"Flying Bedstead" pilot crashes onto B600 and into Watnall Hall's garden wall
Today's dramatic tale from Watnall Hall is from Friday May 19th. 1939 when an aircraft crash landed through a hedge and onto the main B600 road at Watnall narrowly avoiding a herd of cows and a Post Office delivery van. The unruffled aviator was Rolls Royce's chief test pilot Captain R.T. "Shep" Shepherd who lived down the road at Nuthall and would later fly the famous Flying Bedstead. He also received an OBE for his wartime work testing the Merlin Spitfire engine...
In this article, we look at his career and what happened that day. His plane ended up against Watnall Hall's garden wall completely blocking the road. Local farmer Mr. Frank Farnsworth was just yards away when the plane crashed down and according to him his cows saved the day. He gives this eyewitness account to the Notts Evening Post's intrepid reporter. ..
Watnall Hall's entrance gates and wall in the distance roughly where the plane crashed. See the old milepost there too? “Alfreton 10 Nottingham 6”
PLANE WRECKED AT WATNALL. SERIOUS ACCIDENT LUCKILY AVERTED. AIRMEN UNINJURED.
Two airmen had a remarkable escape from injury when a plane crashed on to the Nottingham-Alfreton road in Watnall village, yesterday afternoon, completely blocking the highway. A herd of 15 dairy cows had just been driven out of a field, and the last animal was only ten yards away when the crash occurred. The cows belonged to Mr. Frank Farnsworth, of Ivy House farm, Watnall, who was only five yards away from the plane. He told the "Post" representative that the cows being on the road slowed up traffic, and probably prevented a Post Office van and three cars proceeding towards Nottingham from crashing into the wrecked aeroplane, which was piloted by Capt. Shepherd, of Nuthall, who, together with passenger, escaped without a scratch.
Workers in an adjacent field saw the plane swoop down, run along the grass, and plough through the hedge of the field bordering the main road. The right wing remained in the hedge and this swung the plane round into the road, and the left wing tip struck the garden wall of Watnall Hall, the residence of Col. Sir Lancelot and Lady Maud Rolleston.
Mr. Farnsworth said: "I dread to think what might have happened had it occurred two minutes earlier. I am convinced, too, that if the cows had not been on the road, and slowed down the traffic, some of them would have been just on the spot as the plane came through the hedge."
Crash Site
There are not many open fields opposite Watnall Hall's wall so I would imagine the crash location was in the old Moorgreen Show field by the Queen's Head as shown below. The other picture shows the old wall, much taller than today's which the plane would have crashed into.
FIVE YARDS AWAY.
Mr. Farnsworth continues... "I had left the gate open for the cows to come back after milking, and was five yards away when the plane appeared. I had the shock of my life. I ran to it and said to the pilot, Can I do anything for you or telephone anywhere? He climbed out as cool as you please and said No, thanks, we are quite all right. The two men were not a bit nervous."
Another resident of the village said that one of the airmen said they had a shock when they saw the wall loom in front of them. Matthew Hopkin, who is employed by Mr. Farnsworth, said he was walking up the field toward the main road when he heard the plane above him. "I heard a noise from the engine, and then it died away. The plane came low, and it appeared as though they were trying to lower the wheels. It ran along the field and through the hedge."
The undercarriage of the machine was wrecked, two of the blades of the propeller damaged, and also one wing. The plane was pushed backwards to allow a single-line traffic on the road, but it was a considerable time before the road was cleared. Later the plane was dismantled and taken away. Part of the hedge had to be sawn away.
If you enjoyed this there are plenty more “Tales From Watnall Hall” at the main website here…
https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/
Notes, sources and pic credits -
Notts Evening Post, Lisa Fitzgerald, National Library of Scotland; TEST & RESEARCH PILOTS, FLIGHT TEST ENGINEERS
https://thetartanterror.blogspot.com/2008/02/ronaldtshepherd-1900-1955.html; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuthall
R.T. "Shep" Shepherd
On the crash day Capt. Shepherd may well have been testing new engines at Rolls Royce Hucknall as this 1943 article explains. He was awarded an OBE in 1946 for his work developing and testing the famous Merlin Spitfire engine.
"In April 1943 the Verity Film Unitvisited most if not all of the Company factories and filmed their activities. The many aspects of Merlin production were recorded along with tank production at Belper and flight development at Hucknall. In all eighteen 400-foot rolls of footage were produced, all of which survives. The outcome of all this effort was a thirty-minute documentary entitled 'Contribution to Victory' which was released in 1946. Wherever the film crew went they were accompanied by a stills photographer who took hundreds of pictures on 35mm film. Happily, all the photographs and their negatives still survive. The two 'back of the camera' production shots shown here were taken at Hucknall and showthe Company's Chief Test Pilot, Capt. Ronnie Shepherd, in the cockpit of Spitfire IX AB505. This particular aircraft was one of the initial conversions of the 280 odd Spitfire V's sent to Hucknall for the installation of the Merlin 61 two-stage engine. It was retained for development purposes and is seen here in a high gloss paint finish. This was applied to evaluate if any increase in performance was attainable by this simple expedient improvement. the results showing little or no improvement. The other picture shows the prototype Merlin Mustang AL975 poking its nose out of the hangar and revealing its Merlin 65 installation. The substitution of this engine for the original Allison dramatically increased the top speed by 60 MPH and heralded a new chapter in the air war when, with the introduction of the P-51B version, the allies had a fighter that could escort the bombers all the way to Germany and back. In the two remaining years of the war the Mustang proved itself to be the finest all-round fighter of that conflict. AL975 was the aircraft that started it all."
Ronald Thomas Shepherd 1896-1955
"Shep's" career began with Vickers-Armstrongs in the gun manufacturing industry, and on the outbreak of the 1914-18 war he joined the Honourable Artillery Company, transferring to the R.F.C. in 1916. Among the squadrons with which he served were No. 102 (F.E.2bs) and No. 37 (Camels), and he flew on night operations against Zeppelins. He left the Service in 1918 but rejoined it in 1921, serving in England and in Egypt until 1929, when he was placed on the Reserve. Thereafter, he was C.F.I, to Phillips and Powis, Reading, and was subsequently with National Flying Services and managed the Nottingham Flying Club. In October 1931, Capt. Shepherd made his first flight for Rolls-Royce, testing a Fairey IIIF with a Kestrel engine. During the next three years he flew regularly for the company, and when they started their own flight establishment at Hucknall in 1934, Shepherd was appointed chief test pilot, a post which he held continuously until 1951.
During the post-war years he was, of course, mainly concerned with gas-turbine flying. He was the first man to fly on Nene and Avon engines—in the Lancastrian flying test-bed; he flew this aircraft at the 1946 S.B.A.C. Show. In 1951—in which year he had a serious illness and two
major operations—he relinquished full-time test flying and was appointed flying consultant to the Rolls-Royce management. The old urge remained, however, and when the most unconventional aircraft ever produced—the Rolls-Royce "Flying Bedstead"— was ready for testing, he made a special request that he should be allowed to conduct the initial work. "Shep" made the first flight on August 3rd 1954.
In 35 years of flying, he handled 77 different types of aircraft and logged over 8,000 hours. Official appreciation of his outstanding work as a test pilot, and in particular of his flight development work on the Merlin engine, came in 1946, when he was appointed O.B.E.
Captain Ronald Thomas Shepherd, of Highfield Road, Nuthall was awarded the OBE for his wartime services as chief test pilot for Rolls-Royce. He also made the first free flight of the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig, nicknamed the Flying Bedstead at nearby Hucknall Aerodrome. He died a few months later, 1 March 1955 and is buried in the New Farm Lane cemetery Nuthall, in the only grave which faces north - towards the airfield.
"Sep. 09, 1954 - THE WORLD'S FIRST” FLYING SAUCER” PILOTED AT HOME... HE PILOTED THE” FLYING LIFT”... The world's first 'Flying Saucer' Pilot WING COMMANDER R.T. SHEPHERD, seen with his wife at their Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, home. Wing Commander Shepherd is pilot of the new wingless Jet aircraft which rises vertically into the air - powered by two super Rolls Royce Jet Engines. talking about his experiences in flying the new machine - Commander Shepherd said” I felt as though I were sitting in a moving lift - it was quieter than piloting a helicopter - there was little vibration”... The advent of the 'Flying Lift' is expected to revolutionise much of the aircraft design of the future"
Punch Magazine 1950s - Flying Bedstead captures the public imagination
Video of the Flying Bedstead from the same flight as pictured below. c.3 FEBRUARY 1955
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/253393/
April 2024 - The distinctive heat-resistant bricks of the test rig flooring are still there actually but not for much longer as the latest batch of housing is due to be built there soon. Dorey Way, Hucknall.
"Shep" piloting the Flying Beadstead for VIPs at Hucknall
shortly before his death
Pic credit - Britain's amazing 'Flying Bedstead' the jet engined framework which rises vertically from the ground had made several flights from Hucknall Aerodrome, Nottinghamshire. Captain Ronald Shepherd, formerly the Rolls-Royce chief test pilot and at this point the firm's flying consultant, was at the controls as the aircraft was raised above the aerodrome. 27th January 1955. (Photo by NCJ - Kemsley/NCJ Archive/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Thomas_Shepherd
Two years later - "Flying Bedstead', 29 November 1957 - 'The revolutionary 'Flying Bedstead', a hush-hush Rolls-Royce prototype, crashed yesterday and crushed its 41 year old RAF pilot to death during a routine vertical take-off test'. (Copyright must be cleared with Rolls-Royce. ) (Photo by Daily Herald Archive/National Science & Media Museum/SSPL via Getty Images)
As mentioned above, Shepherd served with 37 (Home Defence) Squadrons during WW1. Their base at Stow Maries Aerodrome, near Chelmsford still survives with many of its WW1 buildings and is the most complete and original WW1 aerodrome in Europe. It is run by a charitable trust as a Museum and is open every week. Well worth a visit!