| Chickerell | ||
| Chickerell is a parish in the west of the county and
is now a suburb of Weymouth and between Chickerell and Weymouth and one
mile from the sea is Chickerell downs which is managed by the Woodland
Trust. There are two ponds here one of which is a water retention type
that serves the adjacent housing estate. Stonebank previously called Bank Farm was built at the beginning of the 17th century and is set back from the road in the centre of pleasant gardens three miles west of Weymouth. The parish has seen a lot of rapid growth over the past two decades and it has now become a town but the community spirit is that of a close knit village. Fleet Lagoon lies to the west and to the north west is Portesham, east Weymouth and south lies the Isle of Portland. Chickerell aerodrome was first opened in 1918 as RNAS Portland (Royal Naval Air Station) and was for use by aircraft that were operatin anti-U-boat patrols. It had a grass runway and one hanger but the Navy did not have if for long the military units were disbanded in 1919. After the end of World War One it was used for a while for airline services to Cricklewood and operated by Handley Page Air Transport that used ex RAF HP 0-400 aircraft, again this service did not last long but the aerodrome was used for occasional visiting aircraft and by Sir Alan Cobham's Flying Circus and there is a road on the site named after him. With war once again looming over Europe the military once again took over the airfield and in October 1936 it was again a military airfield know as Forward Landing Aerodrome for aircraft who used the Bombing Range at Chesil Beach and it was also a satellite field for RAF Warmwell. The military continued to tuse the aerodrome well after the end of WWII mainly by the Fleet Air Arm aircraft based at Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent until August 1955 then after a period of disuse the land was returned to civilian use in 1959 and was then built on.
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