Southend Airport historic models on display for first time

At the Visit the Vulcan Day event, held at Southend Airport, four models made by aviation enthusiast and model engineer, Peter Smith, were put on display.

Peter moved with his wife Barbara to Leigh in 1955, and during the 1960s, he created models of Southend Airport.

They show the Southend Airport site at various stages of its development from the late 19th Century to the mid-1960s, which was when he made the models.

Historic - One of the Southend Airport models (Image: Jason Gore)

Following Peter’s passing in 2007, his family took over caring for the models but, with no space to keep them, they were forced to look for another home for them.

However, after museums didn’t seem interested and the models were on the verge of being thrown in a skip, the Vulcan Restoration Trust, took up the family’s offer to become the models’ new owner.

The models were stored for several years but, using a UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant from Rochford District Council, new covers were made for them, meaning they can now go back on display.

Peter’s family were the Vulcan Restoration Trust’s special guests at the event, it being the first time they had seen the models since their refurbishment.

Dave Griffiths, Vulcan Restoration Trust vice-president said: “It was a pleasure to meet Peter’s family and to see how thrilled they were that his models have a new home and can now be enjoyed by everyone who is interested in the history of London Southend Airport.”

The models, made mostly from balsa wood, were not commercial commissions.

Instead, as his family explained, they were simply part of Peter’s model-making hobby.

His daughters Lisa and Lindsay remembered their father’s passion for model making and described their childhood home as being full to the brim with models of all types, many of them aviation related.

The models will be back on display at the Trust’s Visit the Vulcan on Fathers’ Day event at the airport on June 16.