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Posted by Malcolm Fife Malcolm Fife.
on 11/4/2005, 10:07:38, in reply to "Re: H.M.S.Jackdaw, Crail Airfield."
81.79.61.171
I am sorry about the delay in replying to your original message but I only recently discovered it on this site. When researching my book on Crail Airfield I actually wrote and e-mailed your company on several occasions requesting information on it but received no reply. My impression about your lack of interest in the airfield was further re-inforced by what I was told my some local residents .Additionally there was the article in the" Scotland on Sunday" newspaper in which you stated that Historic Scotland had a "hare brained scheme" to preserve the airfield and called for the demolition of the surviving buildings.I was also informed that at one stage a group wished to restore the control tower but this was not encouraged.If I have conveyed the wrong impression or included any errors in my articles,etc., I apologise for this. Crail airfield is regarded as one of the best examples of a surviving World War II Airfield in Scotland .There were numerous other Fleet Air Arm sites but many have been built over such as at Donibristle or the structures have been totally demoished as at East Haven near Arbroath and at Rattary Head.Several former Fleet Air Arm members have informed me how disappointed they were to visit their former bases and to find they have almost completely vanished without trace the exception being Crail.I feel that it is unfair for the landowner to bear the burden of the upkeep of such a Historic site and that public money should be used to perhaps rebuild some of the decaying buildings or that part of the site could be redeveloped to pay for the keep those parts of most historical interest. Perhaps the best solution would be to re-open it as an airfield to serve St.Andrews and S.E.Fife.
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