Visited with: @UrbanZ, @Dora Grew Up & a non-member.
History:
RAF Kenley, now known as Kenley Aerodrome, was station to the RFC during WW1, and the RAF during WW2. The site came into operation in 1917, and closed in 1959, although the Aerodrome is still in use by the Volunteer Gliding Squadron.
RAF Kenley was one of the three fighter stations with the sole purpose of protecting London's airspace during the war. On the 18th of August 1940, Kenley RAF was attacked by the Germans destroying all ten hangars, twelve aircraft, including ten Hurricanes, and severely damaging the runways. Because of this, the Operations Room had to be temporally moved to an emergency location off the airfield.
Although very few of the remaining buildings survive, the runway still in its original configuration and is believed to be the best preserved of all WW2 RAF stations, with English Heritage stating it's "The most complete fighter airfield associated with the Battle of Britain to have survived". Since 2006 it has been designated as a conservation area.
Explore:
This was our third planned visit for the day and we got there just as the sun was rising, which provided some great photo opportunities, just a shame i'm not good enough at photography to capture it in all it's glory. Plus the bloody alarm wouldn't stop blaring in my ears, which made it a little hard to concentrate.
As we entered the site the evaporating dew over the airfield left a spectacular sweeping mist cloud.
The site has also been vandalized quite substantially since a previous report only a month or so ago, but is still a decent explore, so onto the images (maybe a little pic heavy)...
1. Mist over the airfield.
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Thanks for looking
History:
RAF Kenley, now known as Kenley Aerodrome, was station to the RFC during WW1, and the RAF during WW2. The site came into operation in 1917, and closed in 1959, although the Aerodrome is still in use by the Volunteer Gliding Squadron.
RAF Kenley was one of the three fighter stations with the sole purpose of protecting London's airspace during the war. On the 18th of August 1940, Kenley RAF was attacked by the Germans destroying all ten hangars, twelve aircraft, including ten Hurricanes, and severely damaging the runways. Because of this, the Operations Room had to be temporally moved to an emergency location off the airfield.
Although very few of the remaining buildings survive, the runway still in its original configuration and is believed to be the best preserved of all WW2 RAF stations, with English Heritage stating it's "The most complete fighter airfield associated with the Battle of Britain to have survived". Since 2006 it has been designated as a conservation area.
Explore:
This was our third planned visit for the day and we got there just as the sun was rising, which provided some great photo opportunities, just a shame i'm not good enough at photography to capture it in all it's glory. Plus the bloody alarm wouldn't stop blaring in my ears, which made it a little hard to concentrate.
As we entered the site the evaporating dew over the airfield left a spectacular sweeping mist cloud.
The site has also been vandalized quite substantially since a previous report only a month or so ago, but is still a decent explore, so onto the images (maybe a little pic heavy)...
1. Mist over the airfield.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Thanks for looking
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