Back to Hazel Road for plaques #18 and #19

Hot on the heels of the unveiling of plaques #15, #16 and #17, we went back in Woolston for the unveiling of two more plaques along Hazel Road.

The first of the two plaques to be unveiled was on the 'Spitfire House', owned by the Siva Group. This is where the original 'Itchen Works' building stood. Alan of course provided the relevant historical information, and pointed out that the roofline of the current building matches that of the original Vickers Supermarine building.

He also showed an original part of the tail section of a Spitfire which may well have been built in that original building!

Plaque #18!

And then to the site of the second of today's two plaques, and this is the most poignant of all plaques unveiled so far (and quite possible eventually of all Spitfire Makers plaques): the site of the tunnel under the railway which led to the air raid shelters on Peartree Green. The first wave of bombs missed the factories, but hit the tunnel and its surroundings .... about 50 people were killed while trying to flee from the bombs ...

Getting a bit emotional at times, Alan mentioned by name a number of people who were killed here that day, as well as some who miraculously survived. A Roll of Honour will be placed here once the Spitfire Makers Charity is as sure as they can be of the names of all those who perished there.

Plaque #19!

Plants for the small memorial garden were kindly donated by B&Q, and the planting scheme reflects the Supermarine flag.

After a minute of silence, all attending where invited to scatter some poppy and forget-me-not seeds around the 'flag', which I felt was a very nice gesture. Look forward to seeing it in full bloom this coming spring!

We kept some of the forget-me-not seeds to plant in a dedicated pot in our garden.

Following the scattering of seeds, we went back to the rowing club building, like last week, for refreshments.

Three for the price of one: plaques #15, #16 and #17

At all the unveilings of Spitfire Makers plaques that we attended (plaques #9, #11, #12 (my plaque!), #13 and #14), there was a single plaque to unveil. Now, along Hazel Road in Woolston, where the Spitfire factories and associated buildings stood, we got three!

I turned up in 'full regalia' for this event, of course.

First of the three plaques is at the Marine Skills Centre, where the 'Woolston Works' were. Alan presented his usual fount of historical information before the plaque was unveiled.

So there it is, plaque #15!

A bit further, on the other side of Hazel Road, is a building that, among other things, housed a wood mill, paint shop and the canteen, and was linked to the main factory building by a covered walkway across the road.

The rain started to come down, and it was clear that rain water and blu tack don't like each other ... So the unveiling was done quickly, prior to Alan providing the relevant historical information (including the reason behind the name 'Dreadnought Flats').

Plaque #16!

Yet further along the road was the Mould Loft. An umbrella was brought in to hide the plaque before the official unveiling, which had to be done quite hastily (remember, rain and blu tack ...).

And, of course, Alan provided all the relevant information again.

Plaque #17!

We then gathered in the boathouse of the Southampton Amateur Rowing Club, for refreshments ...

... and the launch of the Woolston Spitfire Trail!

Once the sun came out again, a group photo of the 50 or so people attending the unveilings could be made.

Picture credit of group photo: Sarah Penfold (Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust)

Dutch Spit

Me being Dutch, when a model of a Spitfire with Dutch roundels popped up on eBay, ..... you sure know what happened next!

Despite all my efforts, I haven't been able to find any information on the actual Spit that the model is based on, but I will keep looking, and will update this blog post as appropriate.