During the Second World War, Carnaby Aerodrome served as an emergency landing site for crippled planes. Specially built to cater for stricken aircraft, the airfield had an extra large runway, 9,000 feet (2.7 km) in length and 700 feet (210 m) wide. The airfield also operated a fog dispersion system, nicknamed FIDO.
After the war, the site was used to store Thor IRBM Missiles. The airfield finally closed in 1963 and is now an industrial estate, a large source of employment for the local area.
Carnaby railway station on the Yorkshire Coast Line from Hull to Scarborough served the village until it closed on 5 January 1970.[6] However, people can still travel to Hull, Bridlington, Driffield and Scarborough by using the EYMS bus route number '121' that has alternative bus times.[7]
In 1974, the Satra Motors Car Importation and Preparation Centre was opened at Carnaby, upgrading imported Russian built Lada and Moskvich cars for British showrooms. Although Moskvich had stopped importing cars to Britain by the end of the 1970s, Lada continued until July 1997, when it withdrew from Britain, sparking the closure of the Satra centre.[8]
Carnaby Temple, an octagonal folly stands in fields about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Carnaby. It was built by Sir George Strickland, owner of Boynton Hall, in 1770 and is locally known as 'The Pepperpot'. The structure is based on the Tower of the Winds[9] which is on the Roman Agora in Athens. In 1952 it was given Grade II listed building status.[10]
^"Dickering-Wap through time". A Vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
^"Bridlington RD". A Vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2013.