The famous double avenue of over 1,200 trees extending 2.5 miles south from Wimpole Hall was originally composed mainly of elms but these were wiped out by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s. The National Trust replanted the avenue with limes, and these are now fairly mature.
The now-defunct Bassingbourn Airfield, home to American B-17 heavy bomber squadrons during WW2, lies exactly at the south end of the avenue. The huge avenue of trees could be seen by aircrew from many miles away, and from a great height, so it was a reassuring navigation beacon for B-17 crews returning from missions over Nazi Germany, and a visual marker for their final descent into Bassingbourn. But sadly, not all those who returned were alive; those who did not survive are buried at the American Cemetery in Madingley, a few miles away.
