London LOOP alongside the River Ingrebourne

Image: © Marathon Taken: 13 Mar 2017

Hornchurch Country Park is the former site of Sutton's Farm airfield which opened on 3rd October 1915, from which biplanes of the Royal Flying Corps defended London in the First World War. Lieutenant William Leefe-Robinson took off from the airfield on the night of 2nd September 1916 and shot down the first German Zeppelin airship to crash over British soil. For this action he received the Victoria Cross. The airfield closed after the First World War, but the land was requisitioned in 1923 because of the expansion of the RAF and the airfield opened as a much larger fighter station, RAF Hornchurch. Fighter squadrons from Hornchurch were prominent in the Battle of France over Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain and it became one of the most famous Spitfire stations in Fighter Command. The airfield was ideally located in bomb alley to cover both London and the Thames corridor from German air attacks. After the War it became the RAF's Aircrew Selection Centre during the 1950s. In 1962 the airfield closed and the site was sold for gravel extraction. In 1980, following ground restoration, including in-filling with landfill, the Greater London Council carried out a massive landscaping project to create Hornchurch Country Park. The road names of the local airfield housing estate commemorate the airfield and its pilots. A new visitor centre was opened on 3rd October 2015, the 100th anniversary of the original airfield. It includes exhibition space and a cafe and has been named Ingrebourne Valley Visitor Centre as it provides a focal point and gateway to the wider landscape of the Ingrebourne Valley. It is a joint venture between Essex Wildlife Trust and the London Borough of Havering. The London LOOP follows the entire length of Hornchurch Country Park and the Ingrebourne Valley from Upminster Bridge. This is after crossing Hacton Lane on the way to Upminster Bridge. The Ingrebourne Valley, in which Hornchurch Country Park is situated, comprises 650 acres of various habitats, including river, open water, marsh, grassland, reedbeds and woodland. It is a Local Nature Reserve and a SSSI. See http://data.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/Hornchurch%20Country%20Park%20Info%20&%20Map.pdf for more information about Hornchurch Country Park.

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