I am beginning to put all my articles on the website www.hethersettherald.weebly.com and expanding many of them. I am calling this the Hethersett History project. Eventually I hope it will all come together to give the largest resource ever on the history of the village, covering numerous topics from sport to the arts, science to nature and also featuring many of the people who have helped to shape the village.
I had a zoom conversation with an American friend yesterday who asked me how old the village is. When I told him it goes back to the Domesday Book and even further back than that. He seemed impressed.
I am certainly looking forward to doing research on Hethersett as a major Roman settlement and will be helped in this by Trevor Radley - a Hethersett man through and through. Trevor knows a vast amount about the village and I'm certainly going to tap into his knowledge.
But that's for the future. Today it's back to the days of Hethersett Racecourse. I received a message on Facebook asking about an appearance during one of the race days of two daredevil aviators and am very pleased to bring you that story which appeared in an early edition of Hethersett Herald and which was written by my friend Roger Morgan who is an associate editor of our august journal. Here's what he wrote:
"On Thursday 14th May, 1914, in glorious weather, the residents of Hethersett were treated to a thrilling air display by two of Britain’s most celebrated aviation pioneers, Bentfield Charles Hucks and Marcus Dyce Manton. Benny Hucks, as he was better known, flew his 80 HP Bleriot monoplane in a series of spectacular manoeuvres in the skies above the race goers at Hethersett racecourse. He performed his usual steeple-chasing and vertical banks, and afterwards he gave four passenger flights. After tea he carried out many of his trademark loop the loops and flew upside down.
Hucks was joined in the show by his young protégé, 19 year old Marcus Manton who was known as “The Wonderful Boy Aviator”. At 7 p.m. the new looping machine was brought out, and Manton was strapped in. He rose to 3000ft. before doing an amazing “S” dive followed by a loop. He landed after completing several more loops. The pair performed the same programme on Friday and Saturday giving a combined demonstration of trick flying which was met with huge enthusiasm from the crowd. They also had a cross-country race to Trowse Viaduct which Manton won by a few yards.
In August 1914 B C Hucks joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and was quickly posted to the Western Front. He flew a number of raids over enemy lines but he was soon struck by an attack of pleurisy which made him unfit for aerial fighting. He was sent home where he became a test pilot for an aircraft manufacturer at Hendon in North West London. Sadly, on the 7th November 1918, just four days before the end of the Great War, he died of double pneumonia aged 34.
During the First World War Marcus Manton continued working as a test pilot and flying instructor. On 11th December, 1915, he married Mrs. Ruby Marguerite Paramor née Goodwin. After the war Manton worked with a number of commercial companies including English Electric Company. He subsequently became their chief inspector at Lytham. During the Second World War he was a service liaison officer with Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company and post-war he worked with Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Company. Marcus Dyce Manton died on 15th April 1968 aged 75.