Finningley


Finningley is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically in Nottinghamshire, it lies on the A614 road about six miles from the centre of Doncaster, at and an elevation of about 23 feet above sea level. The 2001 census gave it a population of 1,442, which rose to 1,497 at the 2011 Census.

Heritage

The parish church of Holy Trinity is Norman, with a 13th-century chancel.
The place name Finningley contains the Old English word, fenn, a fen, a marsh, marshland + -ingas, the people of...; the people called after... + lēah, a glade, clearing; a pasture, meadow... and so a "Clearing of the fen-dwellers".

Airport

Finningley is known for its airport, formerly RAF Finningley. The station housed a 'V' force of Vulcan bombers in the Cold War, and for 35 years hosted a regular air show, which by the 1990s was the country's largest one-day show of its kind. However, the end of the Cold War led to the airfield being closed in April 1996 and the air show coming to an end.
The long runway, currently the second longest in Northern England, was sufficiently large to take even Concorde, and in the period after the closure of the RAF airfield there were several campaigns to turn Finningley into a commercial airport for the unserved South Yorkshire region.
Plans for the conversion were approved in 2003 and the first flights served in April 2005. The airport was named Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, then renamed Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Planning permission for a railway station – former station, which had been closed in 1961, but it has yet to be built.

Road

Leon Motors, a company located in Finningley, operates bus services in Doncaster. Formed in 1922, it was taken over by MASS of North Anston in 2004.
Finningley is home to a Motocross venue.

Notable people