Metman2012 wrote:

On 08/07/2015 15:37, Norman wrote:
Vidcapper wrote:

On 08/07/2015 08:54, Norman wrote:
Vidcapper wrote:

On 07/07/2015 15:01, Scott W wrote:

Puts to bed my criticisms from last week


http://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2015/07...ng-a-heatwave/


I wonder whereabouts on the airport the weather station is actually
located? Yes, I could check Google Maps, but the area is so large,
it'd be a needle-in-a-haystck search.


The meteorological instrument enclosure is on the north side of the
airport. It's about 130 metres north of the edge of the northern
runway and about 20 metres south of the northern perimeter road. It is
about 180 metres ESE of the northern entrance to the tunnel at the
south end of the M4 spur. Co-ordinates are 51°28'45"N 0°27'2"W.

Thanks - I think I've got it now.


On Google Earth it's fascinating to see how Heathrow has developed over the
years. There's imagery for various years back to 1999 and, somewhat
surprisingly, pretty good imagery for 1st Jan 1945. The 1945 imagery covers
some quite large parts of the country. Getting a bit off-topic now but the
expanse of Croydon Airport stands out on the 1945 imagery though it was
clearly no longer operational. Comparison of the 1945 imagery with present
day imagery shows that the extreme SE end of the runway at Croydon still
exists. It has a very distinct white circle on it today. Looking on Google
Streetview it can be seen from the A23. Nice to see that a bit of history
has survived.

My family moved to near Croydon Airport not long before it closed. It was a
playground for us kids and I first drove on one of its peri tracks. However,
as far as I'm aware, it only had grass runways, the cost of converting them
on a very restricted site being one reason it was closed. I think what you're
talking about is actually a taxiway rather than the end of a runway, but I'm
happy to be shown I'm wrong!

Unfortunately, my book on the history of the airport only goes to 1928!

The Google Earth imagery for 1945 shows what appears to be a runway orientated
approx 292 deg/112 deg. The NW and SE ends of the runway, which appear to be
extensions beyond the perimeter road, look like tarmac as they have dashed
white centrelines. The main part of the runway might be grass. It's the extreme
SE end of the tarmac bit that can still be seen today.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.
http://peakdistrictweather.org