Painting of airfield brings old site to life

The painting, created by artist Andy Gould, gives a glimpse into the history of the former airfield site, which was opened in 1938 and closed in the early 1970s.

Mr Gould, who lives in the Northycote area of the city, said he was inspired to create the artwork after realising most people didn't know anything about the site.

Mr Gould, who is a member of the Wolverhampton Society of Artists and the Association of Animal Artists, said: "I usually do portraits of animals, pets and things like that.

"But, people driving along the Wobaston Road towards Morrisons don't seem to realise that they are effectively driving along the runway of the old airfield.

"Once I realised that, I couldn't get it out of my head and it took me years of research to prepare to put this piece together."

After completing his research on the site, the former police officer took just a week to complete his painting.

The budding local historian said: "The airfield was shut in 1974 but the control tower stayed up until the 1980s. I wish it had been saved.

"It was known as Wolverhampton Airport then and in 1957 there was a film starring Jack Hawkins, Don Pleasence and Lionel Jeffries filmed there. Watching that film helped me build up a picture of what the airfield was like back then and that's what I show in the painting."

The painting is set in the 1950s and depicts a Don Everall DC-3 Airliner taking off.

Now, the artist is looking to sell signed copies of the work to people interested in the painting and the history of the site. Anyone interested should email him at info@andygouldart.com.

After that, Mr Gould, who is part of Wolverhampton Archaeology Group, Wednesfield History Society and runs the Facebook page for Bushbury and Fordhouses History is also hoping to create more aviation works and local history paintings to depict locations from time gone by.