Heston and the four London airports planned in the 1930s

A fascinating paragraph in Wikipedia:

During the late 1930s, the British government had been studying the future of air transport and airports in the London area. It had been decided that London would be served by four airports - Croydon, Heston and new airfields at Fairlop in Essex and Lullingstone, Kent.

Fascinating stuff, but is it all true?

I have written about Croydon airport before and Heston is well documented (the quotation above comes from its Wikipedia entry). Heston was distinct from the earlier Hounslow Heath and later Heathrow airports, both nearby, and it was to Heston that Neville Chamberlain returned in 1938, proclaiming "peace in our time".

A little research suggests that the City of London wanted to develop an airport at Fairlop but the government opposed the idea.

Lullingstone is a fascinating site. Development was certainly planned there, but all that is left to show for it is the ghost of a railway station that never opened.