is a
Town in the
Rushmoor borough of
Hampshire in
South East England .
It is perhaps best known as the home of the
Farnborough Air Show which takes place once every two years.
The town is home to
Farnborough Aerodrome . The town is also the international headquarters of
BAE Systems .
Farnborough is situated in the north east of Hampshire and near to the boundary with
Surrey . The
River Blackwater forms part of the boundary. It is located 31 miles (50 km) west south-west of
Charing Cross .
Farnborough includes several small villages, including Cove and Southwood. Based in the town is the council of the local government district of
Rushmoor . The district has borough status and also covers nearby
Aldershot .
The name is formed from ''Ferneberga'' which means 'fern hill'. Farnborough is mentioned in the
Domesday Book of 1086.
The town is the home of .
London can be reached by
Rail or via the
M3 Motorway , which runs north of the town. The main road, named Farnborough Road, enters the town from
Camberley to the north, and continues into
Aldershot to the south.
Farnborough is served by several railway stations:
A noted airshow takes place at
Farnborough Airfield , situated between Farnborough and
Fleet and the site of the historic
Royal Aircraft Establishment . Closely associated with Farnborough Airfield is
Samuel Cody . Cody, or Col Sam Cody as he was known, was one of the early pioneers of aviation. A monument to the first jet fighter is sited on a roundabout along Ively Road. The replica
Gloster E28/39 (based on the prototype) was erected as a tribute to its inventor, Sir
Frank Whittle .
Against strong opposition by the local community, Farnborough Airfield was turned into a business airport within the last few years. Opposition to the business airport has been chronicled, perhaps not always neutrally, by
Blackwater Environmental Justice . FARA was formed by the local community to oppose the airport expansion. The airport is operated by TAG Aviation. October 2005, TAG applied to double their number of flights at weekends.
Since applying to double the number of weekend and bank holiday flights, the opposition has grown much stronger, 1500 people objected, and now stands (according to the local press) at over 3,000.
A small section of the local community welcomed the business airport believing it safeguarded the heritage of the site (the first manned flight in the UK), and, given the fact that this site has been used for Military flying for decades, perhaps having flights controlled by the
CAA instead of the
MOD would be a blessing in disguise.
Farnborough Airport Consultative Committee (FACC) meets three times a year to discuss and hopefully resolve problems caused by the airport to the local community. It should comprise one-third each: airport operator and users, local councils and local community, but the local community is under-represented. Reports of the proceedings are usually covered by the local press ('Farnborough Mail' or 'Farnborough News') and 'Indymedia UK'
{Link without Title} (search for FACC or Farnborough Airport).
There are four main public secondary schools; The Wavell School, Cove School, Fernhill Secondary and Oak Farm Community School. There are also two private secondary schools; Salesian College (boys school) and Farnborough Hill (girls school) both of which provide private sixth form education in expansion to the secondary schools. The town also has a Sixth Form College, which draws in around 2500 students aged 16-18 from the surrounding area, as well as Farnborough Technology College, which specialises in more vocational studies for students aged 16 onwards.
The
Football Team Farnborough Town F.C. who currently play in the
Conference South League are based in the town.
club is based at Tile Barn Close in Farnborough. They play in
Hampshire Division 2 (2005/2006) although have recently been promoted to
Hampshire Division One for the 2006/2007 season. They also have a thriving Minis and Juniors section
{Link without Title} which caters for boys from 5 to 19 years of age and girls from 5 to 12 years of age.
