RAF Hampstead Norreys

I was attracted to this one because of the pillboxes shown on the DOB so a visit was in order. I remember the place from diving past for many years and over time had watched parts disappear.  One place comes to mind is the guard house which was near the stables at Wyld Court. It was there for years then I noticed it had been removed, maybe it had deteriorated and the landowner demolished it. The photo below was taken in 1955 and you can see the three runways and all the dispersal points.  wikipedia

I decided to go along and see how many of the pillboxes were left and in what condition they were. One I knew as near the farm as it can be seen when you drive past and I had spotted a second in the woods on the way from Aldworth.

Turned out to be well overgrown with brambles though did have some of the embrasure  shutters from the war still in place. From there is was a drive round to the farm to ask if it was ok to visit the one in the field. The Manager was a little reluctant due to other people wandering round with out asking but as I had he told me where to go an look for the pillboxes.

One of the reasons for visiting was the field had no crops in so easy to get to. The external is suffering from erosion and on to it still has earth from the camouflage.
Inside there are shutters, the steel door and gun mount.

The next is across the old airfield quite near what was an old quarry, the door from this one was outside. Finding the next was by luck as I popped into the woods to look at a building and spotted the pillbox.

  

 The last pillbox was reached by walking along a footpath that was near Aldworth then cutting across the field.

 

 

Outside is eroded and the earth is still on top along with the curly wire posts for barbed wire, inside are more along with shutters and the steel door in place

 The rest of the old airfield is worth a look with old air raid shelters in place as well as the bases of buildings and the ammunition dump.

 

 

 The one above is being distorted by tree roots which is growing on top

 

You can even come across the odd aircraft tie down. The old runways have been removed though parts of the perimeter track still exist. The place where the main runway used to be is used by light aircraft which are kept on site  near the farm.
The place was worth the time to visit and look round and hopefully I will get back for the parts I have missed. 

It fell In

The words my son had been told to tell my by a friend at work after a few moments I realised he meant a pillbox I knew of, a sad smile grew on my face and I knew what I had to do later.

 The first time I came across the pillbox which is near the Rose Revived on the Thames. the pillbox was on the river Windrush which flowed into it.

Even then it was overhanging the river

 A year later it was getting worse.

The overhang was worse and I wondered if it would see the winter out but it did and unfortunately I never managed to get back the following year  and meant to a week ago but due to time constraints I never made it but on hearing  it had gone in the river I was off to get some photo's

The poor thing had slid gently into the river Windrush in the last few days.

You can see the area where it slid, the heavy rain we had  and the river cut the bank till it would no longer take the weight and in it slid.

Yep dummy did go in but I would not advise it the dam thing was steep and you could slip in.

I may pop back again for another visit when the weeds have died down if it has not been removed.
From what I can see when I drive past it is still there though I could not tell you the state

 

One Big Crane

One big crane.

Over the course of the bank holiday weekend where I work at Diamond Light Source a huge crane appeared to remove and replace some air blast coolers. The crane was needed to span the building which is round and to be able to span the lift area. It arrived on Friday and work began assembling the crane. By the time I went home around lunchtime it had changed considerably so I decided to pop back for some photo’s later only to find the crane in the final stages of assembly. I would come back in the morning but plans usually go astray and I went off with my wife to Newbury forgetting about the crane but passed one of the coolers being taken away on a truck.  I remembered on the way back, not hard as it towered above Diamond so after going home and a quick cuppa I went back and got a few photos of the crane at work. I wanted to ask if I could get some of the crane from the work area but the guys left and seem to go off to lunch. I think they had hit a problem as the crane was dismantled the next day and left. Here are some of the photos of the crane I took.

The Air Blast Coolers to be removed.

The Crane

The load spreaders.

Crane head on

The legs on the spreaders

A second crane

 At this point it got interesting with a second crane lifting sections onto the end of the first crane.

Lifting on the sections

Taking shape

Getting longer

 At this point I wondered how it would lift all that lot off the deck.

Disappearing away

Going on for ever.

The end of the crane.

 I left at this point to come back the next day

Now thats a crane

One bit of the crane

The whole thing

 

Lunch time

Thats it for now.

The next day the crane was dismantled and will return at a later date

Newbury Parkway

This story starts a few years ago now when I went to Newbury with my wife shopping. We always used to park along Park Way and you could not help notice the vast areas which were left derelict and car parks built on them at the back of the shops along Northbrook street.
Then one day there was an Archaeological at the back of M&S, they found some cellars there dating back to Victorian times and before. Not long after machines appeared and demolished the remaining buildings nearby, I had my camera and so started the recording of the work that went it was Dec 2008.

This was taken from near Camp Hopson which was a place I visited regular to get a photo from the window and they always obliged.

It was only a few weeks later you saw the piling machines drilling the holes.

In may the site and a big wooden fence round the outside so it was not so easy to get photo's, but I realized that Camp Hopsons furniture department had a great view.

And I miked it for all it was worth but I did open the windows to get the shots holding on to my camera like grim death.
This photo in late Aug 2009 shows steelwork and concrete stare wells going up you might also note one of the buildings in the first photo has gone.

When I got back in October a huge hole had been dug in the center of the site, this was to be the car park two story's deep.

Feb 2010 and the steel for one of the department stores was up, this I found out was to be Debenhams.

June 2010 and the center was a hive of activity with tons of concrete being poured.

September and this is to be my last clear view down the site

Debenhams is taking shape as are the rest of the building along the road.

October and my view along the site from Camp Hopson had gone.

This was going to be the Penthouse over looking the park, and the glass was in Debenhams.

February 2011 and the apartment block was  taking shape

 June it was covered in scaffold.

By August Costain had noticed my  on Geograph and invited me on site for a tour.

So here is a view from the roof of the Penthouse Suite, pretty neat view I think.

The 21st October and the retail part of the development opened, this photo is around where the first one was taken, the site had been built in two years though there was still work to be done.

This is how the same place is now, the building in the foreground is John Lewis and you can see the penthouse above. The crane has gone of course. If you want to read a more in depth article then go to the link Park-Way-Development