{"id":1679,"date":"2009-02-10T18:56:58","date_gmt":"2009-02-10T18:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2009-02-10T18:56:58","modified_gmt":"2009-02-10T18:56:58","slug":"the-first-british-flight-was-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/the-first-british-flight-was-here\/","title":{"rendered":"The First British Flight Was Here…"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very interesting article in the Echo<\/a> for historians:<\/p>\n

South Fambridge was first British airfield<\/strong><\/p>\n

8:40pm Thursday 5th February 2009
\nBy Tom King ?<\/p>\n

\nPemberton Field is a modern residential close in South Fambridge. You could walk through it, or fly over it, a thousand times and be unaware of its significance.
\n
\nOnly the name gives anything away. The ground beneath these homes and gardens is historic. It marks the site of what was almost certainly Britain?s earliest dedicated airfield.
\n
\nThis month sees the 100th anniversary of the first experimental flights beside the River Crouch meadows.
\n
\nOn February 19, the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust will unveil a memorial to the airfield at South Fambridge. The granite block specially made and imported from Italy will be set up at the approach to the village. It?s a little late in the day, maybe, but Fambridge?s significance is finally to be acknowledged.
\n
\nThe honour of being the first aerodrome has traditionally been given to Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey, but recent research by Hockley schoolmaster Ken Layzell suggests Leysdown may have been basking in false glory.
\n
\n?It was a close-run thing, but the evidence from publications at the time suggests Fambridge was first,? he says.
\n
\nThe trusts director-general Ken Bannerman agrees: ?We can?t finally prove Fambridge was first, but it may have been.? ….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A very interesting article in the Echo for historians: South Fambridge was first British airfield 8:40pm Thursday 5th February 2009 By Tom King ? Pemberton Field is a modern residential close in South Fambridge. You could walk through it, or fly over it, a thousand times and be unaware of its significance. Only the name […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8,31],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe First British Flight Was Here... - onlineFOCUS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/the-first-british-flight-was-here\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The First British Flight Was Here... - onlineFOCUS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A very interesting article in the Echo for historians: South Fambridge was first British airfield 8:40pm Thursday 5th February 2009 By Tom King ? 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