Home of the WW2 Lancaster Bomber turns 100

More than 4,000 Lancaster Bombers were assembled at Woodford in World War Two

The role a factory played in Britain's victory in World War Two has been honoured on the 100th anniversary of its opening.

More than 4,000 Lancaster bombers were built at the Avro factory at Woodford Aerodrome in Stockport.

The planes were used in the 617 Squadron Dambuster raids on dams in Germany's Ruhr valley.

At the weekend, a plaque was unveiled to mark the centenary of the site, which is now a heritage museum.

'Incredibly busy'

The former Woodford Aerodrome is now the site of the Avro Heritage Museum

Opened in September 1924 by Sir Alliott Verdon-Roe, the aerodrome has been described as a "significant" site in Manchester's aviation history.

Lancasters were produced by the Avro workforce at the factory in Chadderton, but as it had no airfield they were assembled and tested at the aerodrome before being delivered.

The factory also produced the Avro Vulcan, the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod and the BAe 146.

In 1977, British Aerospace took control of Woodford Aerodrome after the nationalisation of the British aviation industry.

Frank Pleszak is a volunteer at the Avro Heritage Museum

Frank Pleszak, a volunteer at the Avro Heritage Museum which is now on site, said the aerodrome had been an "incredibly busy operation".

He said: "It was a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week job building Lancasters, they were producing two or three every day".

He added that the plaque unveiling was "an incredibly significant day for Avro" and a big celebration of North West aviation".

John Nichol worked at BAE Systems before its Woodford site closed in 2011

Airliners including the BAe ATP, BAe 146 and the Avro RJ Series were assembled at Woodford during the 1980s and 1990s.

At its peak, more than 3,000 staff worked at the site, said former employee John Nichol.

He said the site was "often noisy" and "hectic at times".

"There was a lot going on," he added.

"There were things moving around... when you are constructing an aircraft it is not a quiet process.

A plaque has been unveiled at the Avro Heritage Museum in Woodford

"There were a lot of characters there, a lot of people with nicknames... it was a good place to be".

Avro, which became BAE Systems, closed the site in 2011.

The Aviation Heritage Museum, which opened in 2015 and is run by volunteers, aims to preserve the legacy of Alliott Verdon-Roe and his company A.V. Roe & Co (Avro).

It includes a number of exhibitions including a virtual reality experience of a bombing mission from the UK to Berlin.