Upper Austin Lodge Valley, Eynsford, Kent.
This where in 1896, in a big shed by the road to Upper Austin Lodge, aviation pioneer Percy Pilcher built a glider constructed mainly from bamboo and weighing less than 50 pounds (23kg), which he called the Hawk. He spent many hours gliding the Hawk off a hilltop named the Knob, experimenting with and refining techniques for flying through the air. Unaided he could glide for 100 yards, and with the aid of a pulley he could soar for over a quarter of a mile (0.4km).
This was also Eynsford Gun Testing range. First used from1888 by Hiram Maxim to develop the Maxim Gun. This weapon was the key to making the mass slaughter of the First World War efficiently practical. From 1915 onwards the range was used by Vickers as a test site for heavy ordnance.
Abandoned by the 1960s, by which time I was a teenager & this is where we used to fire home made rockets with varying success.
Upper Austin Lodge Valley, Eynsford, Kent.
This where in 1896, in a big shed by the road to Upper Austin Lodge, aviation pioneer Percy Pilcher built a glider constructed mainly from bamboo and weighing less than 50 pounds (23kg), which he called the Hawk. He spent many hours gliding the Hawk off a hilltop named the Knob, experimenting with and refining techniques for flying through the air. Unaided he could glide for 100 yards, and with the aid of a pulley he could soar for over a quarter of a mile (0.4km).
This was also Eynsford Gun Testing range. First used from1888 by Hiram Maxim to develop the Maxim Gun. This weapon was the key to making the mass slaughter of the First World War efficiently practical. From 1915 onwards the range was used by Vickers as a test site for heavy ordnance.
Abandoned by the 1960s, by which time I was a teenager & this is where we used to fire home made rockets with varying success.