PLANS are taking shape for a series of open days to bring the spiritual home of “The Few” back to life in September.

Former Stanmore RAF base Bentley Priory was the home of Fighter Command during the Second World War, but the Ministry of Defence (MOD) withdrew in May last year.

Re-enactors in genuine 1940s uniforms will fill the rooms where military bosses planned Britain's air defence, on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13.

One will dress up as Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding and they will provide a living history of the base.

There will also be a fly-past by Spitfire and Hurricane pilots from RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, on their way back from a show in White Waltham, in Kent, on Saturday, September 12.

Squadron Leader Erica Ferguson, of the RAF Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust, said: “Bentley Priory is part of Harrow's Heritage, so we like working with other Harrow Heritage community groups.

“On the Saturday and Sunday I'd like to see the priory return to what it was like in the 1940s. The whole aim is to bring the priory back to life with the feel and atmosphere of the era.”

A number of community groups will have stalls set up at the base and on the Friday the Radio Society of Harrow is holding a meeting within the grounds of the site.

Refreshments, including cream teas and lunches, will be served all day and a map of sites in the borough bombed during the war will be on display.

The base was opened to the public for the first time in 80 years last autumn, with hundreds of people enjoying the sunshine and touring the building.

The weekend will help raise money for the trust which hopes to build a museum at the site, in the most historically significant areas of the mansion house.

Funding for the scheme was due to come from a housing project that collapsed because of the credit crunch, but hopes remain a buyer for the site will emerge over the next year and the base will eventually be put back on the market.

Bentley Priory will be open from 10am to 5pm from September 10 to September 13, with pre-booked, hourly tours on the Thursday and Friday.

On the Saturday and Sunday the doors will be open for anyone who wants to explore the base or learn about its history.

For more information email Squadron Leader Ferguson on bentleypriory@btinternet.com, or telephone during office hours only on 07813 856 719.

All tours are free, but donations of £1 to the trust are requested.

For a video tour of Bentley Priory by Stanmore Society chairman and priory trustee John Williams click the link below.