Carlisle Airport finally reopening

Jul 3rd, 2019

Carlisle Airport finally reopening

I see Carlisle airport is finally reopening. I have stories about it going back to 1980s when my father was Customs Officer in charge there. Probably very illegally I learned to ride a motorbike on the runway there. We didn’t think that there were any flights coming in (even in its heyday it was hardly Heathrow). So I was tottering down the runway on my 90cc Honda, when suddenly a light aircraft landed over my head – it scared the shit out of the pilot.
Then when the airport went bust, there were loads of supplies left over which no one apparently wanted. So my father and I came home with hundreds of sachets of instant coffee and coffee mate – they kept us in drinks for months.

I’m glad to see it open again but “Carlisle Lake District Airport” is a bit of a stretch as Carlisle is not really in the lake district. Also, London Southend is an interesting description.

Still, I wish them all luck in getting it going again. My family on my father’s side came from Brampton and Wetheral which are next to the airport. My grandmother was born in Wetheral and her father was one of the earliest photographers in the country – she used to have to get up early to wash the glass photographic plates in the river Eden. I don’t think they would be able to afford to live there now as it is excruciatingly expensive as it is a really pretty place with good transport links and some nice restaurants.