Robin Goch

Yet another story of a local man with an incredible story.

Has anyone heard of Charles Horace Watkins? I hadn’t until a week ago, when Derek from Pontypridd told me a little about him and his connection with Whitchurch.

Charles Horace Watkins was born on Mynachdy Farm, just south of the parish boundary in 1887 and was an inventor. He used one of the barns on the family farm to carry out his experiments and to make all sorts of fantastic equipment.

In the very early 1900s (when he was just in his teens) he started experimenting with the idea of powered flight. From the basic principles of a lighter-than-air-machine Charles started to design and assemble an aeroplane. Remember this was before anyone had conquered powered flight
He built a monoplane with an open wooden structure with piano wire as straining wires. The engine was home-made and had a wooden propellor at the front. The bodywork was painted bright red so he called it Robin Goch (Robin Redbreast).

If this sounds far-fetched, it gets even weirder. The seat of the plane was a chair from the farm kitchen, and he proposed to navigate using an egg-timer! He even arranged 2 lengths of weighted string to dangle from underneath to warn himself of how close to land he was coming, to achieve a safe landing. Can you believe this?

The Wright Brothers had managed to achieve a maiden flight in America by 1903, but that was in an incredible spider’s web of a plane with skis underneath and managed a few extended ‘hops’.

By 1908, Charles had completed his monoplane and (according to Derek) he took off from Whitchurch Common, flew around Whitchurch for a bit and then landed safely. There is no verification of this, although there are newspaper reports of the time of him flying around Whitchurch, as far as Caerphilly Mountain and then back again. If this is all true, then Charles Horace Watkins would be the first aviator in Wales! Apparently, he even went on to be the first aviator ever to land at night.

If only we could prove this it would make an incredible local story. But incredibly, it is true! Charles offered his designs to the government at the time (this was pre-WW1 of course)

The black and white photograph below shows a young Charles standing outside the barn at Mynachdy with Robin Goch. After a few years, the aeroplane suffered a cracked engine block and Charles wasn’t able to repair it. So, the Robin Goch was ‘grounded’, back at the barn.

Charles survived both WW1 and WW2, and in 1959, started to build a replica of Robin Goch (some reports say the aeroplane was restored not rebuilt). RAF specialists were sufficiently intrigued and asked if Robin Goch could be an exhibit at their new museum at St Athan. He agreed and it was on display there for many years.

And then what? Well, Charles died in 1976, somewhat in obscurity, but he had been continuing with his inventions all the time. He told some young neighbours about an early RADAR device that he had sold to the Americans (apparently the British authorities wanted to turn it into a secret and so avoid paying him). In late life he still had a shed full of unfinished experiments, such as a laser beam which could ‘burn’ through solid walls and also a rudimentary flying saucer!

What an incredible man!

But what about Robin Goch you might ask?

Well, the replica was transferred to the Swansea Industrial Museum when it opened in the early 2000s, and it is now the most admired of all of their displays. Countless small children vote for the Robin Goch as the ‘best’ item in the museum still. It is suspended from wires high above the other displays in the main hall. The second (coloured) photograph shows Robin Goch on display ‘soaring’ above the other exhibits at Swansea.

So, why don’t we know more about this special man, born just south of the village and flying his home-made monoplane from the common? I can’t believe that boys and girls in our local schools don’t know more about this incredible man. What do you think?

PS if you’re wondering how Charles used an egg-timer to navigate, it’s quite simple. Once flying, he’d set the egg-timer on the dashboard and fly straight until the sand ran out. He’d then turn the plane through ninety degrees and reset the egg-timer. Two more goes and he’d be back where he started from!

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