton was dropped from its schedule before the start of the 1936 commercial flying season. Crilly claimed that Tollerton’s facilities were not adequate, being too small and landing fees too high.
The first military use of Tollerton aerodrome occurred when Rolls-Royce Ltd of Derby arranged to flight test it’s engines. In 1936, the Government decided that, in the event of war, many more pilots would be needed so civilian training schools were formed in various parts of the country.
In 1939, the Air Ministry leased some land at Tollerton aerodrome to build a factory for Rollaston Aircraft Services to act as a repair base and to develop an Elementary Training School.
According to the English Heritage website Tollerton was designated a Class IIa airfield in 1940, probably because of its role as a Field Repair Unit and the need to protect the aircraft stored here.
The airfield was described as heavily fortified (Osbourne 2003) and the strong defence system included 19 pillboxes and a machine gun post, once located on top of a water tower. Several of the war time structures have been demolished but 18 of the pillboxes still remain around the periphery of the airfield. It is suggested that it is quite rare for so many pillboxes to have survived in one locality. Because of the special architectural and historic interest they are listed under the Planning Act 1990.
