The History of West Yorkshire Model Aeronautical Society, Spenborough Aeronautical Society, West Yorkshire Model Flying Club and Brighouse (Vintage) Model Aircraft Club
Although the origins of West Yorkshire Model Flying Club (WYMFC) are somewhat shrouded in mystery we do know that it was around 1946 that West Yorkshire Model Aeronautical Society (WYMAS) was in existence because long time WYMFC member Eric Humphrey joined in that year at the tender age of 13 after witnessing modellers flying planes near to a performance of Hiawatha at Scarborough Open Air theatre whilst on holiday with his parents.
The formation of that club predated the availability of radio control and so the planes were free flight gliders and powered planes which were flown at Howley Ruins near Batley and Bailden Moor near Bradford.
Eric saw the first radio controlled plane around 1949 with a Ken Lees (Keff) “Rudderbug” single channel plane. He saw the first proportional radio control plane flying at Spenborough Aeronautical Society (SAS) in 1969.
WYMAS continued until 1969 when it changed its name to Spenborough Aeronautical Society (SAS) in a shameless attempt to gain a grant from Spenborough Council, this however was unsuccessful but the club kept the name until 1974 when after a local government reorganisation Spenborough Council ceased to exist, in addition it was felt that by keeping the name Spenborough it might discourage people from further afield from joining and so SAS became West Yorkshire Model Flying Club (WYMFC) which was more in keeping with the wider area the club was looking to get members from.
At the time of the name change the chairman was Keith Gee with his brother Jimmy Gee as secretary.
SAS flew at “Tim’s Field” which was near Hartshead Moor Top between Brighouse and Cleckheaton it was named after the farmer “Tim” who owned the field and rented it to the club. The field is adjacent to the field BMAC now fly in. In 1972 a decision was made to move from the Tim’s field due to many complaints from local residents and threats of contacting the council. This move almost coincided with the name change from SAS to WYMFC and the club moved to Ringstone Moor just above Barkisland and near Krumlin.
Ringstone Moor is where WYMFC fly now but then it was a heather moor owned by the Halifax Gliding Club (HGC). HGC had a tow winch located at the top of the slope soaring slope and the gliders started their take off against the wall between the field and Saddleworth Road. WYMFC initially built a rough runway in 1974 which was subsequently extended in 1978 and had been used by both SAS then WYMFC with the pits being a number of 3’ x 2’ flagstones for starting planes.
At this time, during the 70s, one of the problems with this location was its proximity to the newly built M62 motorway as this made it vulnerable to CB radio interference on the 27MHz waveband and as a result many members started using radios which used the 415 MHz which made them significantly more resistant to this interference.
Around 1980 the full size gliding club had stopped using the moor due to the construction of power lines and pylons which made flying dangerous and sold the land, about 110 acres, to a farmer, Mr Lumb. Mr Lumb wasn’t particularly predisposed to WYMFC thinking that we had used the land free of charge, which wasn’t the case, and so he grubbed up the runway and ploughed the heather with a view to putting a crop in to the land and so WYMFC had to move.
The next field was at Stainland Rec. organised by Eddie Pearson who lived locally. The field was behind the ”Red Lion” now called “1885 The Pub” they flew there and also at the “The Barley Field” aka “Popeley Field” at Gomersal where planning persuasion was granted in 1987 to allow flying although with significant restrictions. In addition there was also flying at the Seagull “Shit” Field off Norland Rd at Greenland and also Old Brodleians Rugby Club although the latter didn’t last for very long. However there were problems at the first two sites with complaints resulting in restrictions to flying. At Stainland flying was only allowed on a Tuesday evening and Saturday outside the football season as we flew on the football pitch and at Gomersal every other day. There was also flying at Whitcliffe Mount Playing fields (Turnstead’s Field) where flying sometimes continued until it was too dark to see. This continued until around 1993 when these restrictions became unacceptable and by coincidence the land at Ringstone changed hands, the new owner, Mr Jim Clarkson was far more amenable to model flying.
As a result WYMFC moved back to Ringstone where the field was now grass but the rent was double what it had been at Stainland and Gomersal. Phillip Kent had been Chairman of WYMFC but John Thompson was the Chairman of WYMFC at the time they moved back to Ringstone and Mike Lumb, Colin Terry, Eddie Pearson and David Liversidge negotiated and organised the move.
Due to the increase in rent and the cost of buying a new lawn mower a number of people decided to leave WYMFC and form a new club called Brighouse Vintage Models Aircraft Club (BVMAC) these were Phillip Kent, Don Berry, and Dereck Havior with Phillip Kent being the Chairman a role he retained until 2018 when he retired and Paul Grice took the reigns. After his retirement he was made Honorary President of the club a position he still holds.
WYMFC have flown at Ringstone ever since and on the 4th of February 1997 planning permission was granted by Calderdale MBC to allow WYMFC to fly at Ringstone Moor. The successful permission was driven by the then chairman, John Thompson, who presented the club’s case to the Council’s Planning Committee. However he resigned his position as Chairman shortly after and left the club in favour of Dewsbury Club due to criticism by a number of members. The location of the flying strip is adjacent to the actual Stone Ring and at the bottom of the field is a slope which faces west and is good for slope soaring and has a large area for landing. The slope overlooks Rishworth village, Boothwood Reservoir and the M62 where it splits round Stott Hall Farm.
In 1991 Stephen Greenwood took the role of Chairman of WYMFC until 1996 he then re-took the role in 2019 from Andrew Watson and has been chairman ever since.
Just after the turn of the turn of the century there was an outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease which prevented any flying at Ringstone for over a year. Roland Priestly was Chairman at this time and thanks to his efforts the club survived.
BVMAC initially moved to a field to the south east of the A643 (Walton Lane) around 600m from the Armitage Arms PH towards Hartshead Moor Top called Doles Lane and flew there for a few years until around 1994 when the landowner sold the field to Willow Valley Golf Club to allow it to extend its course. BVMAC then moved up Walton Lane to its present location at the junction of Jay House Lane the field being owned by the mother of a friend of Phillip Kent’s, Richard Gibson. The ownership of this field changed hands in 2021 when it was taken over by Richard’s daughter Phillipa Gibson when Richard passed away. Initially the landing strip was cut as a circle to allow landing irrespective of wind direction but Richard Gibson asked that we revert to a rectangular strip in 2012 as it might attract the unwanted attention of the Min of Fish and Ag.
At the AGM in 2010 it was decided to drop the word Vintage from the club’s title and so it became The Brighouse Model Aircraft Club (BMAC).
Phillip Kent was chairman of BVMAC from its inception through its change to BMAC in 2010 until his retirement in 2018. In recognition of his services to the club he was granted the role of Honorary President. Paul Grice was chairman of BMAC from 2018 till 2023 when he resigned and the role was taken over by the current incumbent Adrian Brotherton.
The 2025/26 committee of WYMFC are :-
Stephen Greenwood – Chairman
David Weston – Secretary
Martin Gardner – Membership Secretary
Vacant – Treasurer
John McNamara – Webmaster
Vacant – Chief Flying Instructor
David Hoyle- Without Portfolio
Andrew Pattison – Without Portfolio
The 2025/26 committee of BMAC are :-
Adrian Brotherton- Chairman
Robert Barker- Treasurer
Luke Grice – Membership Secretary
Richard Long – Secretary
Luke Grice- Webmaster
Peter Coulson – Without Portfolio
David Picken – Without Portfolio
Notable Members
Phillip Kent
Mike Lumb
David Hardaker
In researching this history I spoke with a number of our members past and present and would like to express my thanks for their help.
They were :-
Eric and Cath Humphrey, Phillip Kent, Stephen Greenwood, Mike Carey, Michael Walker, David Liversedge, Colin Terry, John Thompson, Dennis Pennington and Andrew Thornton.
