Factory workers' flight to England match remembered

A little over 70 years before the current World Cup kicked off, a group of excited factory workers from Coventry were preparing to fly to watch an England side take on Scotland in Glasgow.

A photo of 30-odd men waiting to board the plane in April, 1956, has been shared as people reflect on Coventry Airport's 90-year history, following its closure.

Among the aircraft engineers from the city's Rolls-Royce factory travelling to Hampden Park, was Stan Aldenton, an England fan, and his best friend Bob Howat, a Scotsman and rival supporter.

Stan's son Rob Aldenton, 83, remembers his dad's trip well. "We were waiting for him to come back and tell us about it," he said. "It was quite a big family event."

The match, which ended 1-1, was part of the British Home Championship, a tournament between the home nations that began in the 1880s, ending a century later.

Aldenton said the aircraft was a Dakota Douglas DC-3 and the flight took a couple of hours.

He took a similar trip himself in 1962 to be among more than 130,000 spectators at Hampden, this time travelling from Birmingham.

"It was amazing," he said, recalling the large crowds and atmosphere.

The photo from 1956 is among possessions he and sister Mary have of their late father, who worked at Rolls-Royce for most of his career, including helping make parts for Concorde.

Aldenton owns a gold watch his father was given to mark his 25th anniversary with the firm, having started during World War Two helping to make aircraft parts.

Coventry's airport, which opened as Baginton Aerodrome in 1936, closed earlier this month with pop group Take That the last passengers to fly in.

It will make way for the GreenPowerPark, a £2.5bn battery and clean energy project, expected to create thousands of jobs.

Aldenton, who grew up in the city's Radford area, believes the engineers would have funded their own trip and it would have been a very special day for them.

It was the first time his dad, who was then about 47, had flown.

"We were all excited as children that he was going to be flying," he said.

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