Flying through the ’30s: Air Travel and Interwar Britain

his one-day symposium will explore the role held by flying in interwar Britain—actual, textual, material, cultural.

Held at historic Croydon Airport, the conference will consider the texts and contexts that help to examine the impact of air travel on art, literature, film, space, perception and production.

The event includes a tour of the airport and displays of archival material.

Booking will close on Monday 11 April 2016.

Programme

9:45 – 10:15 Coffee and Registration

10:15 – 10:30 Welcome Address

Peter Skinner (Croydon Airport Society): ‘History of Croydon Airport and the Jimmy Jeffs Collection’

10:30 – 11:30 ‘Flying into the Unknown’

Luke Seaber (UCL): ‘“Upon its glittering lake /Lie Europe and its islands”: The “Groundmindedness” of Auden and Others in the ’30s’

Daniel Kilburn (UCL): ‘A pilot’s perspective on the formation of modern airmindedness through the 1930s’

Henry K Miller (Cambridge/Anglia Ruskin/Slade): ‘Lumière Comes to Croydon’

11:30 – 11:45 Coffee and Tea Break

Jacky Pett will introduce her display of archival material and book about her father’s work with Imperial Airways in the 1930s.

11:45 – 12:45 ‘Aviation Fever’

Rebecca Harrison (UEA) and Rachel Kapelke-Dale (UCL): ‘Sweethearts of the Skies: Gender, National Identity and the “Aviatrix”’

Kathryn Simpson (Cardiff Metropolitan University): ‘Taking Flight: The Literal and Literary Flights of Lady Mary Heath and Virginia Woolf’

Francis Dyson (UEA): ‘Egypt and Back with Imperial Airways: Ruth Stuart’s Passion for Air Travel’

12:45 – 13:45 Lunch

13:45 – 14:30 Tour of Croydon Airport and Museum

14:30 – 15:45 ‘Tension in the Air’

Derek Ryan (University of Kent): ‘Bunny in the Air: David Garnett, Flight and Animality’

Sarah Fill (Royal Holloway): ‘The Aerial Vision of Paul Nash’

Simon Goulding (Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust): ‘Look to the Skies! Orwell, Warner and the Coming New War’

John Higgins (University of Stirling, retired): ‘A Novelist’s View of Flying for Fun’

15:45 – 16:00 Coffee and Tea Break

16:00 – 17:00 ‘Flying Business’

Michael McCluskey (UCL): ‘Croydon Calling: The Documentary Aerodrome’

Nicola Darwood (University of Bedfordshire): ‘Flying Dangerously: Elizabeth Bowen’s To the North’

Guy Woodward (Maynooth University): ‘A Solar Emperor: Robert Byron Flies East’

17:00 – 17:30 Roundtable Discussion

All presenters and audience members are invited to share their thoughts, make connections between panels and papers, and consider ideas for future collaborations.