Category Archives: Early Flight

January 14, 2013 · 12:15 pm

The Solent and beyond ~ A Virtual History Tour Post No 3 ~ Lee on Solent. Seaplanes, hovercraft and helicopters!

Solent map googleLee

On my virtual historical tour of the Solent we will continue heading north west, but will pause a while at Lee on Solent. This is an unscheduled stop because Lee on Solent does not in fact feature in my novel ‘Ancasta ~ Guide me Swiftly Home,’ but the bay certainly has important history and my parents lived at Stubbington, the far end of the bay for a few years and so I know it quite well.

Lee on Solent was key in World War one as a strategic sea plane and training base from July 1917 for the RNAS, using both Shorts and Fairy Aviation planes, although sea plane trials had been made from the beach since 1915.

In 1939 it became the more familiar HMS Deadalus,(although its names changed a couple more times before reverting back to HMS Deadalus again a few years before it was closed) and remained a naval base and barracks until 2005 when the large expanse of land, airfield and buildings were sold for redevelopment. For anyone interested in the base, here are a couple of video links on Youtube:

Mast Manning Display in 1993 Hey look at that. Formation Display on a mast!

HMS Deadalus Closure in 2005 A nostalgic tour of the barracks!

The uses of the base have been varied and interesting starting with seaplanes in 1917 but later it was important for military hovercraft development and testing, and finally the base was best known for its coastguard and helicopter rescue missions. Life was never dull living in the area for the last 100 years, and a walk along the sea front would have its exciting moments and photographic opportunities as well as a sea front to relax and enjoy the views across the Solent to The Isle of Wight.

The Fleet air arm archives inform us that back in 2001 the airfield was still used for air sea rescue, but also for a Catalina restoration company and the Hovercraft Museum Trust. (Having enjoyed watching the Duxford Catalina fly – an amazingly whilte and graceful 1930’s flying boat, on a couple of occasions I was excited to research this link but records show that, oncce restored, this Catalina in Lee was due to be ferried to the USA and its new owner. Anyone know any more?)

I am pleases to say that the Hovercraft Museum still exists but visiting is by appointment only. This link will take you to the website for more information:

The Hovercraft Museum Lee on Solent

The museum claims to be the only one of its kind in the world!

Although Lee on Solent did not feature in Ancasta~Guide me Swiftly Home, I am planning for it to be a location in the third in the Riduna series, for which I am currently researching. Watch this spece!

Leave a comment

Filed under Early Flight, Flying Boats and Sea Planes, Research, Virtual Tour of the Solent and Beyond

January 10, 2013 · 2:33 pm

The Solent and Beyond ~ Virtual Social History Tour Post no 2 ~ Fort Grange

Solent map googleFG

For my second post in this series we are going to travel a short distance along Stokes Bay and follow the route of main road, until we pass Fort Grange, the second in a row of five Palmerstone fortresses. Four of these forts are still within the grounds HMS Sultan Naval Base, Gosport.

The Aero club were given permission to use the base as far back as 1909 and when my characters moved to Gilkicker in 1910, flights over their heads would have been exciting, but relatively frequent. In 1914 the forward thinking members of the military at the War Department authorised the use of Fort Grange and neighbouring Rowner, to accommodate squadrons from the Royal Flying Corps, formed in May 1912, but what stands out as the significance of the base at Fort Grange was one of its pilots, a Lt. Col. Robert Smith-Barry. On his arrival he was extremely critical of the standard of flying and in particular the training of these poor souls, who were all too quickly sent to France to meet their fate. I quote here from ‘Wings Over Gosport’ compiled by Lesley Burton who describes the training techniques he observed:

“It involved the trainee pilot sitting in the observer’s seat watching points until he transferred to the pilot’s seat and it was his turn to see if he had absorbed the instruction given by his instructor. Directions were conveyed to him by hand signals, loud bawling and by flag waving signals from the ground!”

It was not until 1917 though, that Smith-Barry introduced what became known as the Gosport Tube, a mouth piece which linked the instructor to an early ear piece on the trainee pilot  by a tube.

In fact, the Grange became well known for its excellent training and both novices and experiences pilots benefited from time spent there. As you can imagine, in the early days of flight, people learnt by trial and error, much as they did riding a bicycle, and so a more methodical approach was vital if these young men were going to play an effective role in World War One, and impress the more sceptical elements of the War Office, who saw aeroplanes more as frivolous toys for the rich, who wanted a thrill greater than the motor car.

The location of Fort Grange, not far from the newly refurbished married persons barracks at Fort Gilkicker, made this an exciting location for my newly married couple, where the regular flights overhead inspired Anthony, my young officer, to dream of being able to learn to fly.

If you would like to know more about The Grange, I can recommend ‘Wings Over Gosport’ which is a Gosport Society Publication.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Leave a comment

Filed under Ancasta, Early Flight, Research, Virtual Tour of the Solent and Beyond

Tagged as , , , , , ,

October 23, 2012 · 7:58 am

BBC Radio Solent. Diana and Colin have a chat with Katie Martin

Diana, Colin and Katie

I met Colin van Geffen, (the local artist who designed my covers and historian who checked some of my facts) outside the Bitterne Heritage Centre. Both Ancasta ~ Guide me Swiftly Home and Riduna are for sale there. It seemed a fitting place to meet since that’s where my research in the area began several years ago.

Colin suggested The Yacht Tavern for our lunch, down in Itchen Ferry. For those of you who have not been locals to Woolston for very long, Itchen Ferry is the area to the north of the Woolston Bridge, the south side being Woolston, and the villagers have been very protective of their patch for a couple of hundred years or more.

The Yacht Tavern, Itchen Ferry, Woolston

The welcoming landlady Jacqui was really interested in Ancasta, and that we were going to be on Radio Solent in the afternoon. She confirmed that, although the current buildings had probably been there since that area of Woolston was regenerated in the years after WW2, (The Supermarine Works was bombed out during a severe air raid over Southampton) she believed that there was an original public house called the Yacht Inn, on the same site before the war. This confirmed the truth of some of my research and so I was able to say that The Yacht Inn is featured in Ancasta Guide me Swiftly Home. (watch this space)

We had very pleasant,freshly made baguettes before thanking Jacqui and heading over the bridge for Southampton.

Once through the security of the BBC we waited in the foyer, sipping tea and chatting. I was trying not to be too nervous, especially when it was 2.25 and we had not been called, but Colin took it all in his stride and reassured me that it was normal and any minute now we would be collected.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the friendly face of Rebecca the producer popped her head around the door and lead us up to the studio. I had no time to worry at that point, since Katie greeted us cheerfully before we were positioned in front of two large black microphones and within moments the introductions were made, the questions came and we were on air, with no time to think.

Katie, is a natural. The conversation flowed quite naturally between the three of us, my nerves dissipated and within moments it was all over.

We took photos are were soon ushered out, with Rebecca putting us both on the spot to ask us to share any special memories on Southampton, before we left through the revolving doors.

As I tried to get to sleep last night I was buzzing with all the things I could have said to the people of Southampton.

  • Why Ancasta ~Guide me Swiftly Home is such an appropriate name for the novel and why it is part of Southampton’s important heritage.
  • Yes Ancasta tells the story of the birth of Supermarine through the eyes of the family who lived in Woolston between 1910 and 1920 but it is about far more than that – The change in women’s roles during WW1, life at Gillkicker Foft and The Queen Victoria Hospital-Netley and the role of the Hampshire 9th Cyclist Regiment in the war………… in fact the history of the area during that time, including the Titanic

On reflection though, in the light of this morning, it all went extremely well and I would like to thank Jacqui, Rebecca and Katie for making me feel so welcome.It was not only an enjoyable experience but a truly memorable day out in Southampton.

Leave a comment

Filed under Ancasta, Early Flight, Flying Boats and Sea Planes, Historical Fiction, Marketing your novel, Research, Riduna, Southampton, Supermarine, Woolston

Tagged as , , , , ,