In dedication to the airmen and workers that contributed so much to the war effort during World War Two at Leavesden Aerodrome, St Albans writer and retired civil engineer Grant Peerless, 67, and photographer Richard Riding, 69, have put together an astonishing record of the airfield’s heyday building Halifax and Mosquito airplanes and beyond.

Leavesden Aerodrome: From Halifaxes to Hogwarts will definitely appeal to air enthusiasts but it is also a valuable social document since it concerns an industry that once employed thousands of people from the local area. Among these was Richard’s father Eddie Riding, who worked as an inspector for the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate.

Raised in Hendon, Richard later moved to St Albans and has been living in Radlett for the past seven years. Sadly his father was killed in an air crash in 1950 when Richard was eight so he was not able to ask for anecdotes first-hand but the book includes many of Eddie’s pictures complete with Richard’s intriguing anecdotes drawn from his father’s log book.

Eddie apparently flew sidekick to a charismatic daredevil airman named Freddie Offord.

“I’ve tried so hard to find out about him,“ says Richard. “I believe he moved to Canada after the war but I’d love to find out more. I was speaking to someone the other day who attended a big demo at White Waltham in September 1945 and apparently Freddie used to dive onto the airfield with both engines feathered – not running and going into a barrel roll. It’s the type of manoeuvre that nobody else would ever attempt, but he was a typical type, a real character.“

Richard’s father was also an expert in his field. As well as inspecting the aircraft he built model planes some of which were cherished Christmas treats for Richard, who first visited Leavesden as a small child.

“I was three or four years old and I was often taken to work by my dad,“ recalls Richard. “My fondest memory is standing beneath the wing of a Mosquito as it was running up to full boost. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time. Once you’ve heard a Merlin engine in full throttle it’s something you never forget.“

While Richard was inside the high security enclosure, Grant as a teenager could only peer through the fence.

Grant says: “I first visited the site in the mid-1950s as a schoolboy. St Albans was right on the flight path for Radlett and Leavesden. It was a wonderful time to be an aviation enthusiast. I’d visit on open days or creep round the back of hangers and peer through the gaps; that was all part of the fun really.“

Grant and Richard previously collaborated on a guide to Elstree’s airfield in 2003. In this, their second book they trace the site from the 1930s when the need for a municipal aerodrome near Watford was first debated, through its later occupancy by de Havilland and Rolls-Royce, which continued to build helicopter engines there until the factory closed in 1992.

While Grant enjoys almost monthly flights over the site from Elstree, Richard’s nephew, former Watford Observer photographer Pete Stevens is keeping up the family tradition by taking images of the site, which now belongs to Warner Bros Studios. The book features some incredibly candid images of the Harry Potter sets, since removed, that are make up the site’s more recent history.

Richard’s career as an aviation photographer began in 1958 and then he spent five years as a freelancer snapping pop acts such as Jimi Hendrix and The Bee Gees before returning to the aviation trade as a successful magazine publisher.

“It was a mad life,“ says Richard of those brief years chasing stars. “Looking back on it I can’t believe I was involved in it at all.“

Richard and Grant will be launching their book at St Albans Town Hall, as part of the St Albans Bookfair, from 10.30am-12.30pm on Saturday, October 29. Leavesden Aerodrome: From Halifaxes to Hogwarts is published by Amberley Books price £16.99, www.amberley-books.com