Blue Plaque Unveiled at the Grove

Published: 25 July 2022

A blue plaque was unveiled at The Grove on Monday 25th July commemorating the development of the hovercraft in the building by local people and Sir Christopher Cockerell.

As the weather has been quite extreme the unveiling took place in the Council Chamber but the plaque is now on the front of the building. Cllr Malcolm Wade made a brief speech. "The unveiling of the blue plaque to commemorate Sir Christopher Cockerell and The Grove building, the home of hovercraft development, is a great tribute to the work he and so many local people did on a great British invention and innovative mode of transport."

The event, which took place on the 63rd anniversary of the first crossing of the English Channel, was attended by Councillors and some of the gentlemen who worked on hovercraft development Garth Pearce, Dick Sign, Gordon Chambers, Neal Macintosh, and Paul Baker.

Cllr Malcolm Wade            Garth Pearce, Dick Sign, Gordon Chambers, Neal Macintosh, and Paul Baker.