100 years of aviation to be remembered with exhibition in Olveston

9:30am Monday 8th March 2010

By Liza-Jane Gillespie

HISTORIANS in Olveston are helping to celebrate 100 years of aviation with a special exhibition detailing the village’s contribution to the industry.

This Saturday Olveston Parish Historical Society will be holding an exhibition called 100 Years of Aviation: The Connection with Olveston and the Surrounding Area.

The display will include a large collection of photographs, books, brochures and other memorabilia loaned by local residents and by Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust and the Bristol Aero Collection.

The exhibition coincides with the centenary of the formation of the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (BAC) by Sir George White.

This was the beginning of the aviation industry in Filton, which has included the firms Bristol Aeroplane Company, British Aircraft Corporation, Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Airbus.

"This anniversary is being recognised in a range of events in and around Bristol, and Olveston Parish Historical Society (OPHS) has undertaken projects to celebrate the centenary from a local viewpoint," said Les Harper, chairman of OPHS.

"BAC and its descendant organisations has been a major employer of local people for many years, particularly since the massive expansion of the company in the late 1930s as the aircraft industry prepared for war."

OPHS has interviewed residents who were once involved with BAC in Olveston and compiled the memories into an illustrated book called I Worked There. The present Sir George White, great grandson of the founder of the company, has written the preface to the book.

OPHS has also collected information on dispersal sites around Olveston, extending out as far as Almondsbury and Aust. These sites ranged from large country houses to humble barns.

"During the war BAC needed additional premises, partly to provide extra storage space for parts and documents or accommodation for personnel as a result of the swelling size of the company, and partly to remove some critical activities from the areas most vulnerable to air raids," said Mr Harper. The most important dispersal site was Tockington Manor. This was set up by Roy Fedden, a chief engineer, at the outbreak of World War Two as a site for the design of new engines. In 1941 it became the centre for design of Bristol's first gas turbine engine, which was later named the Theseus. "This engine never went into service, as technology was developing rapidly, but it laid the foundations for the Proteus, which went on to power the Britannia airliner," said Mr Harper.

A notable resident of Olveston after the war was the test pilot Walter Gibb who flew the Brabazon and Britannia, and twice gained the world altitude record in a special Canberra aircraft powered by Bristol Olympus engines.

The OPHS exhibition will be held in Tockington Parish Hall this Saturday, March 13 (10am-4pm).