Shoreham Airport: National Transport Trust awards the Red Wheel plaque to Britain’s oldest airport

The Red Wheel, similar to the English Heritage blue plaques, was unveiled by Adur District Council chairman Stephen Chipp in a small ceremony attended by trust representatives, including president Lady Judy McAlpine and chairman Stuart Wilkinson, and airport managing director Rob Cooke.

The plaque was awarded in recognition of the site being Britain’s oldest airport, opened 1910, and the first purpose-built commercial airport in the world, with a fine Art Deco terminal building by Stavers Tiltman, opened in 1936.

Also present was Peter Stone, the senior council member at the trust who created the Red Wheel programme in 2007.

A railway enthusiast from childhood, Peter was heavily involved in canal restoration in the East Midlands before re-locating to the south coast.