This is a slightly different feature for me, as it doesn't mention football once! However, it tells of an interesting moment in the history of Prescot and the surrounding area.
In July 1909, interest in aviation was at it’s height and just days after Louis Bleriot’s successful flight across the English Channel, it was reported that, as an encouragement to the science of aviation, Sir William Hartley, the well-known jam manufacturer and philanthropist, of Liverpool, had offered a prize of £1,000 to the first person who made a successful flight in a heavier than air machine between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester.
The rules were that the aviator must depart from within the boundary of Liverpool, and land, without any intermediate stoppage, within the boundary of Manchester. The flight should take place between sunrise and sunset and twelve hours’ notice must be given to the Liverpool Daily Post. The offer was international, and was to remain valid for six months.
After a series of successful test flights in August 1909, Mr Samuel Franklin Cody of the War Office Airship Station, Aldershot announced his intention to compete for the prize.
Cody was a larger-than-life American cowboy and showman, who developed an interest in flying after he had moved to England in the 1890’s. Employed by the War Office he had originally designed kites, followed by an airship, before moving on to aeroplanes. His contract with the British Army was ended in early 1909, but he was allowed to keep the aircraft that he had developed, and he continued to modify and test his design at his own expense.
Moving up to Liverpool, he established himself in a makeshift hangar at the Aintree Racecourse, where he prepared the aircraft for the flight. The machine was of his own design and was known as The Cathedral. After a series of short experimental flights from the Racecourse, and beset by poor weather and wet conditions on the field, Cody made final preparations for his prize winning attempt on December 29th, 1909.
During the morning, he made some four or five successful trial trips, going the full length of the racecourse and rising to a height of 60 feet, with the engine working splendidly. The early morning mist had gone and the weather was beautifully fine, with absolutely no wind. The prospects for the big event seemed highly promising.
Before starting Mr. Cody had been informed that the fog in Manchester was dense, such that people could not see more than forty yards ahead. However, he insisted that by steering with the sun on his right he could keep his course, and said that he was determined to show the public that he was in earnest, now that he had finally got his engine into good condition, and had a few hours of calm weather.
Just after midday Cody announced that he was about to try for the Hartley prize, and immediately set off, lifting off at 12.16 pm. Sir William Hartley, who was at Aintree, expressed satisfaction that an attempt to the flight was being made.
The aeroplane ran along the ground for a couple of hundred yards and then rose gracefully in the air. It had been understood that Cody would fly around Liverpool, but the flying machine was seen to be making in the direction of the Cheshire Lines Railway, presumably with the intention of following that course directly to Manchester.
Unfortunately, the good weather changed quickly and a dense mist began to descend. Just before it disappeared from view at Aintree the machine had risen to a height estimated at between two and three hundred feet.
All went well until he reached the Eccleston Hill area, where the fog became very thick. He spotted telegraph poles and other obstacles in front of him, and the chimneys of St Helens rising in the distance, which he believed that his flying machine could not surmount. Consequently, he decided that he had no option but to alight, which he accomplished in perfect safety, without injury, to himself or to his machine.
Cody landed at Valencia Farm, near to Portico chapel and Eccleston Park station (close to where The Grapes pub stands today), and immediately telephoned back to Aintree. Upon receiving the news, his secretary set out by train to join him and arrange for the recovery of the aeroplane. Within a few minutes quite a crowd of excited spectators had surrounded Cody and the aeroplane, with many keen to write their names on the white material covering the wing of the machine.
Because he had lost his bearings and had adjusted his course several times, the total distance flown by Mr. Cody was estimated to be about fourteen miles. His flight lasted just 21 minutes.
In an interview Cody said, “l am simply beaten the fog. The engine was going as sweetly as it is possible for it, or any other engine to work, and if it had not been for the fog I could have done the distance. There seems no hope at present of leaving, and, therefore, I shall camp here for the night. I could not fly very high, or I should have been unable to see the ground, and would have lost my way. I kept flying as long as there were no obstacles, but suddenly there loomed in the near distance a big bank, which I find is Eccleston Hill. I could not tell what it was whilst I was in the air owing to the fog. I skirted St. Helens, and tried to dodge it, but it was all in vain, and I had to come to earth. I was working my way towards the Ship Canal, and if had got anywhere near that I should have had course clearly marked out for me.”
In another interview Mr. Cody said, “I travelled about ten miles as the crow flies. After leaving Aintree I went to Mossborough, the other side of Knowsley Park, and skirted the edge Rainford, making for St. Helens. The fog seemed to be getting thicker all the time, but I meant to keep going until it was hopeless. Trouble came when I was reaching Eccleston Hill.. I could not go high for fear of losing sight of the ground through the fog, while I was afraid to go too low owing the telegraph wires and other obstructions. As I was approaching Eccleston Park my speed was reduced owing to the tail of the machine catching against an obstruction, and found myself faced by the overhead wires of the electric [tram] car service on the road between Knotty Ash and St. Helens. I knew there was a great danger of my being unable to clear these. So I started to land, and gave up the attempt.” Cody added that during the flight his elevation varied between 80 and 200 feet and was determined to make another attempt very shortly.
In the following days, Mr. Cody was repeatedly prevented from continuing the flight from Prescot due to fog. He eventually dismantled the aeroplane and returned by road to Aintree. In January 1910, it was reported that Mr. Cody was abandoning his attempt and was withdrawing from the contest. The Aintree authorities had declined to permit the aviator to stay longer there, and he dismantled his aeroplane to return to London.
The first non-stop Liverpool—Manchester flight was not completed until July 1911, by Henry G Melly.
In August 1913, Samuel Cody, and a passenger, were killed when they fell from an aeroplane of Cody’s design, which broke up in mid-air near Fleet in Hampshire.
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