Demolition of historic WWII flight shed underway
Demolition is underway at a historic flight shed in Birmingham, where hundreds of the fighter and bomber planes used in World War II were built.
The Longbridge hangar is being razed by developers St Mowden, who took control of the hangar from MG Motor UK earlier this year. It had fallen into a bad state of disrepair having had very limited use over the last five years.
The building, which was designed by the inventor of the bouncing bomb, Sir Barnes Wallis, and featured the largest unsupported roof in Europe when it was built in the 1930s, will make way for the completion of the £70 million new town centre development.
St Mowden senior development surveyor, Mike Murray, confirmed to the Birmingham Mail that official demolition had begun on the structure.
He said, "The building was empty when we took control of it from MG Motor UK earlier this year and was also both unsafe and in a poor state of repair having only been partially used over the last five years."
The demolition has been met with dismay from some people, who have claimed that the building was an important artefact of Britain's wartime history.
The daughter of Sir Barnes Wallis, 84-year-old Mary Stopes-Roe - who lives in nearby Moseley - said, "The flight shed is extremely important, it was a vastly important feature in the war and the history of the 20th century. We seem to be rapidly losing all contact with our history. We should all be proud of what we managed to do."
