The De Havilland aircraft museum of St Albans !!!

Posted in Europe, France

This time took my road warrior skills to go again to jolly England with the Le Shuttle train service (see post), and my Ford ; towing along my good boys and wonderful Rex! It was a very nice trip going into the countryside and seeing several towns of wonderul architecture and history, This one is a must and one of our highlights of the trip, we will be back, eventually, Therefore, let me tell you about  the De Havilland aircraft museum of St Albans !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, formerly the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, is a volunteer-run aviation museum in London Colney, Hertfordshire, The Museum’s mission is to preserve and communicate the de Havilland Heritage to ensure that current and future generations of all ages will understand de Havilland’s contribution to innovative British Aviation technology The collection was originally built around the definitive prototype and restoration shops for the de Havilland Mosquito and now also includes several examples of the de Havilland Vampire , the third operational jet aircraft in the world. The museum is the largest such museum devoted to one manufacturer in the country.

Salisbury Hall site has been occupied by a number of large manor houses since the 9C. The present house was built around 1668 . The Hall subsequently passed through various hands, and during the latter part of the 19C was occupied by a succession of farmers. However, about 1905 Lady Randolph Churchill, as Mrs Cornwallis West, came here to live. Her son, Winston Churchill, became a regular visitor.

A bit of history tell us that in September 1939, the de Havilland Aircraft Company established the Mosquito design team in the Hall, the prototype Mosquito, E0234/W4050, subsequently being built in the adjacent buildings, to the side of Salisbury Hall. It is now on display with the other two Mosquitos in the Walter Goldsmith Hangar. In January 2016 the museum opened a new hangar initially named the Geoffrey de Havilland Hangar. This hangar was later renamed the Amy Johnson Hangar when the new hangar opened in 2020 ,and is now used for workshops where the public can see the volunteers working on museum projects. Part of the site of the former Airspeed Ltd building is now covered by the new Geoffrey de Havilland Hangar. The prototype Mosquito became the first aircraft to be displayed at Salisbury Hall, and was followed by examples of the de Havilland Vampire and Venom in 1968. In 1970, the collection was joined by a further example of the de Havilland Mosquito, which had been donated by Liverpool Corporation, following its use in the film Mosquito Squadron, A 1969 British war film made by Oakmont Productions, directed by Boris Sagal and starring David McCallum. The raid echoes Operation Jericho, a combined RAF–Maquis raid which freed French prisoners from Amiens prison in which the Mosquitos took part.

The official de Havilland Aircraft Museum : https://www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk/

The St Albans tourist office on the de Havilland Aircraft Museum : https://www.enjoystalbans.com/listing/de-havilland-aircraft-museum/

The Hertfordshire area tourist office on museums , see de Havilland : https://www.visitherts.co.uk/visit-herts-blog/museums-in-hertfordshire/

There you go folks , do dare drive in jolly England, it’s an adventure of a lifetime, and you will be back !!! as we have lol! Until another round chasing Sherlock we will be saying elementary my dear Watson to you all. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the De Havilland aircraft museum of St Albans !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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