Denis Robinson Column: Special memories of my big assignment at Rolls-Royce
I have a very special memory of the Rolls-Royce site in Hucknall, which has been bought by ITP Aero to end more than 80 years of the company's presence in the town.
Friday, 21st May 2021, 5:00 pm
It was in the mid-1950s, just a couple of years after I had started work as a cub reporter with the Dispatch, that I was given by far my biggest assignment up to that time.
This was to report on development at Hucknall of the Flying Bedstead, the strange-looking contraption which made history as the first 'aircraft' in the world to make a vertical ascent and landing, powered solely by two Nene engines. This paved the way for the Harrier jump jet.