The Solway Coast Discovery Centre is a free exhibition detailing over 10000 years of Solway Coast Heritage. It showcases the Solway Coast, describing its wildlife, heritage, landscape, communities and outlines historic and future perspectives.
Opened in 1939, RAF Silloth was a large grass expansion-era airfield initially used solely by No 22 Maintenance Unit for the maintenance and repair of a variety of training aircraft in the RAF inventory, mainly Avro Ansons, Airspeed Oxfords and Blackburn Bothas.
Construction of the airfield began in 1937, when the MoD began acquiring lands for the airfield. RAF Kirkbride opened as 12 Maintenance Unit (12MU) in June 1939. At the time the airfield had only a single grass runway and 15 hangars
The airfield was built in February 1918 as a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) airfield. It was abandoned after World War I ended, however the RAF reinstated the airfield at the beginning of World War II as an emergency landing ground for nearby RAF Silloth.
The airfield (known locally as Wiggonby airfield) was opened in June 1943, but did not become operational until that October. Today the airfield is known as Watchtree Nature Reserve.
Located within the walls of historic Carlisle Castle, Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life tells the story of the county’s Regimental history from 1702, through two World Wars, to present day.
The airfield was opened in the 1930s by Carlisle County Borough Council and known as Kingstown Municipal Airport. It was built in open countryside to the north of Carlisle, although today the site has been encircled by modern developments
During the 1950s, part of the former RAF Kingstown was re-activated and re-designated as RAF Carlisle, becoming home to No 14 Maintenance Unit, the RAF’s most northerly storage facility in England.
Opened in 1941, RAF Crosby on Eden was originally home to No. 59 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU), part of Fighter Command. It provided conversion training for Hawker Hurricane pilots.
Solway Aviation Museum is home to a collection of aircraft, aviation artefacts and displays reflecting Britain’s position as a world leader in aircraft design and innovation at the dawn of the jet age.
RAF Longtown opened in July 1941 as a satellite to RAF Crosby-on Eden, and to begin with was used by Hurricanes from Crosby’s own units, but it soon became home to a succession of training units for much heavier aircraft.
In the 1930’s, with the increasing likelihood of an impending war with Germany, Britain finally began to re-arm herself. As part of this process, new Central Ammunition Depots were required to keep all of the bombs and bullets safe and away from possible attack. Longtown was chosen as the most northern of these stores.
Discover the remarkable story of the ‘Greatest Munitions Factory on Earth’ and the extraordinary lives of the Munitions Girls who worked there at The Devil’s Porridge Museum!
Initially used as a storage site for 18 Maintenance Unit at Dumfries, Annan was opened as an airfield in its own right in 1942. It was home to 55 Operational Training Unit, teaching new pilots how to become effective fighter pilots.
A veteran of the First World War where he was a fighter pilot and CO of 16 Squadron, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding was Commander in Chief of RAF Fighter Command in the early part of the war and the Battle of Britain.
Centred around the control tower of the wartime RAF Dumfries, the museum houses a fascinating selection of aircraft, aero engines and personal histories built up over the last 40 years.
This was the biggest airfield in south west Scotland, and served many functions during the war. Construction began in 1938 and it was opened in 1940.
John Paul Jones Birthplace Museum features the original cottage on the Solway Coast where John Paul Jones, hero of the American Revolutionary War and founder of the US Navy was born in 1747.
During World War 2 the airfield at Dumfries trained bomb aimers and air gunners, preparing them for their future role in Bomber Command. There were a few bombing ranges in the area which generally consisted of a wooden target situated away from towns and villages
In the build up to World War 2, the British Government recognised the need to build new armaments factories. Instead of a very few, large sites as had been the case in World War 1 such as that at Eastriggs, many smaller sites were constructed.
The scenic coast road from Dalbeattie to Kirkcudbright passes through the village of Dundrennan, site of the historic Dundrennan Abbey – well worth visiting itself. The military ranges at Dundrennan are part of the Kircudbright Training Area.
RAF Wigtown was built less than a mile south of Wigtown, and east of Bladnoch. It was opened in 1941 as 1 Air Observers School, specifically to acclimatise observers who had trained abroad to the weather and terrain in the Britain.
The scenic harbour village of Garlieston is a quiet and unspoilt corner of our region. However in 1943 it became the site of Top Secret preparations for D-Day, the Allied invasion of occupied Europe which took place on the 6th of June 1944.
RAF Castle Kennedy lies 3 miles east of Stranraer and dates back to World War 1 when the Royal Flying Corps used the flat ground of Cults Farm for limited flying.
Established as a Royal Naval Air Station during World War 1 as an airship base, RAF West Freugh was re-opened in 1937 by the RAF becoming 4 Bombing and Gunnery School, similar to Dumfries and flying the same range of training aircraft.
The museum provides a fascinating historical insight into the golden age of British aviation. There is an emphasis on the technology and equipment used by aircrew in post war military jet aircraft.
Unique amongst south-west Scotland’s RAF airfields, Wig Bay had no runways. It was a base throughout the war for flying boats, particularly Short Sunderlands and Consolidated Catalinas.
During World War 2, the country needed a ‘spare’ deep water port on the west coast in case the Clyde in Glasgow or the Mersey in Liverpool became unusable due to enemy action. Loch Ryan was ideal, and Number 2 Military Port was built on its northern shore between 1941 and 1943.