2-887-608 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

RAF Gaydon, Gaydon, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, 21/01/1953. A man standing on a roller during the laying of asphalt on a new runway under construction at Gaydon Airfield. Work began on the construction of a runway at Gaydon Airfield in early 1952. As part of the project, a former runway, largely abandoned following the Second World War, was superseded by a newly constructed runway nearly 1 3/4 miles long and 200 feet wide. Also built were access tracks and a taxi-track. The runway was constructed on 8 inches of hardcore, with four inches of concrete laid on top, followed by 12 inches of high grade concrete, and completed with 2 1/2 inches of tarmacadam and 1 1/2 inches of bituminous macadam.