John F. Leeming

John Fishwick Leeming (1895-3 July1965) was an entrepreneur, businessman, early aviator, co-founder of the Lancashire Aero Club, gardener and author of children's books.

Leeming described himself as 'a reluctant engineer', but retired as the managing director of a Manchester England firm which, amongst other feats, made money by extracting oil from rags and then selling the discarded material for further use.

He became interested in aviation at the time of the First World War and in 1922 determined to build his own glider. Spare materials were obtained from A.V.Roe & Co at their Woodford Airfield and the glider took shape in Leeming's garage at Bowdon, Cheshire. He was joined by other enthusiasts and in 1924 the group became the founding members of the Lancashire Aero Club.

Between 1926 and 1928, Leeming, using his good contacts with Sir Sefton Brancker (U.K. Director of Civil Aviation), the Royal Aero Club and the city leaders, orchestrated an eventually successful campaign for Manchester to construct the UK's first municipal aerodrome.

In 1928 he co-founded Northern Air Lines (Manchester) Ltd to operate charter and pleasure flights from Manchester's early airfields.

For over thirty years he was a successful author of children's and other literature and his book 'Airdays', published in 1936, recounted his early efforts to stimulate the public's interest in aviation in the Manchester area.

Bibliography

* Airdays, John F.Leeming, Harrap, London 1936
* Manchester's Early Airfields, R.A.Scholefield, a lengthy article in 'Moving Manchester', Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 2004, ISSN 0950-4699
* Three Score Years and Ten, compiled by Peter Maher, Lancashire Aero Club, Manchester, 1992