Letters

摘要

John Wheatley's letter in your April issue refers to the 'startlingly original concept'... 'dreamt up in the 1960s'... of a 'London airport built on reclaimed land east of the Thames Estuary'. In fact, the idea for a very large airport in the Thames Estuary, just north-east of Sheppey, was first proposed early in the 1940s. By 1943/44, an extensive design concept had been drawn up (and, I believe, seriously discussed with the Air Ministry) by architectural and engineering practice Guy Morgan and Partners. The intended site at that time was on the Cliffe Marshes, six miles east of Gravesend. It was chosen, not only because it offered open air and land space, but also because its microclimate was unfavourable to mist or fog.