Hall Caine

54°20'10"N 004°26'16"W

runway: n/a - flying field - grass

Hall Caine airfield (also known as Close Lake airfield) was a civilian airfield in the north of the Island of Man, United Kingdom.
The Hall Caine Manx Airport Limited was formed in March 1935 by the Hall Caine brothers, sons of the late author Hall Caine. The airfield was built on 45 acres of land, consisting of a drained flying field with a single small hangar. The airfield opened on 3 May 1935.
Within a short amount of time it was used very often by airlines belonging to the Whitehall Securities group, that had previously operated from Ronaldsway airport. Their airline United Airlines Ltd operated a four times daily service to Blackpool and a three times weekly service to Belfast. They operated DeHavilland DH89 Rapides, Dragons and Spartan Cruisers, and from August the giant Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy. Another airline, Northern & Scottish, introduced a service between Hall Caine and Glasgow Renfrew with a de Havilland DH.84, operating three times weekly until a daily service was introduced at the end of May.
Corporate changes within the Whitehall group resulted in the merger of United, Northern & Scottish and Highlands Airways Ltd, to form a new airline known as 'British Airways Ltd' from the beginning of October. Thereafter, British Airways serviced Liverpool and Blackpool from Ramsey three times a day on weekdays and twice daily on Sundays. The Belfast and Carlisle service also continued throughout the Winter, with flights three times per week. Construction of a large hangar began in January, but floodings closed the airport and construction was delayed.
1937 was a year of consolidation within the aviation industry and therefore it was a good deal quieter at Hall Caine when compared with the preceding two years. Airlines were stopping regular services to several destinations. Mergers and breakups led to a slow but definate decline in traffic, until the last of the dwindling scheduled services ceased altogether after the last departure of 2nd October 1937. The airfield still remained open for occasional traffic including private aircraft.


Map of Hall Cane airfield in 1939

On the outbreak of war on the 3rd September 1939, Hall Caine Airport was officially closed to all traffic. The facility was requisitioned and staffed by the Royal Air Force, whose major training station at RAF Jurby was only a few miles to the North. Close Lake aerodrome was used for dropping the target-drogues towed by gunnery practice aircraft. Until the major RAF fighter station at Andreas was commissioned in 1941, it was also maintained as a Relief Landing Ground. As soon as the Royal Air Force departed, the old aerodrome was obstructed with blocks and posts to prevent its use by the enemy.
The large hangar remained in use as a farm store until after the war when it was dismantled and moved elsewhere. The terrain was returned to agricultural use. The proprietors of the Hall Caine Manx Airport Ltd. continued to file annual returns for the company until 1965. The company was finally dissolved in 1971.

Today nothing reminds of the former airfield. Only what appears to be the foundation of a hangar remains in the landscape.

The above is a condensed version of an article first published in Manx Transport Review No.42 SPRING-SUMMER 1984, currently found on line at Mers-online.


The location of the former aerodrome in 2006