RAF Manywells Height

{{Short description|Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England}} {{Use British English|date=April 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox military installation | name = RAF Manywells Height<br />RAF Cullingworth | ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ensign_size = 90px | native_name = | partof =  | location = [[Cullingworth]], [[West Yorkshire]] | country = England | image = [[File:RFC-RAF Manywells Height.jpg|250px]] | caption = Looking eastwards across the site of RAF Manywells Height towards the Aire Valley | image2 =  | alt2 = | caption2 = | type = [[List of former Royal Air Force stations|Royal Air Force station]] | coordinates = {{Coord|53|48|59.2|N|1|54|07.8|W|region:GB_type:airport|display=inline,title}} | gridref = | pushpin_map = West Yorkshire#UK | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within West Yorkshire | pushpin_label = RAF Manywells Height | pushpin_label_position = | ownership = [[Air Ministry]] | operator = [[Royal Flying Corps]]<br />[[Royal Air Force]] | controlledby =  | open_to_public =  | site_other_label =  | site_other =  | site_area =  | code =  | built = {{Start date|1916}} | used = 1916 - {{End date|1919}} | builder = | fate = | condition = | battles = [[World War I|First World War]] | events = | past_commanders =  | garrison =  | occupants =  | designations = | website = | footnotes =   | IATA = | ICAO = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = {{Convert|273|m|0}} | r1-number = 00/00 | r1-length =  | r1-surface = Grass | r2-number = | r2-length =  | r2-surface = | r3-number = | r3-length =  | r3-surface = | h1-number = | h1-length =  | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label =  | airfield_other =   }}

'''Royal Air Force Manywells Height''' (also known as '''Royal Flying Corps Manywells Height''', '''Royal Flying Corps Cullingworth''' and '''Royal Air Force Cullingworth''')<ref>{{cite web|title=Cullingworth (Manywells Height)|url=http://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/cullingworth-manywells-height/|website=Airfields of Britain conservation trust|access-date=30 April 2016}}</ref> was a grassed airstrip in use as Home Defence during the [[World War I|First World War]]. The site was just south of the village of [[Cullingworth]] which is south of [[Keighley]] and north west of [[Bradford]] in [[West Yorkshire]].

It was considered as a civilian airfield for West Yorkshire on decommissioning, but [[Yeadon, West Yorkshire|Yeadon]] became the hub of civilian flights as [[Leeds Bradford Airport|Leeds Bradford International Airport.]]

It was used by aircraft from 1913 and commissioned as an airfield by the [[Royal Flying Corps]] in 1916 with closure by the [[Royal Air Force]] (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 Establishment|Royal Aircraft Factory]] [[Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2|BE2A]] aeroplane en route to [[Montrose, Angus|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.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last1=Goff|first1=Derek|title=Cullingworth - a glimpse of the past volume 2|date=2006|publisher=Cullingworth History Group|location=Cullingworth|isbn=9780955305405|pages=63–68|chapter=Early flying machine visits Cullingworth}}</ref>

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 ([[No. 33 Squadron RAF|33]] and [[No. 76 Squadron RAF|76]] Squadrons).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Peter|title=Squadron Histories|date=1968|publisher=Puttnam & Company|location=London|isbn=0370000226|pages=25, 42}}</ref> The airfield and its environs totalled {{convert|40|acre}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hughes|first1=Kathryn|title=Great War Britain Bradford|date=2014|publisher=History Press|location=Stroud|isbn=9780750953863|page=45}}</ref> but facilities were basic and ran to just one wooden and canvas hangar with accompanying grassed strip.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Alan|title=Sixty Years of Leeds Bradford Airport|date=1994|publisher=Hutton Press|location=Beverley|isbn=1-872167-64-0|page=13}}</ref> The whole landing ground covered only {{convert|40|acre}} and the strip itself was {{convert|550|yd}} by {{convert|420|yd}}.{{sfn|Chorlton|2014|p=212}}

33 and 76 Squadrons were officially billeted at [[RAF Kirton in Lindsey]] and [[Royal Flying Corps Ripon|RFC Ripon]] respectively,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Halley|first1=James J|title=The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force|date=1980|publisher=Air Britain|location=Tonbridge|isbn=0-85130-083-9|pages=64,114}}</ref> though detachments and flights were also billeted at Gainsborough and Tadcaster.{{sfn|Chorlton|2014|p=212}}

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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Delve|first1=Ken|title=The military airfields of Britain: Northern England - County Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire|date=2006|publisher=Crowood Press|location=Marlborough|isbn=1-86126-809-2|page=292}}</ref>

On the formation of the Royal Air Force from the Royal Flying Corps and the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] on 1 April 1918,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Get ready to start the celebrations to mark RAF 100|journal=RAF News|date=8 April 2016|issue=1392|page=5|publisher=Royal Air Force|location=High Wycombe|issn=0035-8614|oclc=474096693}}</ref> RFC Manywells Height became RAF Manywells Height. It was active until the 26 June 1919{{sfn|Chorlton|2014|p=212}} when its use was discontinued by the Royal Air Force.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Philpott|first1=Ian|title=The Birth of the Royal Air Force|date=2013|publisher=Pen & Sword|location=Barnsley|isbn=9781473833128|page=269|chapter=Airfields, Landing Grounds and Seaplane Bases}}</ref>

[[File:Aerial travel for Business or Pleasure - Thos Cook & Son - 1919 - pp 16+ (map).jpg|thumb|upright|"Map of Air Routes and Landing Places in Great Britain, as temporarily arranged by the Air Ministry for civilian flying", published in 1919, showing "Manywell Heights" as a "civil station". ]]

The strip was on an official [[Air Ministry]] notification<ref name=":0" /> detailing aerial postal services from [[Hounslow Aerodrome]] to Manywells Height via Sheffield.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Alan |title=Leeds Bradford Airport through time |date=2012 |publisher=Amberley |location=Stroud |isbn=9781445606095 |page=5 |chapter=Searching for an ideal site}}</ref>

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 {{convert|66|m|order=flip}} lower than Manywells Height.<ref name=":0" />

==Current usage== 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lower tip, landfill firm told|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/8050687.Lower_tip__landfill_firm_told/|access-date=30 April 2016|work=Telegraph and Argus|date=11 October 2000}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

===Bibliography=== *{{cite book |last=Chorlton |first=Martyn |title=Forgotten aerodromes of World War I |location=Manchester, UK |publisher=Crecy |year=2014 |isbn=9780859791816 }}

{{Royal Air Force}} {{RAF stations in Yorkshire}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Manywells Height, RAF}} [[Category:Military airbases established in 1916]] [[Category:Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire|Manywells Height]] [[Category:World War I airfields]] [[Category:World War I sites in England]] [[Category:Military airbases closed in 1919]]