|
 In June 1936, Eric Burgess and his friends formed the Manchester Interplanetary Society. The teenage members, including my father, Harry Turner, were students of space travel in science fiction stories, and they were also reading about rocket research in popular science magazines, which arrived from the United States with the science fiction.
There was a lot of interest in space travel in the 1930s, and there was already a British Interplanetery Society in existence when the MIS was formed to carry out rocketry research and publish the results in its own journal.
The members hoped to follow in the footsteps of Robert Goddard, who started his pioneering work at their age some 20 years before – while the Wright Brothers were building the first powered aeroplane. Goddard is a "hall of famer" and recognized as the father of American rocketry. As detailed above, the MIS members fell foul of the Explosives Act of 1875 in March of 1937 at their Clayton Vale test site.
|
Despite being hauled into court two months later, the MIS members kept things going until the end of 1938. The author Philip Cleator, a founder of the BIS, took an interest in the activities of the MIS after the trial. Harry Turner wrote:
"He obviously felt that as a bunch of 16 and 17 year-olds we needed a little guidance, and we probably benefitted as a reaction to his marginalisation in the BIS following the transfer of the HQ to London. I remember we were impressed when Cleator motored over from Wallasey to visit us... It was Eric Needham's proud boast that he got a lift home, the first time he'd travelled in a car."
Eric Burgess drifted away from the MIS and formed another organization – the Manchester Astronautical Association. He saw no further point in testing rockets (having agreed not to use the most readily available oxidizer at the trial), and he wanted to turn his attention to designing space ships and other exotic vehicles.
As 1938 ended, it was clear that there would be another major war and the society was wound up formally at the AGM in February of 1939. World War Two put an end to amateur rocketry experiments in Britain and the shortages and price rises in the months before war broke out, and the sudden lack of availability of public buildings for meetings, doomed a great number of amateur societies, including the BIS. "Activities Suspended for the Duration" was their final message.
75 years on, Gurbir Singh, a Manchester-based amateur astronomer and author, instigated the unveiling of a commemorative plaque (above, right) inside the Clayton Vale Visitor Centre. Mr. Singh's introductory talk included a contribution from Alistair Scott, the president-elect of the BIS, and some Eric Burgess biography from Kevin Kilburn of Manchester Astronomical Society. Tony Lloyd, the local MP, performed both an electronic and a physical unveiling.
Those also present included members of Salford and Manchester Astronomical Societies, members of the Friends of Clayton Vale volunteer group, rocket scientist Colin Rowe, Dave and Leslie Wright of the British Rocketry Oral History Programme and Philip Turner, the son of MIS member Harry Turner. Her Majesty's Press did not attend as they were still sleeping off Manchester City's first Football League title for 44 years or covering the victory parade.
Philip Turner, 18th June, 2012.
|
|