The 3 Runways at RAF Blakehill
1
2
3
The airfield had 3 concrete runways each 50 yards wide.
RUNWAY 1 - bearing 19/01 N/S 1410 x 50 Yards
RUNWAY 2 - bearing 24/06 NE/SW 2000 x 50 Yards
RUNWAY 3 - bearing 13/31 NW/SE 1410 x 50 Yards
The main runway (2) ran roughly north east to south west and was 2000 yards in length. 300 yards at each end was 100 yards wide to enable gliders to be parked on both sides whilst waiting for their tug aircraft. Both ends of runway 2 were extended by 200 feet of pierced steel planking or Somerfield Tracking to prevent aircraft sinking in the wet ground.
The north-south and northwest runways were 1410 yards in length (1 and 3)
The concrete for each runway was 9 inches thick. Gravel for the airfield construction was brought in from nearby quarries.
All the runway materials were broken up when the M4 was built, the hardcore being used to underpin the new road.
A small section of runway 2 remains and is not open to the public - it is only open to visitors during special open days.
The individual concrete sections of runway were labelled with the time and date of their completion by the Irish labourers who built them and the surviving sections are pictured.
The 100 Yard Extensions
At each end of the main runway (#2) was an extended widened area for gliders to park whilst awaiting their tow aircraft - the remaining evidence of this can only be found in the farm yard area, where the apron drainage ditches are still intact with their grilles intact - NO PUBLIC ACCESS
You will note that the outer drain gullies of the glider extension area, drain via underground conduits to the inner gullies that are still intact and mark the original runway width.
