FighterControl

The government has announced that Wethersfield is to be disposed of by 2020 and 4,750 homes will be built on the site. Another Cold War relic bites the dust.

I wonder where the MDPGA/MGS will go then.

That part of Essex is prime development country, being close to London and Stansted. MoD should make a packet!

I have been on the base several times in the last few years & have to say that much of the airfield has fallen into disrepair. The runways & taxiways are crumbling away! The buildings used by the police & the area used by Essex Fire Service are well maintained though.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the cold war era buildings will get preserved due to their historical significance, perhaps English Heritage might step in for a look?

TankBuster

I used to think Wethersfield tower was a classic , bit different from most with lovely wood cladding as I recall . Don't know if its still standing.

johnwayne wrote:I used to think Wethersfield tower was a classic , bit different from most with lovely wood cladding as I recall . Don't know if its still standing.

Sadly the tower got demolished several years ago, along with the buildings next to it. Very sad to see it gone .


TankBuster

johnwayne wrote:I used to think Wethersfield tower was a classic , bit different from most with lovely wood cladding as I recall . Don't know if its still standing.

It was a classic and as far as I know the only one of it's type.
It had the 5223a/51 style VCR built on a WWII type tower.

In fact much of Wethersfield is classic. It retains much of it's wartime layout and still has its early Cold War style development in place.
Over the last few years it has been dismantled bit by bit.
The tower as we know has gone, the Aviation Fuel installations were dug up a while back and many other buildings have been demolished. Some in the munitions area and the two B Centers have also gone.
One of the T Type hangars has been under threat as well.

It was, until all this demolishing, held in a 1950's time warp.

Nearly 5000 houses in the middle of nowhere, accessed by rural roads through small villages and no infrastructure.
To the government this must be an ideal location

Any attempts at preservation will, I am sure, be met with intense opposition.
Every reason to try to do so

I remember Wethersfield from the early 60s - drive in through the main entrance, receive a nice salute from the guard, drive further into the base, read off the visiting aircraft (discretely!) and drive out again. Good times!
TM74

tm74sqn wrote:I remember Wethersfield from the early 60s - drive in through the main entrance, receive a nice salute from the guard, drive further into the base, read off the visiting aircraft (discretely!) and drive out again. Good times!
TM74

Yes, good times indeed.
A friend of mine actually had access to the "Rod and Gun Club" and drove on and off the base at will in the late 50's.
He also received a commendation for trying to pull a pilot from the wreckage of his crashed F100. He still has that document, signed by Col Toliver. (and another from the Queen)

Another used to frequent the numerous functions on the base.

In later years I benefited from the odd can of Mountain Dew, "proper" Budweiser and "proper" Planters Peanuts from an acquaintance in the "Red Horse"

The other thing I neglected to mention in my last post was the huge amount of trees planted around the base a good while back.
Most seem to have not fared well, probably because the place is like a quagmire most of the time, but clearly an attempt at screening for what was known to be coming.

The 'Victor Alert' area is still pretty much as it was back in the day, although somewhat neglected the barns and dispersals still stand, as does the crew quarters for that area.
The only area I've really had a good mooch around is the part currently used by Essex County Fire & Rescue Service, I believe this was previously the munitions maintenance workshop area?

This is what goes on in that little area at the moment... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlnu4za4qd0.


TankBuster

TankBuster wrote:The 'Victor Alert' area is still pretty much as it was back in the day, although somewhat neglected the barns and dispersals still stand, as does the crew quarters for that area.
The only area I've really had a good mooch around is the part currently used by Essex County Fire & Rescue Service, I believe this was previously the munitions maintenance workshop area?

This is what goes on in that little area at the moment... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlnu4za4qd0.


TankBuster

Interesting.
A friend of mine has been up there for fire training, he is based in Harlow.

Yes, had a look at some of the barns and the buildings last year and got quite a few photographs for posterity.
Got in and around one of the barns and would have liked to have seen inside the buildings but I think it is verboten as I understand there was a training exercise "firefight" in the place some years ago and I don't believe it has been "swept" clear.
The area around is littered with blank cartridges.
Is that ex USAF yellow flight-line fire extinguisher still in that little compound on the left as you go in?
I though t it would be a good thing to grab for the museum up there

I haven't noticed the fire extinguisher, but at the back of the fire service's area on the corner nearest the WSA there is a large disused gate (I guess the USAF used this to access the WSA), now next to this gate there is an old 50's era sign and siren on top of a concrete post, I've looked up at these many times over the years, I wish I could save them!

The police are often popping guns & setting dogs loose around the base in training scenarios, so you have to keep your eyes open!
Apparently the SAS, sometimes use the training facilities on base too?

We used to have access to the old USAF canteen, which the police still use, and I remember it being very much stuck in a USAF time warp! Unfortunately the police got fed up with noisy dirty Firefighters using their facilities, so that little avenue of exploration was closed off!

I do like Wethersfield, it really is an interesting base!

TankBuster

TankBuster wrote:I haven't noticed the fire extinguisher, but at the back of the fire service's area on the corner nearest the WSA there is a large disused gate (I guess the USAF used this to access the WSA), now next to this gate there is an old 50's era sign and siren on top of a concrete post, I've looked up at these many times over the years, I wish I could save them!


The police are often popping guns & setting dogs loose around the base in training scenarios, so you have to keep your eyes open!
Apparently the SAS, sometimes use the training facilities on base too?


We used to have access to the old USAF canteen, which the police still use, and I remember it being very much stuck in a USAF time warp! Unfortunately the police got fed up with noisy dirty Firefighters using their facilities, so that little avenue of exploration was closed off!



I do like Wethersfield, it really is an interesting base!

TankBuster

Perhaps something can be done about the siren.

Yes, the SAS, apparently, were responsible for the loss of one of the buildings over near the old Base Engineering Flight pan.
Their idea of an explosion at ENDEX was different to the explosion that the powers that be expected and a large bill came in for the clearing up of asbestos that went over the fence and into the fields.

Funnily enough I heard of, in a roundabout way (it was a friends bother in law) , a diplomatic police officer who got similar tea time treatment from some of the gentleman mentioned above.
He made mistake of sitting next to some scruffy men with his cup of tea and a bun during a famous incident in the 1980's. He found out why one side of the canteen was heaving and the other had all these empty tables that the scruffy men were sitting at.
By his own admission to did as he was advised :-)

Yes, the whole place is, or was, in a bit of a time warp.

I went to a meeting this evening over another planning issue in Braintree District where the leader of the council, and sat next to him, the local MP, stated that the council were against this particular application as it was not on the Local Plan that is, currently, being re worked (thanks to the Tories tearing the old one up because they didn't like it)
If the plan is passed, then it seems, on paper anyway, that only development can take place within the agreed areas of the plan.
Braintree is considering land that would provide up to 50,000 houses (I don't know if RAFW is in these figures or not).
The government requirement is 12-15,000 for Braintree.
As the local plan should be published well before RAFW is handed over to the HCA for sale in 2020.
I can't see how development could take place on RAFW before 2030 when I think the local plan has to be re done again
This would make it risky for a developer to buy the base, especially if the political climate changed and housing needs were placed elsewhere.
Do doubt if enough cash exchanged hands then the problem would go away.

Have you visited the RAFW museum?

HP88 wrote: I went to a meeting this evening over another planning issue in Braintree District where the leader of the council, and sat next to him, the local MP, stated that the council were against this particular application as it was not on the Local Plan that is, currently, being re worked (thanks to the Tories tearing the old one up because they didn't like it)
If the plan is passed, then it seems, on paper anyway, that only development can take place within the agreed areas of the plan.
Braintree is considering land that would provide up to 50,000 houses (I don't know if RAFW is in these figures or not).
The government requirement is 12-15,000 for Braintree.
As the local plan should be published well before RAFW is handed over to the HCA for sale in 2020.
I can't see how development could take place on RAFW before 2030 when I think the local plan has to be re done again
This would make it risky for a developer to buy the base, especially if the political climate changed and housing needs were placed elsewhere.
Do doubt if enough cash exchanged hands then the problem would go away.

I take it you mean the meeting at Rayne - I was there as well - couldn't get a seat as the village hall was packed out.

By 'this' I assume you mean Brook Green rather than Wethersfield. I hadn't heard about this before so it will be interesting to see what happens with it re the Local Plan. I believe the LP is for housing needs up to 2025 so I suppose if that's right then it would fall into a future plan although discussions would probably start earlier.

I was one of the people wearing a 'No to Brook Green' tee shirt btw - I'm part of the action group committee! Was an interesting meeting and the council leader was quite impressive with his comments. We had a bit of a chat with the MP afterwards and got some useful tips - he was impressed with the turnout and the presentation.

As for Wethersfield I remember the airshows in the late 50's and early '60s - great days out I've even got some of my late father's cine film of one of them, some aircraft I would only dream of seeing today! Last one I went to was mid '80s, far smaller affair but still some very good displays - I still remember the Vulcan, F.15 and Lightning were exceptional. I also got blasted by tarmac once in the '60s when a Victor lifted part of the taxiway and I was standing behind it at the time, albeit some distance back - I kept a bit as a souvenir! It does seem to have fallen into disrepair in recent years and I guess that there is a lot of ground not being used so is logical but it would be a shame to see it finally go.