Tuesday 27 October 2015

The Varied History of Ouston Airfield (NZ081700)


The little patch of Northumberland to the south of Stamfordham has gone by a few names over the past half century or so. Since the start of World War II it has been almost exclusively a military affair, and remains so as modern-day Albemarle Barracks. But it began life in 1939 as one of many hastily-built aerodromes, and was commonly known as Ouston Airfield or RAF Ouston.

Though it has not seen an aeroplane for several decades, the rather odd arrangement of runways can still be clearly made out on modern day maps: three long strips criss-crossing one another, with an outer ring-road enclosing the site. Its aviation history is a standard affair: opened in 1941, hosting Hurricanes and Spitfires initially, to be followed by all sorts of warplanes, from Defiants to American Mustangs and Typhoons to Wellingtons. Post-war, it continued in use in a ‘reserve’ role into the late 1950s, and some aircraft maintenance work was carried out there into the 60s.

Just when its useful life seemed to be coming to an end, it suddenly burst back onto the scene as a car and motorcycle racetrack in the early to mid-60s. Racing may well have taken place there as early as 1961, but what is known for certain is that the Newcastle and District Motor Club organised meetings at Ouston Airfield in consecutive Junes in 1962, 1963 and 1964. Jackie Stewart is known to have blown the field away at one race at Ouston in his Jaguar E-type in one of his earliest wins (1962 or 1963, reports differ); and the great Jim Clark was paraded there in 1964 and presented the prizes. In 1965, apparently, a crowd on 20,000 watched a motorcycle race meet at Ouston.

Two years later, in 1967, the site was reopened as an airfield for a short duration, acting as the North-East Regional Airport for five months whilst Newcastle Airport’s runway was extended.

Then, in the early 1970s, it was handed over to the army and renamed Albemarle Barracks, and aeroplanes have never left its surface since (though Apache helicopters are still to be seen there). Recently it has found yet another use: as a secure compound for the transport of nuclear material and/or warheads – or so the rumours go…


4 comments:

  1. I was only born in 1971, I can remember attending a single motorsports event at Ouston Airfield next to Whittle Dene. I cannot remember if the main event was bikes or cars but I can clearly remember watching a side-car race on the same day. I remember my dad buying me a Ferrari badge which was sewn onto my jacket and stayed their until I outgrew it, I would estimate this event was in approx 1977 or 78.

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    1. Thanks Mick, that's very interesting. Clearly the odd meet or two continued for a bit longer than I'd imagined!

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  2. My Dad (Peter Middleton) won a few races there. I'm currently making a documentary about him. If anybody has a list of race results from this track, it would be very helpful.

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  3. I did my basic training in Albemarle barracks in 1979-1980 with the Royal Signals they also tested the Challenger tank there, which was quite funny because they stuck cardboard boxes all over it to break up it's actual shape, in case of random photographers from the perimeter, while it raced up and down the airfield tearing up concrete as it went

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