It's amazing what we ride over and don't realise.

[ClichéGuevara]

Always interesting to research past family members, Keith.
My own Grandad's brother was shot down (never found) over the Bay of Biscay after flying out from RAF Portreath in 1943. I'm tempted to go and look through the fence when I'm down in Cornwall this summer. Not sure why, or what I would gain from doing so...

A relative was into diving, and off the south coast came across a previously unfound Spitfire. After some digging, they found the pilots details, and the story of how it came to be there.
Turns out it was a New Zealand Pilot, and the authorities were able to pass the information to his family.

 

[keithmac]

Need to go and visit this, only a 20min walk from my house!.

Used to play around there as a child and never realised what it was.

My sons Cub Scout group enquired about a visit but they wanted over £100 for an hours visit which was a shame..

 

[PeteXXX]

Pete, you want to go find the old Salcey Forest railway station. Remains of the platform can still be found near Horton.

If you know where to look you can find remains of WWII gun emplacements in the Forest too. And there's a trig point near the Forest. All sorts.

Just down the road from the Army cadet posh building

Yep, found it, (on the OS map) thanks. I'll pop over to see it 'live' soon..

If you trespass (allegedly) on Yardley Chase, and avoid the shotgun toting gamekeepers, and are silly enough to ride through it, you can see loads of old charcoal burning pits and their surrounding ponds there!

~Linkie~

The railway station links up to all the dismantled lines in the Chase, some of which handled munitions etc during WW2.

I've (allegedly) ridden through there 3 or 4 times, but not during the deer and peasant shoots that are held regularly..

 

[GuyBoden]

(Nice thread)
Checked out BlackCap Airbase in Stretton today, I've been cycling around it since I was a teenager.
More info here:http://www.forgottenairfields.com/united-kingdom/england/cheshire/stretton-s1204.html

 

[snorri]

That's a really interesting link.

You might find more info on the Historic England website....
https://historicengland.org.uk/rese...erstand/military/historic-military-airfields/

also http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/ has loads of aerial photos from the past up to 1953.

 

[PeteXXX]

You might find more info on the Historic England website....
https://historicengland.org.uk/rese...erstand/military/historic-military-airfields/

also http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/ has loads of aerial photos from the past up to 1953.

Cheers, I'll check them out when I'm on the laptop later on.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Drivers/riders/walkers on Leeds Ring-Road, between Apperley Bridge & Horsforth, probably don't realise the grandeur of the concrete structure below them

I don't have my own picture of the road-deck, so have a look at this GeoGraph link; http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2458316


This is the underside, spanning the River Aire

 

[Drago]

The Subterranea Britannica website is well worth a browse. Discovered a few local Royal Observer Corps operating posts locally and visited 2, though never dared enter for fear the wave of cold war nostalgia would be crippling.

 

[subaqua]

http://www.rafweb.org/Organsation/Org-index.htm#Stations

is a great place to find old RAF stations . Hornchurch is now a park !

 

[Profpointy]

In Holmpton, near Withensea, a bungalow stands in the middle of a field just away from the village. The only tell tale sign that all is not as it seems is a rather large car park. Underground there are endless tunnels and rooms. It was built during the Cold War and was a fully manned operation and control centre monitoring Russian nuclear activity. It had its own water supply, power supply, air filtration plant etc and was built to be totally self contained in the event of a nuclear attack.
Today it is kept as it was when operational and is used to store RAF archives. It is open to the public on certain days of the year and if you are in the area it is well worth a visit.

There was something similar for sale near Cheltenham a few years back. Wasn't too much money and I could have afforded it, but reason prevailed. living i an underground bunker would doubtless have been damp and manky and I dare say it would have been full of asbestos and what not. I regret not going for a nosey though6

 

[PeteXXX]

The Subterranea Britannica website is well worth a browse. Discovered a few local Royal Observer Corps operating posts locally and visited 2, though never dared enter for fear the wave of cold war nostalgia would be crippling.

I used to follow them on Facebook when I was on it.. Really interesting stuff on their site as well.