The New Forest Airfields Heritage Centre (formerly the Museum and Education Centre)

The Original Centre                                                                                                                           In 2009 the first New Forest Airfields’ Education Centre opened in three rooms and a corridor in a Maycrete Hut, at Merryfield Park, formerly the domestic site at RAF Sopley. From 2010, the Centre opened on one Sunday a month and by appointment, between March and October. It consisted of one large room, which served as a library and museum, with various model aircraft displayed in glass and perspex cabinets and a television monitor and player, for showing videos. At the opposite side of the building, there was a smaller room, used as a store, and separate small room, used as an office, with basic catering and toilet facilities adjacent. Between the library/museum and office, a connecting T-shaped corridor featured wall posters, photographs and additional models, the base of the ‘T’ leading to the external entry door. This building was closed in 2015, when the Camp was demolished, to make way for the new Bellway housing estate. 

The RAF Sopley Camp was built in 1953 on commandeered farmland, previously owned by the Manners family, and occupied by the RAF in 1954. The site covered around 45 acres (3/4 of a square mile). The Camp comprised a scattered group of above ground administrative, catering, storage and barrack blocks (basic sleeping accommodation), making up the domestic site, and a large ‘Cold War’ style underground bunker, which housed the facilities for ‘Southern RADAR’, a monitoring and training facility for both civilian and military air traffic controllers, which was previously housed at RAF Hurn (now Bournemouth International Airport), three and a half miles to the west of the Camp.

Groups of trainees would attend the Camp on training courses, lasting several weeks, and sleep in the barrack blocks, during their stay. The Camp reached its zenith as a training facility throughout the 1960s. The underground facility was referred to by RAF personnel on the Camp as ‘The Hole’ and was staffed by both RAF and WRAF personnel. It is now owned and used by a data storage company and is unconnected with either the new housing estate or FONFA. 

One amusing anecdote about that time relates to the organisation of the management of the Camp. As there were both RAF and Civilian personnel being trained, the running of the Camp was shared between the RAF and the Civil Service. The senior RAF officer held the rank of Squadron Leader. It was therefore decided that his civilian counterpart should also have the same (Acting) rank.

The senior civilian instructor was Les Moran, a former Flight Sergeant and Lancaster Radio Operator/Air Gunner in WWII, who had been in charge of the RAF Hurn training facility. Les was immediately made up to the rank of Squadron Leader, probably the fastest promotion through five ranks in the history of the RAF ! 

From 1979 through the 1980s, the Camp became the Sopley Reception Centre, housing refugees from Vietnam -“The Vietnamese Boat People”. More information about this period can be obtained at  https://georginaquach.com/boat-people-archive/  

John Brooks, former Chairman of Trustees, more recently Honorary Treasurer and Membership Secretary (left), with the late Bernard Baily, in discussion about a de Havilland Mosquito model, in the museum section of the original Centre.

The late Bernard Baily pictured in the Library section of the original Centre.

John Brooks viewing a large scale P-47 Thunderbolt model. Below is a line up of Spitfire models, displayed in the original Centre..

 

A Change of Venue                                                                                                                              In 2015, Merryfield Park was sold for redevelopment and scheduled for demolition. The Charity vacated its premises, put its resources into store and went ‘on the road’ for ten months, exhibiting at various local community events, including at Tangmere Aviation Museum and the Highcliffe Fete.

In October 2015, we began to plan the move into our new home. The former RAF backup generator building stands on the western edge of the RAF Sopley site and was owned jointly by the Baily family and Mr Peter Hilton. After the Camp was closed, the building had been used variously as a storage warehouse, a repair and servicing facility for fire engines and left derelict for several years. It is the last remaining building from the former RAF Camp.  

With extraordinary generosity, Bernard Baily refurbished the building to a very high standard, including underfloor heating, a first floor level gallery around three sides of the main building, new ceiling lighting and general renovation throughout and both internal and external painting. The photographs below show how the building looked before the restoration.

This is how the building looked internally in early 2016. With extraordinary generosity, Bernard Baily refurbished the building to a very high standard, constructing a first floor level gallery around three sides of the main building, installing under floor heating, new ceiling lighting and general renovation throughout, together with both internal and external painting. Below is a photograph of the temporary access road, constructed by Bellway, which we used during their construction of the new housing estate, leading off Derritt Lane.

The New Heritage Centre BH23 8HE opened on 29th May 2016, as the “Museum & Education Centre”, now renamed “The New Forest Airfields Heritage Centre”.

Entry to the Centre is by either free, on production of your FONFA Membership card, or via a donation for non-Members of a Minimum £7.50 for adults, £3 for 10 -16 year olds and free to ‘under 10s’. Service Veterans are admitted for the concessionary donation of £3, on production of their Service ID.

A £10 donation entitles visitors to FONFA Membership for the current calendar year (an unlimited number of visits on Open Days), regular Members’ Newsletters and other events, if they wish to become a Member.

The new building first opened to the public on Sunday 29th  May 2016, welcoming mainly local visitors. The New Milton Advertiser published an excellent article in May, describing the Centre and the work of the Trustees, which has helped to spread the word locally about the opening. The photographs below were taken shortly after the official opening of the new building by Ailsa, Lady Montagu and give visitors an idea of the exhibits on display.

 

 

The Main Hall is named after Ann Baily, the late wife of our late Trustee, Bernard Baily.

The photographs below are of one of the many aircraft scale model dioramas on display in the Museum. This is a 1/48th scale model of a United States Air Force single seat, twin engined P-38J Lightning, serial number 44-23569, which was based at Stoney Cross from April to July 1944 and was flown by Capt. Jack L. Reed, of the 392nd Fighter Squadron.

How the New Heritage Centre looks now:

 Some more recent photographs are posted below: The East Boldre WWI exhibition:

The Stairway Panels – recording the Twelve Airfields, all with a ‘Signature Aircraft’ image

The view from the Print Gallery

In 2018, a new interactive ‘Welcome’ touch table and two interactive 55″ wall screens were introduced, via a LEADER grant from the New Forest District Council, which have greatly enhanced our ability to display photographs, maps and both audio and video footage, as well as replacing and upgrading all the wall mounted display panels.

The new equipment was inaugurated by Bournemouth MP and Veterans Minister Tobias Ellwood, MP, seen here on the stairs, speaking at the opening event.

The new wall panels and one of the two interactive wallscreens are shown below: