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Woodford Aerodrome opened in 1924 when successful aviation pioneer Alliott Verdon-Roe bought the original farmland to enable his Avro company to move its aeroplane assembly and test flying facilities from Alexandra Park Aerodrome in south Manchester.

Originally the aerodrome had a small grass landing area with several temporary Bessonneau hangars. By the late 1930s, it was upgraded to hard runways and the main runway was also extended to the east. Increased factory space, particularly at the northern edge of the aerodrome next to Woodford village, was constructed to allow vast expansion of aircraft production. The famous Avro Lancaster bomber was constructed at the site during the Second World War. After the war, Avro became a subsidiary of the Hawker Siddeley Group.

On 29 April 1977, the Woodford site was taken over by British Aerospace. It was formed as a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act when Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Dynamics were nationalised and merged with British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Scottish Aviation. Later, in 1999, Woodford became part of BAE Systems as a result of merger of British Aerospace (BAe) and Marconi Electronic Systems (MES). The aerodrome and factory became known as BAE Systems Woodford until the site closed as an active airfield on 25 August 2011.

In 2014, Stockport council approved plans to build a 920-home housing estate on site (Link Manchester Evening News). Also, the fire station at the former aerodrome has been converted for use as a museum to celebrate Woodford’s rich aircraft heritage. The museum will house Avro Heritage Trust’s extensive catalogue of aviation history documents and exhibits including a Vulcan bomber and there will also be an education centre. It is due to open in August 2015 (Link Manchester Evening News).


See other images of Woodford Aerodrome (disused)