RNAS Burscough

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RNAS Burscough, also called HMS Ringtail, was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm base near Burscough in Lancashire, England. Built in 1943 on about 650 acres, it opened on 1 September 1943 and featured four narrow asphalt runways, each around 900–1,000 metres long. The runways were designed to mimic aircraft carrier landings, giving pilots practice with eight wind directions.

The air station’s purpose was to train FAA squadrons for carrier operations, including day, night and torpedo fighter work. Many FAA units were based there for short periods before moving on to front‑line bases or carriers. One of the early units was 809 Squadron with Seafires, which operated from Ringtail in December 1943.

RNAS Burscough stopped flying in May 1946. The hangars were then used to store aircraft engines and other FAA equipment under RNAS Stretton (HMS Blackcap) until the two airfields were sold off in 1957. In the 1960s the site was used by crop-dusting aircraft for refuelling and spraying.

Four naval hangars remained into the 2000s and were used by the Merseyside Transport Trust from the late 1970s until January 2012, when the charity moved to new premises. The hangars are now empty.

Today the site is being developed, including plans for a large supermarket. A café on the site displays wartime photographs and maps. The name Ringtail refers to a bird, not a ship.