IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Dewey Path, HORNCHURCH, RM12 6TX

One of the few parts of the old RAF Hornchurch that have survived. The concrete aircraft dispersal is surrounded with an air raid shelter in the blast protection mound, is now used as a car park for the country park. RAF Hornchurch opened in 1917 as Suttons Farm but closed at the end of WW1. A new station was opened in 1928. Spitfires from Hornchurch took part in the infamous Battle of Barking Creek in late 1939 when two Hurricanes from RAF North Weald were shot down, one of the pilots was killed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barking_Creek. Hornchurch was a one of the most important of 11 Group's Sector stations during the Battle of Britain. It remained an RAF fighter station until spring of 1945. From 1952-62 it was the Aircrew selection centre it finally closed in 1963. Much of the airfield was built over but there are some relics in the country park. You can see some unusual airfield defences at Image To go to the next field in an alphabetical tour of Essex WW2 airfields click on Image Much information was gleaned from Graham Smith’s book “Essex Airfields In The Second World https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Essex_Airfields_in_the_Second_World_War.html?id=u3atAAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

The visitor centre is managed by Essex Wildlife Trust http://www.essexwt.org.uk/reserves/ingrebourne and has been open since October 2015. To continue on an alphabetical tour of Wildlife Trust sites in Essex go to Image

Exercise equipment like this has been provided at intervals along this newly improved section of the London Loop through Hornchurch Country Park. Public fitness facilities like this have long been common in China, so it seems appropriate that the only person using it when I passed was this elderly Chinese gentleman.

Countryside scenery at Hornchurch Country Park.

Crossing by an entrance to Hornchurch Country Park.