With the preservation (lack off) and awareness (lack off) of the UK's aerodrome heritage, how are things done in France and Germany? Are buildings abroad being demolished at the same rate, or are they charished?
Apathy and OUR silence is as powerful as any bulldozer and equally cherished by developers.
I think the UK is streets ahead of Europe despite what you may think Philip.There are five Conservation Areas: Hornchurch, Brooklands, Bicester, Old Sarum and Yatesbury for example plus numerous listings (over 30 at Bicester alone).
You can tell a builder from an archaeologist by the size of his trowel. Mine is a small one!
I would have thought that Duxford makes a serious contribution to the preservation of aerodrome heritage, keeping buildings dating back to the First World War in good repair and actually used for their original purpose, housing aircraft.
I'm inclined to agree with NP that the UK is way ahead of Europe in this regard. When I was in Germany and Holland in the 1970s I tried to locate a number of the former World War Two airfields. The one at Venlo used by the Luftwaffe was largely unrecognisable for what it had been, with no buildings remaining. The site was used for gliding but there seemed to be little or no recognition of its history. Things may have changed now, of course, but I've not been back for more than 30 years.
More recently, Laarbruch has become the Ryanair destination for Dusseldorf. Despite its development as a civil airport, I understand that much of the site still remains derelict. Whatever the economic problems of preserving an airfield site in the UK, they seem to me to be no different in Euroland.
When bored one day, I Googled European airfields from WW2 and tried to spot them in Google Earth. Quite a few were obviously developed into Military/Civil airfields but I did find one or two that looked disused and/or partly removed. If I can find them again I will post under the European section.
There was an After The Battle magazine article on airfields in Holland many years ago. Sadly I sold my back copies when finances were low - anyone remember interest rates at 15%? (I would love that now I have no mortgage!!)
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
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