SAVE OUR HISTORY!

PETITION LAUNCHED TO SAVE FORMER HOME OF AVIATION PIONEER THREATENED WITH DEMOLITION

- By ZENA HAWLEY

HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition to save two cottages linked to a pioneering aviation family.

A campaign has been launched to stop the demolition of two modest redbrick cottages in Stanton-by-Dale - one of which is widely recognised as the birthplace of British aviation, where engineer Hugh Oswald Short began the story that would change the course of flight.

People are calling on Erewash Borough Council and Historic England to intervene and protect Nos 3 and 4 Lows Lane, where Oswald, as he was known, was raised.

He went on to co-found Short Brothers with elder brothers Eustace and Horace, the company that built Britain’s first powered aircraft in 1909 and later designed flying boats and bombers used throughout both world wars.

The firm became a cornerstone of the British aerospace industry, producing aircraft for the Royal Navy, RAF and civil aviation, helping establish Britain’s global reputation for engineering excellence.

A blue plaque is fixed to the front of No 3. Lows Lane but despite that recognition, demolition of the pair of houses has already been approved by Erewash Borough Council under a prior-notification process with no public consultation.

HUGH Oswald Short was born on January 16, 1883, the youngest of three sons of mining engineer Samuel Short and his second wife Emma Robinson.