Mr Cobham's flying circus

IT'S unlikely that many visitors to the new office suites built at Blackburn's Shadsworth Business Park will stop to wonder why they are called Cobham House.

But older readers twig the connection as the place is built on the farm field from which in the 1930s aviation ace Sir Alan Cobham's "flying circus" thrilled the crowds - and at the same time flew the notion that air travel in Britain would be as common as going by bus or train.

Sir Alan was heading a national campaign for the development of civil aviation under the slogan "Make the skyways Britain's highways" and appealed for the establishment of aerodromes and landing grounds in every town.

There was also a less high-minded side to his so-called National Aviation Display - that of prizing money from the public's pocket in exchange for the thrill of a quick flip in an aeroplane or simply seeing several at close quarters.

What he had by way of an aerodome when his air circus descended on Blackburn in August, 1933, was a meadow near Top o' th' Moor Farm, at Guide, though when his flying performers returned the following year, Blackburn and Preston Councils had taken the first step towards creating a more substantial joint municipal airport at Samlesbury - a venture that was realised in terms of runways and hangars, but never for fully-fledged civil aviation. But when the daring Cobham crews - all of them ex-servicemen - landed at Guide, they were not pioneering the spot as a landing ground. That had been done the previous March - when, together with its escort, the two-seater Gypsy Moth carrying Prince George, the Duke of Kent, on his way to open Darwen's new baths, touched down after a two-hour flight from London.

Nor was it the first visit of the Cobham circus to East Lancashire - it had put on a display at Billington in June, 1932.

But it seems that the East Lancashire crowds could not get enough of the flying thrills they brought. More than 1,200 readers of the Northern Daily Telegraph sent in coupons hoping to win one of the 20 free flights it was offering in one of the three-engined Airspeed Liners that had been designed for Sir Alan.

The NDT described another offer that went with the occasion: "To those who would like to try their hand at wing walking, Sir Alan will give an opportunity."

And, it said, any former wartime pilot who could produce "fair credentials" would also be given the chance to fly again.

The less-adventurous among the thousands who turned out for the event as mere spectators were treated to what the newspaper called "one of the most impressive displays of flying ever seen in the district" - which included straightforward flying, formation flying and aerobatics. And plenty were willing to dig into their pockets for a flight aboard the planes, with those who did being given a certificate signed by the pilot saying that they had flown with him and "supported British aviation." The following year's circus at Guide was marred by bad weather - with high winds and sweeping torrents of rain leading to the cancellation of many of the stunts billed, including that of Miss Joan Meakin, "the famous Germany-to-England Glider Girl," who was the first woman to loop the loop in a glider, while Flight Lieutenant Geoffrey Tyson, "Britain's finest aerobatic" flyer was due to loop the loop through a hoop erected on the field and pick up a handkerchief from the ground with the wing of his Siddley-Lincock fighter.

But though weather stopped many of the flyers' exploits, their skill in the far-from-ideal conditions convinced many in the crowd to risk going aloft themselves.

"A strong wind and driving rain must have made many hesitate, but not for long," reported the old Blackburn Times. "Would-be flyers had only to witness the way in which the skilled pilots handed their charges to cast all doubts to the wind. The result was that business was brisk and Blackburnians were eager to sample the thrill of the air."

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