metalman Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Today I happened to buy a book called 'The North Country' by Graham Turner, published in 1967. In the section about Sheffield, after saying how parochial and insular it is, he goes on to say that this could be due to its poor connections with the outside world. Then comes the following sentence: "It has no airport except United Steel's strip at Apperknowle..." So was there once an airport at Apperknowle and when did it shut down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillpig Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Today I happened to buy a book called 'The North Country' by Graham Turner, published in 1967. In the section about Sheffield, after saying how parochial and insular it is, he goes on to say that this could be due to its poor connections with the outside world. Then comes the following sentence: "It has no airport except United Steel's strip at Apperknowle..." So was there once an airport at Apperknowle and when did it shut down? I think there was a small privately owned airport there, it was I believe non commercial and used only by small planes. Never went there but heard of it. Regarding Sheffield being parochial and insular, I think that was never really true when compared to say, Hull or some of the smaller Yorkshire/Lancashire towns. What insularity there was went away once the M1 arrived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrejuan Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 If I remember correctly, when I was a lad my Dad worked for English Steel and sometimes he had to travel. They used to fly him to Scotland and other places and I am sure he flew from Apperknowle. We were once passing in the car and he pointed it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me-and-pippo Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Airstrip at Apperknowle, + marks the spot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrishall Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 In the 50s and 60s I rarely saw Sheffield mentioned on TV, even the weather map didn't show it, I remember seeing it just once and thought it a bit of an occasion. To the outside world Sheffield was almost non existent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalman Posted July 14, 2013 Author Share Posted July 14, 2013 I think there was a small privately owned airport there, it was I believe non commercial and used only by small planes. Never went there but heard of it. Regarding Sheffield being parochial and insular, I think that was never really true when compared to say, Hull or some of the smaller Yorkshire/Lancashire towns. What insularity there was went away once the M1 arrived. It's funny you should say that because this book was written just before the M1 came to Sheffield and the author wondered whether that would make a difference. So does anyone know when the airport at Apperknowle shut down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenthack Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 seems its not shut and its not in sheffield http://dronfielddigital.co.uk/apperknowle-gateway-dronfield/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike-s Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Yes it is still used and is close to Wards garden centre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalman Posted July 15, 2013 Author Share Posted July 15, 2013 Well there you go, you learn something new every day. Presumably it must have been sold off by the steel company at some point as that blog post makes it sound like it's a one-man operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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