Royal Air Force Manywells Height (also known as Royal Flying Corps Manywells Height, Royal Flying Corps Cullingworth and Royal Air Force Cullingworth) was a grassed airstrip in use as Home Defence during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The site was just south of the village of

Cullingworth Cullingworth is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, it is west of Bradford and south of Keighley. The surrounding countryside is mainly ...

which is south of

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

and north west of

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. It was considered as a civilian airfield for West Yorkshire on decommissioning, but Yeadon became the hub of civilian flights as Leeds Bradford International Airport. It was used by aircraft from 1913 and commissioned as an airfield by the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

in 1916 with closure by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(its eventual owner) in 1919. Whilst it was used in 1919 in a civilian capacity, it was abandoned in that same year.

History

On 13 October 1913, Manywells Height was first used as a landing strip when Captain Maclean landed his

Royal Aircraft Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

BE2A aeroplane en route to Montrose. Foul weather prevented him from taking off again on the same day and it wasn't until the following Monday (15 October 1913) that he was able to get airborne. During the First World War, Manywells Height was pressed into service by the Royal Flying Corps as a Relief Landing Ground for two Home Defence Squadrons ( 33 and 76 Squadrons). The airfield and its environs totalled but facilities were basic and ran to just one wooden and canvas hangar with accompanying grassed strip. The whole landing ground covered only and the strip itself was by . 33 and 76 Squadrons were officially billeted at

RAF Kirton in Lindsey Royal Air Force Kirton in Lindsey or more simply RAF Kirton in Lindsey is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. It is a custom of the RAF (inherited from the RFC) to name its bases after the neares ...

and RFC Ripon respectively, though detachments and flights were also billeted at Gainsborough and Tadcaster. The airfield was designated for night operations when combatting German Airships. Aircraft from 33 and 76 Squadrons would have visited occasionally by day to check suitability for operations, but there is no evidence that it was ever used in its intended capacity. On the formation of the Royal Air Force from the Royal Flying Corps and the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

on 1 April 1918, RFC Manywells Height became RAF Manywells Height. It was active until the 26 June 1919 when its use was discontinued by the Royal Air Force. The strip was on an official

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

notification detailing aerial postal services from

Hounslow Aerodrome Hounslow Heath Aerodrome was a grass airfield, operational 1914–1920. It was in the London borough of Hounslow, and hosted the British Empire's first scheduled daily international commercial flights, in 1919. The site today includes the main ...

to Manywells Height via Sheffield. The site was considered a poor choice for a civilian airport due to the surrounding hilly area, its height above sea level and its often inclement weather. Yeadon was chosen as a suitable site instead despite being only lower than Manywells Height.

Modern Day

The site has been returned to grass and farmland. Its northern edge has been used as part of a landfill site known as Manywells Tip.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manywells Height, RAF Military units and formations established in 1916 Manywells Height World War I airfields World War I sites in England