# A dark, dark night - Holton Heath RNCF



## fluffy5518 (Jan 28, 2015)

As soon as this plan was hatched we knew it was total madness, but it had to be done. Very basically Holton Heath produced cordite for the military. It was in use at the start of world war one and closed very shortly after world war two. It had it fair share of death and was the scene of a few large explosions. For nearly seventy years now the site has lain dormant and rotting and what was once a fully functioning factory is now dense woodland full of inpenatrable vegetation and ten foot high gorse bushes ( Gods Barbed wire !!) So what better time to explore it than at night !!
As soon as we were over the fence it became apparant that this wasnt going to be easy and im sure that even Bear Grylls reaction would have been ' F**k that' !!! For those of an older generation Mr Grylls is like David Bellamy on acid !!!
Anyway on with the pics, the first of which is an easy to find mess building.


Now with the going getting a bit squelchier under foot its off to the control trench and the fire watchers post on top.


And underground - with all those fookin SPIDERS !!


Now off to what we came for, the press houses. This is where things went wrong. We basically couldnt find them. The terrain was now muddy and hilly and after many, many frustrating dead ends and retraced steps we finally found one. Totally flooded !! So on with the waders and in we go ............






















By now the place was begining to take its toll on us and try though we might it proved impossible to locate the remaining buildings in the pitch black !! The annoying thing was we knew that they were very close but we just couldnt get to 'em. So we decided to try and find an easier prize - the former acid storage tank area by the large reservoirs. This wasnt too difficult - so .........
Here is acid ally ...




and the former tank supports




and lastly a pipe tunnel and support bracket caught in the beam ..




Well there you have it. All in all a totally buzzing explore with all of your senses on overload. But bloody hard work and bloody frustrating to be so close yet so far ...... but hey-ho, definately better than watching eastenders. Now all we have to do is find the way out .................


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## URBANMYTH (Jan 28, 2015)

this place looks awesome at night you to have done a stunning job love it


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## Newage (Jan 28, 2015)

Top shooting mate, the colours in acid ally are top notch.

Good night, Id do it again.....

Newage


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## fluffy5518 (Jan 28, 2015)

Defo's take you up on that one !! As i said yeterday the way to do it is get there mid afternoon, find the buildings and stay there till darkness !!


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## HughieD (Jan 28, 2015)

Another top set from Holton Heath RNCF...


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## smiler (Jan 28, 2015)

Exploring at night isn,t much fun, getting scratched to hell by brambles, stung to buggery by nettles plus the joy of struggling through ploughed fields and falling in stinking ditches are something I wouldn't recommend but sometimes it's the only way to get a looksee, nice to know there are still folks exploring who are as daft as I was. I e:njoyed your post, Thanks


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## fluffy5518 (Jan 28, 2015)

smiler said:


> Exploring at night isn,t much fun, getting scratched to hell by brambles, stung to buggery by nettles plus the joy of struggling through ploughed fields and falling in stinking ditches are something I wouldn't recommend but sometimes it's the only way to get a looksee, nice to know there are still folks exploring who are as daft as I was. I e:njoyed your post, Thanks



Thanks Smiler !! This place is always difficult to photograph so we decided that the best time to do it was when it was dark as it gives a nice uniform background -- BLACK !!! Then its up to you what you light and what you dont !! Unfortunately we didnt realise just how difficult it would be, primarilly because we rather smugly thought that we knew our way from the control trench to the press houses. But as it turned out we didnt !! However, as Arnie said ' We WILL be back '


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## Mikeymutt (Jan 28, 2015)

That's just mental..looks like fun too.great post.


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## SlimJim (Jan 28, 2015)

Nice spot, well documented! I like a good night explore, there's an increased ambience and level of anxiety to places at night. Then again sometimes they can be incredibly peaceful too.


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## urban-dorset (Jan 28, 2015)

Interesting, thanks for posting. Did you accidentally bring any spiders back with you?!


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## fluffy5518 (Jan 28, 2015)

urban-dorset said:


> Interesting, thanks for posting. Did you accidentally bring any spiders back with you?!



I Bloody well hope not !! :arghh:
Funny thing is, that although i am generally scared shitless by them, when im on an explore i just tend not to look at them. I think the reasoning being that if i dont look at them then there not really there - alright i know it dont make sense but it works for me. When i was checkin' out the pics ready to post i cant help but view the picture at full size and check the buggers out - those inside the control trench are MAHOOSIVE !!! Another funny thing is that whenever i mention them in any thread lots of the replies received concern them !! Wierd - but then again i suppose we're just a nation of arachnophobes !!!!


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## SlimJim (Jan 28, 2015)

fluffy5518 said:


> I Bloody well hope not !! :arghh:
> Funny thing is, that although i am generally scared shitless by them, when im on an explore i just tend not to look at them. I think the reasoning being that if i dont look at them then there not really there - alright i know it dont make sense but it works for me. When i was checkin' out the pics ready to post i cant help but view the picture at full size and check the buggers out - those inside the control trench are MAHOOSIVE !!! Another funny thing is that whenever i mention them in any thread lots of the replies received concern them !! Wierd - but then again i suppose we're just a nation of arachnophobes !!!!



I kind of like the big ones  They're useful - they eat gnats, mozzies and wasps, which I despise! If I'm in close proximity to wasps, I'm well known to dance an involuntary nervous jig! Cave spiders tend to be pretty slow and docile anywho.


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## Snips86x (Jan 29, 2015)

That's one hell of a find and you did it in the dark


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jan 29, 2015)

Very nice indeed


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## fluffy5518 (Jan 29, 2015)

SlimJim said:


> Nice spot, well documented! I like a good night explore, there's an increased ambience and level of anxiety to places at night. Then again sometimes they can be incredibly peaceful too.



Thats very true SJ - although you are quite near to a major road here you are in effect cut off because trying to find that road in a panic/rush would be virtually impossible. I normally find night explores a bit like going to the dentist. On the way there you are as nervous as hell but once youre there its (generally) not too bad. Holton Heath on tuesday night was as quiet and still as you could possibly wish for, even though there was an EARTHQUAKE just up the road at Winchester while we were in there. !!


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## UrbanX (Jan 30, 2015)

Wow that looks fantastic inside with the reflections! 
Thanks for taking all the scratches so we don't have to!


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## smiler (Jan 30, 2015)

fluffy5518 said:


> Thanks Smiler !! This place is always difficult to photograph so we decided that the best time to do it was when it was dark as it gives a nice uniform background -- BLACK !!! Then its up to you what you light and what you dont !! Unfortunately we didnt realise just how difficult it would be, primarilly because we rather smugly thought that we knew our way from the control trench to the press houses. But as it turned out we didnt !! However, as Arnie said ' We WILL be back '



Who's Arnie, I searched the forum and I can't find any posts from him/her


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## fluffy5518 (Feb 12, 2015)

UrbanX said:


> Wow that looks fantastic inside with the reflections!
> Thanks for taking all the scratches so we don't have to!



Thanx for that !! To be honest the scratches were the least of it. Trying not to get your eyes poked out by branches and twigs was the biggest worry. !! Next time safety glasses will be on the packing list !!


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