By Zac Yates
The sole surviving example of the Blackburn Beverley, a British Cold War transport aircraft, has arrived at its new home at the Solway Aviation Museum (SAM) near Carlisle in the UK. As reported by Vintage Aviation News, the SAM launched the campaign to raise £60,000 in February after Beverley XB259’s previous owner offered the unique aircraft for free to anyone who could remove the aircraft from its home of several decades at Fort Paull, near Hull. The museum reached its ambitious goal in just seven weeks, allowing the massive aircraft to be disassembled then moved more than 180 miles by road to its new home.
Only 49 examples of the Beverley were produced and served exclusively with the RAF from 1955 to 1967. XB259, the first production aircraft and the sole survivor of the breed after two others were scrapped in 1989, was used as a trials aircraft and made the last flight of the type on March 30, 1974. For several decades the aircraft was displayed at the Beverley Museum of Army Transport at Fort Paull, Hull, and after the museum’s closure in 2020 the aircraft was sold at auction to Martyn Wiseman of Condor Aviation with support from Swiss banker Georg Von der Muehll. Wiseman had planned to move the aircraft to a new location where it would be converted to another purpose, variously described as an Airbnb-style bed and breakfast or a veterans’ retreat, and engineers removed the tail, outer wings and engines (the latter being listed for sale) in anticipation of the relocation. Several attempts to crowdfund the move didn’t reach fruition and in 2023 Wiseman said he would dispose of the aircraft and if there were no takers the Beverley would be sold for scrap.
The SAM, which had bid unsuccessfully for the aircraft in 2020, remained very interested and museum managing director Dougie Kerr spearheaded the drive to acquire the aircraft. The “Big Bev” fundraiser resulted in a team being assembled to disassemble and move the four-engined transport.
“The away team at Fort Paul consisted of Bob, Steve L, Steve C, Colin, Dougie B, Andy, Bodger and myself at different times of the dismantling but most of the time it was Bob, Steve L and myself,” Kerr told VAN. “The team at the museum preparing the ground works for the Beverley were the rest of the maintenance team at Solway.”
Aside from some stubborn bolts needing to be cut away — and a team member’s dog going missing for “a couple of hours” — there were no major issues. While the aircraft is safely at SAM and the biggest job is done, Kerr and the team are not yet at rest.
“I’ve been busy working away collecting equipment for the rebuild. The paint team are busy trying to find a good paint stripper but because of H&S [health and safety regulations] that have take all the chemicals out of paint strippers they have not had much luck. We have looked at dry ice cleaning [but it was too] expensive, hot pressure washing [which is too] slow, so now we are looking at soda blasting.”
Kerr is quick to point out this project has very much been a team effort.
“The list of organisations/people I would like to thank are: the two Nicks at Fort Paull, Mike Abram and his family at Spears transport services, Paul Sanderson from Plantmove (Hull), Ryhill Builders Services, Central Cranes (Hull), the team of fantastic chaps from Lawsons Haulage (Cockermouth), Venco (Hull), Clive Wilson and his vintage truck, E&N Farrer’s Aggregates (Carlisle Airport), and Rachel Kerr (my wife) for backing and believing me on this project.
“One last thing is I must thank all that have donated large or small to the Big Bev project: without your generosity it would been a different story to tell.”
Donations are being accepted through JustGiving until the end of August, and after that through PayPal. Details on how to donate directly to the museum are on its Facebook page and the museum’s website HERE.
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![XB259, the last surviving example of the Blackburn Beverley, has been at Fort Paull near Hull since 1974. [Photo via Solway Aviation Museum]](https://vintageaviationnews.com/wp-content/uploads/XB259-via-Solway-Aviation-Museum-01-326x245.jpg "Fundraiser Closing in on Target to Save the Last Beverley 2")
Zac, born and raised in New Zealand, grew up immersed in aviation, with his father working as a helicopter crewman and living at Wanganui Airport. His passion for aviation started in childhood, building scale model kits and following the global warbird scene. He later trained as a journalist but found mainstream media unfulfilling, leading him to pursue a career as an aircraft maintenance engineer.
Now residing in Blenheim, near the historic Omaka Aerodrome, Zac studies at RNZAF Base Woodbourne and aspires to become a private and warbird pilot. Known as "Handbag" in aviation circles, he shares his love for aviation through photography and writing, connecting with enthusiasts worldwide.
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