AT CHELTENHAM MODEL CENTRE

However, in describing my diorama, the models thereon and their historic backgrounds I only express my own views and as such this article should not be confused with - and is not endorsed by - the official website of Cheltenham Model Centre.

Already optimised for the display of 4mm scale vehicles, the optional front "concrete" section of Flightline was removed and wall of Metcalf brick paper added to create the impression of a split level highway, reminiscent of the M5 in the Gordano Valley south of Bristol and also parts of the M42 in terms of road surface. 

As the lower carriageway was relatively narrow compared to the one above, I closed most of this off using the Merit Modelscene cones first purchased for use on Universal Works salutes English Electric and later visible on Toucan Park. 

This drew the eyes of the viewer both upwards to the procession of EFE lorries described in more detail below and left to the Ruston Bucyrus 19 Drag Shovel from the Corgi Trackside range - fitted with wide caterpillar tracks. 

As is discussed in The Road to Feltham, such earthmoving and road building plant from the 1930s was still in use at the start of the Motorway era and so would still be historically appropriate next to lorries from the 1950s to the early 1970s.  Indeed, the Ruston Bucyrus 19 Drag Shovel was in production from 1937 to 1967.

Similar consideration was given to the choice of small aircraft to hang from the "roof" of Flightline, with a model of Hawker P1127 XP836 being first on display to highlight the availability of Harrier jump jets both as Corgi Aviation die cast GR3s and later as Airfix and Revell kits in a number of variants and scales. 

First flown in August 1962 meanwhile, XP503 - as represented in the assembled and customised model - spent most of its active career with 4 FTS before returning to Hawker Siddeley for trials out of Bitteswell, Leicestershire, in 1969. Retired to instructional use at RAF Halton by 1977, the aircraft was acquired by Phoenix Aviation at Bruntingthorpe in the mid 1990s before sale to an American owner in 2000. Registered as N503KC, there have been no reported sightings of the aircraft since.

Petter left Westland in December 1944, after wanting to take over aircraft production as well as design, and moved to English Electric where he created the revolutionary Canberra bomber based on an idea by Westland's Chief Engineer, Arthur Davenport.

Petter also began work on the supersonic Lightning but left English Electric in 1950 over both his desire to be in charge of design as well as production and his increasing doubts over the size and cost of the next generation of fighter aircraft.

With English Electric Lightning development continuing under his former assistant Freddie Page, 1951 saw Petter joined Folland Aircraft, founded from the remains of British Marine Aircraft in 1937 by Henry P. Folland, former Chief Designer for the Gloster Aircraft Company. 

Still convinced that small, simple jet fighters would offer the advantages of low purchase and operational costs and thus availability in larger numbers, Petter designed the swept wing Folland Midge around the new lightweight Bristol BE22 Saturn turbojet, and when this was cancelled subsitituted the less powerful Armstrong Siddeley Viper which was later to be found in the Hunting Percival Jet Provost.

First flight of the Folland Midge was made from Boscombe Down, Wiltshire on the 11 August 1954 with 'B' condition registration G-39-1. 'B' condition registrations were issued to manufacturers to enable company aircraft to be used abroad with 'G' denoting British nationality, 39 representing Folland and '1' indicating a first prototype.

The first student to solo the type was Pilot Officer K. B. Latton from New Zealand training at 4 FTS in April 1963 although as a training aircraft the Folland Gnat was found to have poor vision from the rear cockpit while unsolved pitch controls problems made it a poor weapons training platform.  Similarly, the Gnat was difficult to maintain due to its cramped working space.

The last course on Gnats at 4FTS graduated on 24 November 1978 with the Red Arrows surrendering their Gnats at the end of the 1979 display season in favour of the BAe Hawk.

Another connection between the Folland Gnat and Gloucestershire via Dowty Marine and Donald Campbell was that in 1965 a Gnat tail fin was added to his Bluebird K7 hydroplane - along with a single tail mounted air-speed indicator - while a Gnat's 5 000lb thrust Bristol Siddeley Orpheus jet engine replaced the heavier and less powerful Metro-Vick Beryl, which had been sourced from Saunders Roe SRA1 jet flying boat TG263 which in turn was preserved at the Skyfame Museum in Staverton.

Originally known as the Spider Crab and designed to Air Ministry Specification E.6/41, the de Havilland Vampire first flew in first flew in September 1943 and followed the equally notable Gloster Meteor to become the second British jet aircraft to enter service.

The Royal Navy also took an early interest in the type with a Sea Vampire becoming the first pure jet aircraft to land and take off from an aircraft carrier - HMS Ocean - in December 1945.

The first RAF de Havilland Vampires joined 247 Squadron early in 1946 and took part in the Victory Fly Past on 8 June 1946. With 45 and 72 Squadrons receiving Vampires in September 1946, the three units  formed the first Vampire wing based at Odiham in Hampshire.

In July 1948 six Vampires of 54 Squadron made history by completing the first Transatlantic flight by jet aircraft of the Royal Air Force. After preparation at RAF Kemble they crossed to the United States, refuelling at Iceland, Greenland and Labrador on the way.

The De Havilland Vampire was built under licence by Fairey Aviation in Manchester, English Electric further north in Lancashire and was more widely exported than any other British aircraft type. 

Indeed, Vampires, including those created under local licensed production or assembly, were delivered to air arms including Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Canada, India, Egypt and Venezuela amongst others. Sud Aviation in France built 250 Vampires known as there as the Mistral with Hispano Suiza copies of Rolls Royce Nene engines and other differences.

Capable of many roles, including day fighter, ground attack fighter/bomber, night fighter and advanced trainer, the Vampire was still in service with many air forces - such as that of the unilaterally independent Rhodesia - as late as the 1970s with the Swiss Air Force not relinquishing their Vampire trainers for two decades after that!

WA309 is modelled in the markings of 502 (Ulster) Squadron Royal Auxilliary Air Force based at Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, in 1956 shortly before the entire Royal Auxilliary Air Force was disbanded on cost grounds on 10 March 1957.  Indeed, 502 Squadron - founded in 1925 - had spent most of its history as an anti-submarine unit until the entire RAuxAF was converted to the day fighter role in 1948 and the further transition from Mark 22 Spitfires to de Havilland Vampire FB 5s began in 1951. 

It was on 17 January of this year that WA309 was delivered from English Electric and the twin boom single-engined fighter was struck off charge at 19 Maintenance Unit, RAF St Athan, as soon as 6 May 1958 before being scrapped at Lowton Metals.

WA235, as depicted on the Revell kit box, wore the shark's mouth markings of 2nd Tactical Air Force RAF Germany's 112 squadron, based at Bruggen in 1953, with the decal and painting guide alternative being offered for the same Squadron's WA331 from its time at Fassberg in 1951.

112 Squadron was formed on 30 July 1917 as a home defence unit at Throwley for the defence of the London area. Day and night interceptions were flown against enemy bombers until the end of the war, the Squadron being disbanded on 13 June 1919.

On 31 May 1957, the Squadron disbanded but was reformed again on 1 August 1960 at Church Fenton as a Bristol Bloodhound ground-to-air missile unit. The Squadron later moved to its operational base of Breighton but was disbanded on 31 March 1964 only to be reformed on the 2 November 1964 with Bloodhound 2s, moving to Cyprus in October 1967 where it disbanded on 1 July 1975.

Like WA309, WA235 had a career of less than a decade, being delivered to the Royal Air Force on 23 October 1950 and scrapped by 19 MU at St Athan on 22 June 1960, parts then going to H H Bushell & Co as did the remains of WA331, in this instance from 34 MU at Shrewsbury.  WA331, like WA309 and WA235, was built by English Electric at Samlesbury and delivered on 9 February 1951, wearing the attractive silver markings with green fins seen below before being scrapped on 29 November 1957 after less than seven years service.

Like the P1127 discussed above - but unlike the Gnat and Vampire - Red Arrows liveried XX306 had horizontal tail surfaces set markedly higher on the fuselage than the wings.  In the context of the two Flightline suspension filaments, this gives a pleasant nose-up climbing attitude: not least because this 1/72 scale model has been completed with the Hawk's optional fuselage centreline weapons training gun pack and it would not be wise for the 30mm Aden canon to be pointing at civilian road vehicles even if it did match the rest of the Rolls Royce Adour powered trainer!

Alternatives too numerous - and sometimes too big - to fit the window next to Flightline but for sale on Cheltenham Model Centre's shelves nearby included:

While it vied with the Ford D to be the best known British civilian light truck of the 1960s and 70s, the Bedford TK was also chosen by Britain's armed forces ahead of Commer and Austin vehicles as the basis for the MK 4x4 chassis.  General Service and Tactical Refueller MK variants available in the Airfix range and are discussed more deeply in terms of the Joint Harrier Strike Force while Toucan Park showcases the British Rail crew van as modelled by Oxford Die Cast.

Staplehurst Transits began in 1973 with founder and later Managing Director Colin Goldup driving his sole 35 cwt Ford Luton Van under the name of Man & Van. The work undertaken varied from household removals one day to shop delivery of food products the next. 

A contract with a bakery company followed, involved collecting product from north London each evening for delivery to their depot in Hampshire and then on to a second depot in Kent. This workload increased over the next few years and at one stage three rigid box vehicles were used to service the bakery contract. Around that time too, Scaffolding Great Britain hired two rigid flatbed vehicles from Staplehurst Transits each day to transport equipment to & from their building trade customers.  Whilst the M26 motorway was under construction, Staplehurst Transit vehicles were also often seen delivering to the many bridge building sites each day.

Being based in the Garden of England, another part of the company's work was the collection of fruit from local farms for onward transport to wholesale markets around the country and today Staplehurst Transits is the only local company to provide a daily farm collection for same night delivery to national markets.

EFE model 23405 carries the registration GKR 453 L with GK being the letters representing South West London and the suffix L indicating the 1972 / 1973 registration year.

The origins of Edwin Richard Foden and his Foden company were explored in The Road to Feltham but by the early 1930s his attention was moving from steam road vehicles to diesel, and in particular a 6-8 ton chassis fitted with a new Gardner LW (Light Weight) high speed oil-engine.  At the depth of the Great Depression, insurers were becoming increasingly reluctant to underwrite steam boilers - but with the rest of the Foden boardroom clinging to the past Edwin and his son Dennis resigned and started their own company - ERF.

The very first 'E.R.Foden & Son Diesel' lorry made its debut at the 1933 Motor Show in Olympia carrying the chassis number 63 - Edwin's age at the time - and right from the beginning the company only bought in the best components available - engines from Gardner, gearboxes from David Brown and axles from Kirkstall Forge - rather than making everything in house.  Similarly a new and striking cab was styled by Sandbach coachbuilder John Henry Jennings, who also provided initial factory space to assemble the new lorry.

The death of Edwin in 1950 at the age of 80 led to his son Dennis becoming Managing Director at the tender age of 30 years and the company went public in 1954. Dennis shared his father's flair for design and sensed that a radical change was needed.

At this time, J H Jennings employed a young designer by the name of Gerald Broadbent and between Gerald and the ERF Chief Engineer Ernest Sherratt the striking new Kleer Vue cab was born. The KV cab quickly became the epitome of  futuristic, imaginative 1950s style with its use of curved glass, one of the very first applications in a commercial vehicle and one which caused manufacturer Triplex many production difficulties.

Operators fell in love with its distinct rounded shape and the truck with its Gardner 6LW engine became a legend. A semi forward control version of the KV cab became available with the benefit of provision for three seats in the cab. These models proved popular with the likes of brewery operators and quickly gained the nickname 'Sabrina' due to the busty television personality of that name.    The KV cab was available to buy from 1954 to 1966.

J&A Smith of Maddiston, near Falkirk, began business in 1931 when James and Alexander purchased a second hand lorry and persuaded their father to enter coal haulage. Father and sons worked the lorry continuously, in shifts, until they were able to purchase another two used vehicles. Soon a contract was won with a foundry in Falkirk to deliver gas cookers to Aberdeen and back loads of fish were obtained from the local markets for delivery to Glasgow.

In 1946 J & A Smith took over two other haulage companies, Smith of Avonbridge and Keir of Camelon, and added another eight vehicles to their fleet prior to gaining the contract to haul processed metal all over Britain from the British Aluminium Company’s new rolling mills at Falkirk.

By 1953 there was accommodation for 28 vehicles at the firm's Manualrigg headquarters with a repair shop, traffic office, loading bays and storage space and in the same year the company purchased coach builders Campbell Bros. of Whitburn.  Here they had a sawmill, woodworking machinery, a sheet metal department and paint shops which could build eight complete vehicle bodies per week and began building vehicle bodies to their own design.

EFE model 31203 represents fleet number 118 with the pre 1963 Edinburgh (MS) registration KMS 71

From its earliest days AEC was an engineering-led concern that maintained close relationships with its customers. The original AEC Mandator lorry first appeared in 1931 to fulfil the special requirements of hauliers that wanted low-height chassis vehicles for carrying machinery or bodying as furniture vans.

By the 1960s the Mandator Mk V was at the vanguard of AEC's successful assault on home and export commercial vehicle markets. Later, the Ergomatic tilt-cabbed design consolidated the success of AEC's heavyweight tractive units. Fast, powerful and with excellent brakes, as well as looking the part, these lorries became immensely popular.  However, it was a great pity that the Mandator development stagnated in a period of rapid advances and when production ended in 1977 the model had become somewhat outdated.

British Road Services was created as part of the British Transport Commission in 1948 following the Nationalisation of Britain's road haulage industry under the 1947 Transport Act. By 1960 it comprised British Road Services Ltd, BRS Parcels Ltd, Pickfords and Containerway & Roadferry Ltd and in 1969 the organisation was renamed The National Freight Corporation. 

In 1982 it became one of the first state owned industries to be privatized when its employees bought what became National Freight Consortium and then NFC plc, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange.  NFC plc merged with Ocean Group in 2000 to form Excel plc.  BRS Parcels was rebranded as Roadline and after a management buy out became Lynx Express in 1997 two years before Pickfords was sold to Allied Van Lines.

Back in the 1960s however, the red liveried British Road Services lorries had their own enthusiast following much as Eddie Stobart has today, complete with spotters books listing  tractor and trailer numbers attached to each depot.

The combination of CH52 and CH122 as depicted in EFE model 35001 would have belonged to the BRS depot at Chester Road, Queensferry in North Wales with the licence plate HDM 245 C indicating a Chester (DM) registration in the year 1965. Traffic handled by Chester Road based lorries would have included sugar, beer and steel castings from Shotton to the Vauxhall works at Ellesmere Port with scrap steel being back loaded

EFE model 37001 represents Fleet number 149 of James Hemphill of Glasgow with the registration BGD 313 B, GD indicating Glasgow and B being the suffix letter for 1964.

The RB19s were produced from 1937 until 1967 and would have been used across various industries including; construction, mining, quarrying as well as within the British Railways to move loose aggregates such as ballast and coal.

Around this time their products included a patented single cable loading grab and water hydraulic cranes for use in areas where coal or grain dust posed a fire risk when combined with more conventional steam cranes pressurised from a vertical boiler.  Petrol driven direct drive rail mounted cranes first appeared in 1913 with petrol-electric cranes mounted on road bus chassis following after the First World War. 

However, it was not until the mid 1920s that Coles cranes were no longer limited to lifting across the back and sides of the unit while the vehicle itself was static.  By 1930 Coles were offering a tracked crawler crane which could rotate through 360 degrees and also featured a cantilevered jib, allowing the cranes to move close to railway wagons and other work areas before attempting to move loads.

Preceding a move to a new works in Sunderland in 1939, Coles was to design and build two of its most famous products for the Air Ministry: the EMA self propelled 2 ton crane - ancestor of the 1954 vintage 6 Ton Argus represented by the Corgi Trackside model pictured above - and the 5 ton Coles Mark VII crane mounted on the back of a 6x4 Thorneycroft Amazon lorry chassis.  About 2 000 of these were produced with 400 having a diesel rather than petrol engine.

Although Coles Cranes ceased trading in 1998 the Argus, strongest of all the firm's cantilever cranes, can still be found in working order in boat yards and on preserved railways while the Coles Mark VII / Thorneycroft Amazon combination has been immortalised in the 1/76 scale Airfix RAF Recovery Set (A03305) pictured below.