Dispute over a Beverley This article relates to the last surviving Blackburn Beverley aircraft bought by pilot Martin Wiseman from Fort Paull's auction after it closed in January. Martin plans to somehow transport the plane to the airfield, a feat in itself due to the weight of the component parts, but then wants to convert it into B&B accommodation, which the Fort Paull Battery Heritage Site CIC strongly object to.
Seems a bit daft to destroy all of its its historical value by turning it into a giant caravan--and apparently the four engines are also being sold off by the new buyer. It's the last of its kind. The RAF should have stepped in and flown it out in carefully dis-assembled chunks under a Chinook or three to a venue that could have given it a good home: Elvington or Duxford. Very sad.
Cpl Hadaway very sad indeed. I can recall seeing them in flight and always thought it would end up as a static in the IWM collection
That Beverley XB 259,the first production aircraft used to be in the public domain at the Museum of Army Transport in Beverley which folded due to financial difficulties. I took my young Grandson round the museum about 1995 and we were able to visit the interior of the aircraft.I thought at the time it was a pity that the museum had been broken up for it was a quality museum.An aircraft which reflected the approach to aircraft transport design of its era.At the time the aircraft looked to be well cared for. Looking back the aircraft should have been retained for exhibiting as part of the RAF's heritage. It's destined to be relocated to the former wartime RAF Bomber Command No 4 Group /postwar Thor airfield at Breighton near Selby,just off the A163, Selby to Holme on Spalding Moor road. Incidentally another airfield worth visiting.It has been used for some time for private flying.
I first heard about this on a local news programme, which also talked about the RAF having broken up the second to last Blackburn Beverley, so a bit ironic if they are involved with transporting this one. Also, when they interviewed Martin Wiseman, I don't recall him mentioning the plane's ultimate planned fate, although I could be wrong! Certainly a shame if it does end up as a 2 bedroomed holiday let!
This was the one at Hendon I remember it standing out in all weathers The Beverley Association: The Death of Beverley XH124
It's not a matter of a rich saviour spending his own money. The aircraft is the last of its kind and a piece of national heritage that the nation should still step in to preserve. On a similar theme, why does this country have no preserved battleships and aircraft carriers from WW2 while the Americans have several of each? Should a rich benefactor have stepped forward after WW2 to save, let's say, HMS Warspite. No, the Government should have preserved the ship. Similarly has HMS Hermes, the last WW2 era British carrier, just gone to the breaker's yard simply because there wasn't a rich collector to buy it? No, it's a matter of a Government's will to decide what is important in the nation's history and heritage. The lumbering Beverley was a towering symbol of British air power in the 1950s and 1960s. How many servicemen flew in it, jumped from it, were supplied by it, often into the roughest of forward airstrips through to 1967? It's a classic aircraft. But the people who make the decisions about what's important to the national culture and heritage don't see it like that. They'd rather spend their/our heritage money other things...... End of rant!
The Americans haven't as much history as us so they have to preserve what history they do have. We've lots of castles & cathedrals that they haven't.
I think maintenance of the American Battleships is a big drain and one they struggle with - I visited the USS North Carolina about 20 years ago when they were replacing the deck (a friendly veteran gave me a chunk of the original as a souvenir) and they are currently repairing her hull as it had corroded badly so they have built a cofferdam to drain and allow access - they must be absolute money pits
They are financial disasters. I love them, of course, but the local governments that thought they were a good idea at the time all have serious buyer's regret. Maintaining hundreds of thousands of square feet of painted steel in a saltwater or brackish environment is a nightmare.
Yes, the Americans may have tried to preserve too much. I struggle to remember all the aircraft carriers they now have as museums: the USS Yorktown, Lexington, Midway, Intrepid... The WW1 era USS Texas is apparently in the worst shape of their several preserved battleships. However it would have been nice for the UK to have just one very big old ship on display. For me, it would have to have been HMS Warspite....
I wish that Warspite had been preserved but I read somewhere that the RN was against preserving her as its preference was to scrap that ship and preserve the name by using it for later ships. There has been a later HMS Warspite, a Valiant class SSN, and another is planned, a Dreadnought class SSBN.
Of all the old RN battleships at the end of WW2 Warspite was in possibly the worst condition. Not all the damage from Salerno had been repaired (X turret remained useless). The mine damage from June 1944 left her with one good shaft, one fairly good shaft, one wobbly shaft, and one siezed shaft. How much of the other damage from that remained unrepaired I’m not sure. Anyway she was the first to be sold for scrap. Given the country’s finances her disposal contributed to the pot as opposed to being a drain on funds to have repaired her for posterity.
Having been involved and still involved in trying to save old things of interest (to me at least) the word bureaucracy and finances springs to mind. The trouble is you cannot save everything and it also depends if the persons involved in the saving of old things have an interest which they can paste a good case. So if the bloke does turn it into a B&B lets hope it stays the distance. As with all great ideas the end game comes when money going out Is more than money coming in.The curtain then falls. Onwards and Upwards
Back to the Beverley, regardless of overall finances, a firm policy of preserving at least one of every aircraft type that has served with the RAF in significant numbers would be a useful step for those in charge of the Heritage purse strings. There are very many gaps as it is in the RAF Museum's collection as it is (Wellesley, Maryland, Baltimore, Whitley, Vildebeest/Vincent.... (reader: please insert name of extinct favourite RAF old plane)...so wilfully pushing one more towards complete extinction is not a wise move--though I do hope it does survive, even as an engine-less B& B.