Railway Air Services - Birmingham

The flights to and from Birmingham went out of Castle Bromwich airport. It was one of the countries earliest aerodromes having seen flying on the Castle Bromwich playing fields since 1909. It became an aerodrome officially in 1912 when a hangar was erected to house a Willows airship. The aerodrome was 1,100 yards by 400 yards and level. In 1914 it was used by competitors in a Hendon- Manchester race. The RFC requisitioned Castle Bromwich in 1914 and it was used throughout the war. Handley Pages flew out of the airport in 1919 and it was later used by several pioneer services. In 1930 Imperial Airways started a route from London to Birmingham and onward to Manchester and Liverpool. It was used by GWR for 6 months during 1933 on their Plymouth – Teignmouth – Cardiff – Birmingham route. From the 7th May to the 29th September 1934 Railway Air Services operated the DH.84 Dragon G-ACPX into here as a stage in their: Plymouth – Teignmouth – Cardiff – Birmingham – Liverpool service. The Birmingham - Bristol – Southampton and Cowes route ran from the 29th July to the 29th September 1934 using a DH.84 Dragon. The London to Glasgow route started on 20th August. The airport was closed in 1958 and is now a housing estate. Birmingham was the hub of the RAS network. It was on all 3 routes and provided connectivity to all twelve other destinations. On the 20th, route one connecting Glasgow to London did not involve Birmingham at all. The outward journey aborted at Manchester and inward journey had one leg from London to Birmingham before being abandoned. On route two connecting Liverpool and Plymouth there was a full service in both directions. Mail however was not unloaded at Haldon (Teignmouth) on the outward flight, but it was unloaded at Plymouth and sent back to Teignmouth by train. The only mail that was flown to Teignmouth was the inward leg from Plymouth to Teignmouth. On route three from Birmingham to Cowes the plane got to Bristol but owing to forecast gales went no further. The mail for Southampton and Cowes was unloaded and sent on by train. The pilot J. H. Sender loaded the Bristol mail and returned to Birmingham. The connecting service from Bristol to Cardiff went on the outward journey only. On the 21st there was a full service in both directions on both the main route and the connecting service. A summary of the flights from Birmingham is as follows. Flown 20th - Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Plymouth Flown 21st - Southampton, Cowes, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester, Isle of Man, London (21st postmarks only) Part flown - Teignmouth. (Field says fully flown which is incorrect) 20th Surface - Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester, Isle of Man, London,

RAS Railway Air Services Timetable Changes for the Birmingham to Cowes Route

Monday 27th May 1935 - Major changes to route saw it change to Liverpool-Birmingham-Bristol - Southampton - Portsmouth - Shoreham. 1935 - Spartan Airways again contracted to fly to Isle of Wight. The London terminal was moved back to Heston and Cowes, Bembridge and Lea (for Sandown and Shanklin) were all served. Spartan operated an additional Sandown - Cowes - Southampton route 25th May 1936 - The Liverpool to Shoreham service was re-routed to call at Ryde instead of Portsmouth and request stops were . Summer 1936 - Spartan Airways move to the newly opened Gatwick Airport and fly to Ryde and Cowes. 3rd October 1936 - Spartan Airways ceased operations as it amalgamated with British Airways. 23rd May 1938 - Manchester replaces Liverpool as the Northern terminal. 23rd May 1938 - New Shoreham-Ryde- Bournemouth service opens in conjunction with Portsmouth, Southsea and Isle of Wight Aviation. 27th June 1938 - Ringway airport in Manchester opens and replaces the old Barton aerodrome. August 1938 - Channel Air Ferries Ltd take over the Liverpool to Shoreham route. 24th March 1939 - Great Western and Southern Air lines take over the Liverpool to Shoreham route. 3rd April 1939 - Great Western and Southern Air lines start Brighton to Ryde and Ryde to Bournemouth services. 26th May 1939 - New Heston - Croydon - Ryde service introduced

Covers Flown on the 20th

Birmingham to Bristol Flown 20th August Birmingham to Cardiff Flown 20th August

Birmingham to Plymouth Flown 20th August

Birmingham to Liverpool Flown 20th August

Early Railway Letters

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31st October 1934. This airway letter was meant to be sent on the last day of the London -Glasgow route. However, Delphinus did not arrive at Birmingham having been forced by bad weather to land at Stoke. Thus, no mail was flown North from Birmingham. After cancelling the RAS 3d paid cachet and refunding the fee the letter was returned to sender with the stamp uncancelled.

Railway letters were introduced on the 23rd August 1934. The fee was 3d and payment was indicated by a square cachet with an RAS circle and 3d paid. Railway letters differed from Railex in that it was an air letter which meant it was flown by mail and then posted at the destination so the postmark would be the destination rather than the originating address.