96 FLYPAST September 2018AIRFIELDS CUMBRIA TO SCOTLAND
A75
A711
A75A710B5302A drive along the...
Solway
Firth
museums. Carlisle would make
a good base, but Dumfries also
deserves exploring. For those
in a hurry, all eight locations
highlighted can be achieved in a
relatively intense day’s drive.Ferry and store
As the crow flies, Silloth and
Kirkbride are 6 miles (9.6km)
apart and both opened for
business in 1939 as Aircraft
Storage Units (ASUs). Most of
their large hangars have been
adapted to light industry and
warehousing by their present-
day occupants.
Ready during the summer of
1939, Silloth was the home of 22
Maintenance Unit (MU) until the
airfield was closed in December- Both sites prepared aircraft
for service, but from the late
1940s thousands of redundant
machines were stored and
eventually scrapped.
Ken Ellis enjoys an aviation-themed tour along
the Scottish border
FLIGHT PLANNING
References to what can be seen are
all from public roads or footpaths,
unless otherwise noted. Most of the
venues are private property and
access can only be made with prior
permission. Wartime buildings are
always vulnerable and demolition
can radically change what might be
seen at a venue. For most airfi elds, it
is impossible to detail all of the squadrons and units that were based there, so
just highlights are given here.
Information is as accurate as possible at the time of writing. Readers are
urged to study websites, contact venues and tourist information centres to
help plan a visit.
Away from aviation, the area has much to recommend, the southern and
northern shores of the Solway Firth offering excellent views of local countryside
and the sea. Carlisle has many attractions and is close to Hadrian’s Wall.G
reat scenery, relatively quiet
roads, fascinating ‘time
capsule’ airfields, a wildlife
reserve and a redundant nuclear
power station are among the
waypoints for this excursion.
During World War Two and
beyond, the southwest of Scotland
and the former English county of
Cumberland specialised in aircrew
training and the preparation-for-
service of all sorts of aircraft, both
RAF and Fleet Air Arm (FAA).
Two of the venues are active,
with the recently rebranded
Carlisle Lake District Airport
pursuing ambitions to become a
regional centre with services to
London, Belfast and Dublin. As
well as a varied selection of sights,
there are two splendid aviation
museums to visit.
With the Solway Firth neatly
dividing the area this is ideally a
two-day tour, with each segment
starting or finishing at one of theMoricambe Bay from the southern edge
of Anthorn.A75A75A75A710Waypoint 8: Dumfries
East on the A701, north of the town.
Much of the northern part of the
former airfi eld is now occupied by
Heathhall Industrial Estate. The
superb Dumfries and Galloway
Aviation Museum is on the southern perimeter and well signed – the access
road uses part of the north-south runway. http://www.dumfriesaviationmuseum.comWaypoint 7: Annan
North of the town of Annan, on the
A75 west of Gretna. The airfi eld site
is east of the B722, and Chapelcross
Power Station is visible from a minor
road near Creca.Waypoint 1: Silloth
Silloth is northwest of Wigton on
the B5302 and north of the town
of the same name. Much of it is
devoted to an industrial estate, with
public access.DUMFRIES
Annan
Silloth
Anthorn