Flight...

Unlikely as it may seem, Kingston-upon-Thames was at the heart of the British aircraft industry from 1912 until 1992. The Sopwith and later Hawker factories at Canbury Park produced huge numbers of fighter planes during the two world wars. In the post war era jet aircraft, including the revolutionary Harrier jump jet, were designed and built at the BAC (later BAe) site on Richmond Road. You can read more about this here .

The only public monument to this industry, that I know of, is this sculpture in the middle of the roundabout near County Hall. Looking at it more closely today, I was struck by how ill-kempt and neglected it look, which seems a huge shame.

Kingston University still runs a highly regarded aerospace engineering faculty, but its graduates will all presumably have to travel a long way and possibly overseas to find employment.