Airbase soars with funding boost

Schoolchildren and tourists already visit the control tower

Enthusiasts Working to restore a World War II airbase have been boosted with more than £130,000 in funding.

The old control tower at Carew airfield in Pembrokeshire has been returned to how it would have looked in the 1940s.

Work is also underway on restoring a Stanton air-raid shelter and an Avro Anson plane of the type based there and used for spotting German submarines.

With Welsh Assembly Government funding volunteers will further develop it as a tourist and educational centre.

The money will help buy 3.4 acres of land at the old air base which attracts thousands of visitors each year, including many school visits.

Pembrokeshire Council cabinet member Rob Lewis said: "The site is an important visitor attraction bringing history to life.

"During the Second World War Pembrokeshire had more airfields than any other area of Britain and it's important to recognise the part that the county played during those historic times."

Work is also underway to restore a vintage Avro Anson plane

John Brock of the Carew Cheriton Control Tower Group said: "We don't aim to just remember Carew but all 11 of Pembrokeshire's wartime airfields.

He said the airfield was first built in 1915 as an airship base to counteract the growing threat from German U-boats in World War One.

It was pressed into active service again as a bomber base and base for maritime patrols during World War II and later became a training centre.

It is one of several projects in the county remembering Pembrokeshire's wartime history.

Efforts are underway to raise a Sunderland flying boat that has been at the bottom of the sea off Pembroke Dock for almost 70 years.

Meanwhile a Spitfire is being restored as the key attraction for a museum planned for Withybush Aerodrome near Haverfordwest.