Our start was in 1974 when a small group of model flyers used a patch of open land at the top of Riddlesdown near Purley. The land was council owned and they were approached by the council to form a club and the council would then give permission for the club to fly models.
This resulted in the formation of the Riddlesdown Model Flying Club. After only a few years the land used for flying was partially fenced in to be used as sports field for Riddlesdown High School. A fresh field was found for model flying near to Warlingham Hospital. Over the next 4 or 5 years various sites were used but none lasted for very long usually due to it being needed for other activities. In the mid 80s the club located to a farm near to Dormansland where the farmer was prepared to allow the club to fly. The site was not ideal but with hard work and a pleasant and helpful landlord we stayed there for over 30 years.
Dormansland in the 1980s
In the early days at Dormansland model flying was a popular hobby for teenagers through to pensioners. The club restricted its membership to 40 to enable everyone to spend time flying as well as providing periods for training new pilots. The club is now smaller but the same priorities exist.
Our last move occurred in 2017 when, following a change of farm management at our previous site, we opted to move to our current location where we lease the runway, pits and caravan directly from the farm owner.
Our new field has received a lot of preparation as it was just meadowland prior to our arrival in 2017. Again our new landlord has been helpful in providing equipment to get the runway up to standard. We expect that in the following years the runway will settle into a first class strip.