Building commenced in 1930 though the site had much earlier aviation links.Officially opened IN -33 the airport soon became one of the busiest in the country.
The first military connection was in 1936 when 611 squadron R.A.F. moved in.They were soon joined by other units,and by 1939 the military prescence was so large that the airport was requisitioned by the air ministry.One of 611 squadrons Hurricanes scored the first 'kill' of the Speke units when the Czech pilot shot down a German Ju 88 bomber As the war progressed.
a shadow factory was built near the airport with the Rootes group building Blenheim and later Halifax aircraft.
Additional runways were built to make a total of 3 extra hangers and other buildiings added.The 2 main hangers were now being used by the American Lockheed and Douglas companys to assemble Mustang and P38 Lightning aircraft.
In 1946,the airport reverted back to civilian use and By the early 1970s it was deemed that it would soon be unsuitable for the increased demands of larger airliners and it was closed when the 'new' John Lennon airport was built
nowadays the old terminal building is a hotel (crown plaza) and has retained many of its original features also the hangers are now in use for commercial purposes
i always knew this first building was here but after further exploring into the wooded area you come across all sorts of features still left including a rather strange pillbox which seemed to have a very long corridor to get into it
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