# RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire - May 2009



## ukmayhem (May 10, 2009)

Visted with - Randomnut, Concentration F, catscratch, Silje and Jim

Been afew months since i been up at RAF Upper Heyford and they have gone mad on securing the buildings. The Hospital is barred up like a prison and everything else bored up tighter then a ducks arse. However we still had a fun 7 hours up there doing what we could.

RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. The base was brought into use for flying in July 1918 by the Royal Flying Corps. During World War II it was used by many units of the RAF, mainly as a training facility. In September 1939 it was the home of No. 70 Wing RAF with No.s 18 and 57 Squadrons, part of No. 2 Group RAF. From March 1946 until June 1950 it was the home of No.1 Parachute Training School RAF.

During the Cold War, Upper Heyford served as a base for United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) strategic bombers and United States Air Forces In Europe (USAFE) tactical reconnaissance and fighter aircraft in the UK.

Upper Heyford was unique among bases in the United Kingdom as only the flight-line area required military identification to access. The rest of the base, save the commercial facilities, was accessible to military and non-military alike.

The base was home to the Upper Heyford High School Hadites until Spring 1975 when the school moved to RAF Croughton. The School kept the name "Upper Heyford High School" until Autumn 1982 when it was then given its new name of "Croughton High School". The Upper Heyford/Croughton High School Hadites were renowned across DoDDS Europe high schools for their athletic legacy.

On 15 December 1993, the flight line at RAF Upper Heyford was closed. On 1 January 1994, the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and was transferred without personnel or equipment to Shaw AFB, South Carolina, where it inherited the personnel and F-16s of the inactivated 363rd Fighter Wing.

At that time, RAF Upper Heyford came under the 620th Air Base Wing, until 30 September 1994 when the base was returned to the Ministry of Defence.

The British government has toyed with ideas on what to make of the base's remains today. Unfortunately, it is now largely a ghost town with buildings long abandoned and cordoned off to the public.

The runways are now used as an automotive storage compound for new and used vehicles. Other functions include Police driving activities such as training. According to the Banbury Guardian and Banbury Cake newspapers in 2006, it may become an industrial or residential centre.


*My Pictures*











































































































































Matt


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## Badoosh (May 12, 2009)

Nice pics dude. I'm guessing the Control Tower & HAS's are a bit more difficult to reach? 
I have many photos of some of the F & EF-111's that were stationed here from airshows in the late 80's. The F-111's were awesome aircraft to watch on the bombing ranges in Lincolnshire as a kid. It's nice to see a base that hasn't been trashed & something i've noticed with former USAFE bases in the UK. 

Under the runway there would be 3 or 4 small tunnels which would have been used to demolish it with explosives in the event of an invasion during the Cold War. No doubt they will still be there!


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## randomnut (May 12, 2009)

Good work Matt, was good exploring this place again. I'll get my pics on here a bit later today.

Good tip about the tunnels fella, thats definitely worth some research...


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## chelle (May 12, 2009)

*Upper Heyford*

This looks so good..........but dunno if i fancy a M.O.D dog hanging off my arse ......Cos knowin my luck i would get rumbled


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## ukmayhem (May 12, 2009)

Problem is all the main stuff is used as new car storage and the Control tower etc.. is slap bang in the middle. They have there own Security, Own CCTV and Dogs.

The Site is now owned by the Oxford Consortium and no longer MOD i believe

I need to get out to more of the flight line side but Its very hard with security constantly driving around, Very Open and easy to het spotted. I going to speak to the Consortium as they have let people in and shown them round quite afew times, maybe i could try and organise a visit.

I know theres Underground stuff up there as i use to work on the car storage site and weapons were discovered under ground somewhere.


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## simaving (May 13, 2009)

*Upper heyford*



Badoosh said:


> Nice pics dude. I'm guessing the Control Tower & HAS's are a bit more difficult to reach?
> I have many photos of some of the F & EF-111's that were stationed here from airshows in the late 80's. The F-111's were awesome aircraft to watch on the bombing ranges in Lincolnshire as a kid. It's nice to see a base that hasn't been trashed & something i've noticed with former USAFE bases in the UK.
> 
> Under the runway there would be 3 or 4 small tunnels which would have been used to demolish it with explosives in the event of an invasion during the Cold War. No doubt they will still be there!



Me too mate,used to camp nearby and watch the F111 variants land/take off with my dad.Good times......


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## Foxylady (May 14, 2009)

Those are excellent photos, UK. Great to see more of the site.


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## borntobemild (May 15, 2009)

used to live quite near in the mid 80's and visited the bar/social club quite regularly. 

It was a bit rough on Friday and Saturday nights!!!

The camp itself was immaculate but the surrounding area was knee deep in Budweiser cans, Fast Food cartons with the occasional burnt out car.
Hopefully cleaned up now.


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## Darkness (Jun 23, 2009)

Funky! looks like a sizeable place!


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