de Havilland Reminiscence Project
In June 2009, Dr Owen Davies, Professor of Social History won a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to preserve the legacy of the de Havilland Aviation Company and its contribution to the prosperity of Hatfield. At its height the business employed 10,000 workers and produced the world’s first passenger jet airliner, the Comet.
The Heritage Lottery Fund grant has enabled us to carry out a number of important activities including:
- A project launch and event for ex-workers at the aerodrome which celebrates the important contribution they made to the success of de Havilland’s. This took place on 04 November 2009, and was attended by almost 100 people
- A community habitat survey to capture environmental information about the developed and adjacent undeveloped parts of the airfield site (Ellenbrook Park and Fields). Goodman, who own the land, have produced three information boards which can be accessed on their website.
- Oral history recordings to capture the memories of ex-de Havilland workers that will be incorporated into local history archives, exhibition, and the commemorative booklet for the project
- A heritage trail comprising of 10 interpretation boards, each illustrating a different aspect of the airfield's history and geography, in locations around the former de Havilland aerodrome site (now the Hatfield Business Park and the university’s de Havilland campus). For further information please view the de Havilland Trail Leaflet.
- A commemorative exhibition, working with Digswell Arts Trust, to showcase the work of local school children and students who will use multi-media to illustrate the heritage of the de Havilland site
- An 80-page commemorative booklet which will incorporate material produced from the oral history recordings, community habitat survey and the commemorative exhibition, as well as material from the Hertfordshire Archives and de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, to create a record of the aerodrome from its origins to the present day
- The repair and re-siting of the last remaining pre-WW2 beacon. The Beacon dates back to the mid-1930s and, in those pre-radar days, provided the only way to help pilots find their way back to base after dark. It is currently being refurbished and reglazed and will be situated on land opposite the new Law Court building in Spring 2011