A WEST Devon group is celebrating, after scooping grants worth almost £9,000 to promote an historic world wartwo site. Soon, visitors to the former site of RAF Harrowbeer at Yelverton on Roborough Down will see interpretation boards informing them of what they are seeing now and what was there 60 years ago, when, between 1941 and 1946, it was an active wartime airfield. Thanks to the National Lottery's 'Awards for All' scheme, West Devon Borough Council Community Fund, Dartmoor National Park, Buckland Monachorum Parish Council, Westden Community Chest and individuals, enough funds have been raised by the RAF Harrowbeer Interest Group to provide three Interpretation Boards at key locations around the former WWll aerodrome. A spokesman for the interest group said: 'RAF Harrowbeer was built in 1940 and was operational between 1941 and 1946. 'Flying from Harrowbeer were many types of planes and nationalities — British, Canadians, Americans, French, Czech and Polish — mostly RAF Squadrons but also Fleet Air Arm and US Navy. 'The airfield existed virtually intact for a long time after the war, but the runways and the airfield buildings were demolished eventually in 1961, following the decision that Harrowbeer would not become the 'new' Plymouth Airport. 'Today, visitors will be mostly aware of the airfield's existence, alongside the A386 at Yelverton, by the taxiways and the aircraft bays that are virtually as they were 60 years ago.' By this Easter there will be two interpretation boards installed — one at 'the Rock' and the other at Leg O'Mutton, close to the RAF Harrowbeer Memorial Stone erected in 1981. A third board is planned in the vicinity of Pound Lodge crossroads, the former airfield main gate, pending planning consent. The Lottery provided £5,000 for the boards, WDBC £3,174, The Dartmoor Trust £500, Buckland Monachorum Parish Council £200 and Westden's 'Communities in Action' £150. 'In addition we had very good moral support from local primary schools, parish councils, tourist organisations as well as Dartmoor National Park and Maristow Estate,' said the spokesman. For more information on RAF Harrowbeer, visit the website at http://www.rafharrowbeer.co.uk">www.rafharrowbeer.co.uk The airfield archive can be viewed, on request, at Knightstone Tea Rooms and Restaurant, contact 01822 853679.
