New park opens on the former site of Burtonwood Airbase

Airlift Hill will provide a nature haven and peaceful walking route for new homeowners, business park users and the wider community with more than 40,000 new trees and thousands of metres of hedgerow being planted.

With views as far as Manchester, the park showcases the history of the site with a restored Pickett-Hamilton Fort at the base of the hill.

RAF Burtonwood, which opened in 1940, was the UK’s largest military airbase during World War Two and was responsible for handling more than 15,000 US aircraft.

After the war, the base supported allied forces in the Berlin Airlift, which saw supplies such as coal and flour sent to people in Germany as they were kept under a soviet blockade.

The girls with their families and Euan Hall from the Land Trust

Euan Hall, chief executive of the Land Trust, who manages the park, said: “I’m so pleased this fantastic resource for the community is now open.

“We look forward to seeing this site develop and mature into a community hub, playing a valuable part in people’s lives as it once did in its former use as an airbase.

“We already know there are a variety of birds and even a family of hares on site, so it’s great to see nature finding its place amongst the nearby housing development and industrial units.”

Following a competition to name the park, Barrow Hall Primary School’s Freya Johnson’s suggestion of Airlift Hill was chosen as the winner and she was awarded a commemorative plaque to mark her achievement.

Pupils will be using the site for outdoor lessons and the outdoor classroom has been named The Landings, as suggested by sisters Pippa and Tegan Walmlesy.