Auguste Louis Blériot
(b.July 1, Cambrai, France 1872; d.August 2, 1936), graduated from École Centrale Paris with a degree in engineering.
At 30 he taught himself to fly in an aircraft of his own design, his skills as a pilot and designer improving by trial and error. In 1907 he made his first short flight at Bagatelle, France in the 'Bleriot V' and in 1908 had his first real success in 1908 with the 'Bleriot VIII'.
Blériot became famous for being the first to fly an aircraft across the English Channel. On July 25, 1909, in his Model XI 25 horsepower monoplane, he flew from Les Barraques, France to Dover. This 27 mile flight, that took approximately 37 minutes, and ended with a crash landing in Northfall meadow, won him the much sought after London Daily Mail prize of £1000.
In the 1914-1918 War his company produced the famous S.P.A.D. fighter aircraft flown by all the Allied Nations. His skill and ingenuity contributed to the advance of aviation technology in his time, and popularised aviation as a sport. He remained active in the aviation industry until his death on August 2, 1936.
The Aero Club of the United Kingdom (now the Royal Aero Club) commemorated Blériot's achievement with a monument placed at the site of his landing in North Fall Meadow, just behind Dover Castle. The monument,
a stone silhouette of Bleriot's aeroplane constructed of granite blocks, was presented to the club by one of its members - Mr. A. Duckham.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Bleriot's flight this memorial has now been re-presented. Access has been improved by creating a series of chalk 'vapour trail' paths to and from the memorial. A new oak retaining wall frames the memorial and new oak seating provides visitors with a new vantage point from which to appreciate the memorial and views of Dover castle.
Dover District Council has transformed the memorial's setting, to put Bleriot's momentous achievement back on the map and on the tourist trail. Encroaching scrub has been cleared from around the memorial itself and a newly created area of chalk grassland will be re-established. Restoration of this habitat (found only on the North and South Downs) is also being tested on another site nearby.
Chalk grassland can be incredibly rich in plant and insect life, supporting up to 40 species per square metre.These include the Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) and the Adonis Blue butterfly (Polyommatus bellargus).
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