new development was mainly in Frogmore and Darby Green, nearest to Camberley and to Blackwater railway station. Development spread westwards across Yateley in the period up to the Second World War with large houses on spacious plots for upper middle class incomers, many of whom had entries in ‘Who’s Who’, the local people providing them with services they needed. This development was scattered, with pleasant open fields between the houses. Yateley was a place for people in comfortable circumstances. War left a legacy of derelict land that invited redevelopment. The new sewerage system now had surplus capacity, making Yateley an obvious place to build houses. Yateley lay just beyond the London Green Belt -
Historic row containing the White Lion and shops on Reading Road
development pressure was intense. Yateley was changing fast, and its middle class residents saw what was happening and many sold their houses for development. During the 1960s and 1970s Yateley expanded faster than most
designated ‘New Towns’ such as Bracknell. Unlike the New Towns, Yateley expanded without proper planning or infrastructure. Only when the available land became exhausted, did the rate of development slow down.
From wartime to fly-time
It was officially opened in November 1942. Squadrons flying Tomahawks, Venturas, Mustangs and Spitfires were located here. The A30 had to be closed from dusk to dawn as a security measure, and was also closed whenever the north-south runway was in use. It was designated a Bomber Command diversion airfield and received many damaged aircraft and weather diversions throughout the war period. A fog
dispersal system called FIDO was installed to help aircraft in poor weather conditions. It consisted of a piped burner system each side of the main runway down which petrol was pumped. When ignited, the flames heated the fog sufficiently to disperse it. Few other wartime airfields had such a system. The airfield was active during and following “D” Day in 1944. The name was changed from RAF Hartfordbridge to RAF Blackbushe that year (since there was a Hartford Bridge in Norfolk and mail was going astray). After the war, the airfield was briefly closed and then reopened to become one of the busiest charter airfields in the country at the time. It closed again in 1960 when a US Navy detachment, which had operated there, left and independent airlines moved to the newly constructed Gatwick.
Later it became home to a collection of restored military aircraft. British Car Auctions bought it in 1985 both for holding auctions and operating their own fleet of company aircraft and helicopters. It is now owned by Blackbushe Airport Limited and accommodates two flying training schools and private aircraft as well as continuing to host British Car Auctions and the Blackbushe Sunday Market.
| Yateley Town Guide
In 1941, plans were drawn up for a military airfield to be constructed at Hartford Bridge Flats to the south west of Yateley. The site was an almost perfectly flat part of Yateley Common and on relatively high ground as well as having good main line rail connections and the nearby A30 trunkroad.
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