| Located about 8 miles North East of Lincoln, former RAF Wickenby can be found just North of the B1399 road, between the villages of Wickenby and Holton Cum Beckering and took its name from the former of the two villages, which is located a mile to the North-West of the site.
The airfield opened mid war in 1942, but only saw active flying use for 3 short years. Post war, the RAF had no further use for it, so in 1945, flying operations ceased and the base was used by a maintenance unit for storing bombs. The site eventually closed in 1959 and mostly reverted back to farmland. Then in 1963, a group of aviation enthusiasts purchased part of the Northern half of the airfield for use with their aircraft. They went on to become Wickenby flying club, who continue to operate on the site today. The old airfield is dissected laterally by a small road, which had to be closed during the war years. The Northern half of the field is mostly intact, including most of the peri-track, a T2 hanger, Blister Hanger and the Northen halves of both the NW-SE and NE-SW runways, along with the old control tower which is used by the flying club. The Southern half of the site has almost entirely reverted back to farmland and there is very little at ground level to indicate its former use. A road follows part of the Western peritack. The Southern parts of the NW-SE and NE-SW runways, along with the Eastern part of the former main W-E runway, have mostly been dug up, though a few tracks remain to indicate their location. The Western half the the main W-E runway now has poultry sheds on it. A B1 hanger to the South-West has been reclad and is used by the farmer as storage. Of the domestic sites, everything South of site has been demolished. A few huts and air raid shelters to the East on the Northern half of the site still remain in a very dilapidated state. A nearby public footpath allowed me access to photograph these, though please note some of these buildings are on private farmland. There is an excellent exhibit of station memorabilia in the old control tower, which is open to the public. There is also a memorial to the site next to the aerodrome entrance. These pictures were taken during the Wickenby Wings and Wheels Weekend event in June 2009. |
Sign close to aerodrome 700x525 |
Aerodrome entrance, with memorial (former Eastern peri-track) 700x525 |
Memorial 700x500 |
Control tower 700x525 |
What the control tower normally looks like (pic courtesy of Noel Ryan). 700x525 |
Ident square next to tower. 700x525 |
Rear of tower. 700x525 |
Some of the many exhibits in the tower. 700x525 |
Amongst the exhibits, the station bell! 700x525 |
The tower is still used for Air Traffic Control. 700x525 |
View accross the airfield from the upstairs of the tower. 700x525 |
Station plan. 700x500 |
Blister hanger 700x525 |
Eastern Peri-track, looking North. 700x525 |
T2 hanger. 700x525 |
The sort of flying that takes place today. 700x500 |
Power supply hut near former domestic site entrance. 700x525 |
MT sheds, East of site. 700x525 |
MT ramps, East of site. 700x525 |
Romney huts, former tech site workshops. 700x525 |
Romney hut, closer view. 700x525 |
Romney huts, closer view. 700x525 |
Tech site office. 700x525 |
These stanton shelters are all that remain of Domestic site No2 (East of site) 700x525 |
