RAF Thurleigh, Bedfordshire

History

RAF Thurleigh is a former Royal Air Force station. Thurleigh was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force on 9 December 1942 and designated Station 111, and used for heavy bomber operations against Nazi Germany.

Thurleigh was built for RAF Bomber Command in 1940 by W & C French Ltd. 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Thurleigh on farmland between the farms of Buryfields, Bletsoe Park, Manor, and Whitwickgreen. It was eventually modified to Air Ministry Class A airfield specifications, with three converging runways, extended in 1942 to lengths of 6,000 feet (runway 06-24) and 4,200 feet (runways 18-36 and 12-30). Thurleigh was unique among bomber bases in having four T2 type metal hangars where most bases had only two.

With the end of military control, the airfield has been divided into two parts. The southern part is now known as Thurleigh Business Park, and includes the runway, which is currently used for the mass storage of new cars, although it remains intact for possible future use. The northern part houses the Bedford Autodrome, as well as Thurleigh Museum which is dedicated primarily to the airfield and life in the area during the Second World War.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Thurleigh

Esoteric Eric

RAE Bedford, Bedfordshire

History

RAE Bedford was a research site of the Royal Aircraft Establishment between 1946 and 1994.

Starting in 1946, construction work began to turn the wartime RAF airfield into what became known as the Royal Aeronautical Establishment, Bedford. The runway was extended in the post-war period to accommodate the Bristol Brabazon aircraft, which required a very long runway but which never went into production. A lot of the development for what became the Harrier was done here, one early version became known as the 'Flying Bedstead'. Also Thurleigh had a catapult runway and it was here that the 'ski jump' later fitted to some aircraft carriers was also developed. One local road was put in a cutting for a runway to be put above it, linking the Airfield site to the wind-tunnel site about a mile and a half away, although ultimately this was never carried out. The runway is some 10,500 ft long, and some 300 ft wide and as of June 2011 is used by a number of car storage companies.

Naval Air Department and the BEA Helicopters Experimental Unit was here at some point.

The airfield was decommissioned in February 1994 after a lengthy study determined that flight operations should be centralised at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. Due to the cost and impracticality of relocating the Advanced Flight Simulator system the site retains some of its development work (under the banner of QinetiQ from mid-2001 onwards). As of early 2007, QinetiQ have sold their remaining stake in the Bedford Airfield site (as well as the nearby 'Wind Tunnel' site) and are planning to relocate the remaining staff to Farnborough in early 2008, finally ending the site's long association with military aviation.

The airfield was closed officially in March 1994 and sold in 1996 with the RAE having become the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). DERA consolidated its experimental flying operations at Boscombe Down, moving aircraft from Farnborough as well as Bedford.

The wind tunnel site is now the Twinwoods Business Park and some of the buildings are in commercial use. Red Bull Racing use one and Body Flight use a vertical wind tunnel for a free fall simulator.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAE_Bedford

Esoteric Eric

Tiptaft, Smith & Co. (Montagu Chambers), South Yorkshire

History

Built around 1920 and originally occupied by the Woolrich Equitable Building Society. Most recently the upper floors were divided between Tiptaft, Smith & Co. Chartered Accountants and an area for fitness classes. The lower floors have also been split up in to several smaller businesses. The roof of the accountants suffered a fire and has been replaced in recent times. The building is part of an conservation area.

Esoteric Eric

Newsome Mills Clock Tower, Huddersfield

History

The first woollen mill on the site at Newsome was founded by John Taylor in 1827. This building burnt down in 1872 and in 1873 Ephraim Beaumont Taylor went into partnership with Joshua Littlewood, to form Taylor & Littlewood, under which name the firm operated as a worsted mill until its closure in 1883. The current mill buildings must have been constructed soon after, and by 1893 occupied the whole block with integrated mill, weaving sheds, clock tower, ancillary and administrative buildings. After the closure of the mill, most of the buildings were let out as business units until the site was sold in 2006. The boiler house and chimney were already lost by then, and the greater part of the weaving sheds and some of the ancillary buildings were subsequently demolished to make way for housing.

Unfortunately the mill suffered a catastrophic fire in November, 2016 and only the clock tower and entrance gates remain.

Source:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1232037

Esoteric Eric

Green View House Care Home, Huddersfield

History

A former care home, reportedly closed in 2011 after several allegations of abuse against elderly residents.

Source:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21662945

Esoteric Eric

Lockwood Carpets, Lockwood Mill, Elland, West Yorkshire

History

A former carpet and flooring dealer based in one of the many disused mills of the area.

Esoteric Eric

Wrexham Cemetery Morgue, North Wales

History

One from earlier this month, recently released for public consumption.

A World Ward II mortuary built in 1939 as an overflow for the former War Memorial Hospital, it is thought to be the only one of its kind to survive in north Wales.

Recently uncovered by the cemetery's caretaker after 70 years, conservationists hope to attract visitors in the future.

Source:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-48155716/first-glimpse-inside-wrexham-mortuary-after-70-years

Esoteric Eric