Defford | |
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St James' Church, Defford | |
Location within Worcestershire | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Worcester |
Postcode district | WR8 |
Defford is a small village in the county of Worcestershire, England, located between the towns of Pershore and Upton-upon-Severn. It was once part of the Royal forest of Horewell. The woodlands were mostly removed around the time of the Civil War. [1]
Defford also has a primary school, Defford cum Besford First School, and three pubs.
Defford is home to one of the radio telescopes that make up the Jodrell Bank MERLIN (Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network) radio telescope array linking six observing stations that together form a powerful telescope with an effective aperture of over 217 kilometres.
The village hall is owned and run by a charity, the Defford Village Hall Trust, and managed by a committee of trustees . In 2011 the new village hall was built on a greenfield site some 50 yards to the south west of the old hall, adjacent to the car park. The hall was designed by a Defford resident and trustee, David Bakefield, who was instrumental in bringing the project to fruition. It has become the focal point of village life, well used by local clubs and societies.
In 1941 during World War II, a Royal Air Force airfield was constructed mainly for the flying experiments for radar that was being developed in nearby Malvern. For a few months the airfield was used as a satellite station by the Wellington bomber training unit located at RAF Pershore.
A small grass airstrip remains on the now disused airfield that has been used as a location for telecommunications installations. The site is now owned and used by the West Mercia Constabulary, but the central part of the airfield still houses a Satellite Communications facility now operated by QinetiQ.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Defford . |
The Jodrell Bank Observatory – originally the Jodrell Bank Experimental Station and from 1966 to 1999, the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories – hosts a number of radio telescopes, and is part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astronomer at the University of Manchester to investigate cosmic rays after his work on radar during the Second World War. It has since played an important role in the research of meteoroids, quasars, pulsars, masers and gravitational lenses, and was heavily involved with the tracking of space probes at the start of the Space Age. The managing director of the observatory is Professor Simon Garrington.
Pershore is a market town in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. Pershore is in the Wychavon district and is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 census the population was 7,125. The town is best known for Pershore Abbey, Pershore College, and the plums and pears grown locally.
The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
RAF Oakhanger was a Royal Air Force station in Hampshire split over three operational sites; with accommodation in nearby Bordon. The main site and operations centre was located near the village of Oakhanger, the two other sites being nearby. The parent station for administrative purposes was RAF Odiham.
Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases and is currently home to the Royal Navy Wildcat HMA2 and Army Air Corps Wildcat AH1 helicopters as well as the Royal Navy's Commando Helicopter Force Merlin HCi3/4/4A and Wildcat AH1 helicopters.
The Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) is located near Cambridge, UK and is home to a number of the largest and most advanced aperture synthesis radio telescopes in the world, including the One-Mile Telescope, 5-km Ryle Telescope, and the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager. It was founded by the University of Cambridge and is an institute of the Cambridge University Astronomy Department.
RAE Bedford was a research site of the Royal Aircraft Establishment between 1946 and 1994. It was located near the village of Thurleigh, north of the town of Bedford in England and was the site of aircraft experimental development work.
Throckmorton is a small village and civil parish in the administrative district of Wychavon, in the county of Worcestershire, England.
Royal Air Force Fiskerton or more simply RAF Fiskerton was a Royal Air Force station located north of the Lincolnshire village of Fiskerton, 5.0 miles (8.0 km) east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The airfield closed at the end of the war in 1945 being a satellite to RAF Scampton and very little now exists. The station was home to some 2000 personnel during the war, and various technical sites were in what is now the village of Fiskerton. A small cluster of semi-derelict buildings still exist and are still in use at the end of the present village on the road out to short ferry. Drake's view is the entrance to these old buildings.
Darnhall is a civil parish and small village to the south west of Winsford in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. It has a population of 214, increasing to 232 at the 2011 Census.
Royal Air Force Station Martlesham Heath or more simply RAF Martlesham Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south west of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. It was active between 1917 and 1963, and played an important role in the development of Airborne Interception radar.
Severn Stoke is an English village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District, in the south of the county of Worcestershire, alongside the A38 trunk road. It had a population of 611 in 2011.
Royal Air Force Defford or more simply RAF Defford is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) northwest of Defford, Worcestershire, England.
Wardle is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies on the Shropshire Union Canal, north west of Barbridge Junction, and is 4 miles to the north west of Nantwich, and the parish also includes part of the small settlement of Wardle Bank. The total population is around 250. RAF Calveley was a flight-training station during the Second World War, and the Mark III radio telescope stood on the airfield site in 1966–96. The modern civil parish includes Wardle Industrial Estate and is otherwise largely agricultural. Nearby villages include Barbridge, Calveley and Haughton.
Hill Croome is a village, and a civil parish which covers 1000 acres, in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England. Historically a parish in the lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, according to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 169. Hill Croome was once part of the Royal forest of Horewell.
Croome D'Abitot is a village and civil parish, which shares a joint parish council with Severn Stoke, in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England. The parish church of St Mary Magdalene is situated in the grounds of Croome Court.
Strensham is a village in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire. In the 2001 census, the civil parish of Strensham had a population of 314 across 127 households. Since 1991, the population has risen 28.7% from 244 residents.
QinetiQ Pershore is a Business Park and Trials Centre operated by QinetiQ. The site is located near the village of Throckmorton, Worcestershire, England.
Horewell Forest was a Royal forest. In the west, it bordered the river Severn, and Strensham in the south and extended to Pershore. It was partially disafforested in 1229.
Richard John Davis, OBE, FRAS was a radio astronomer for the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester.
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