# Seabank Tank Farm, Invergordon, August 2009



## zimbob (Aug 3, 2009)

I've been meaning to do this place for a while, after visiting the underground storage tanks at Inchindown.

This was the next logical step, as the fuel-oil was stored here, in massive above-ground tanks for more immediate use, having been pumped down the hill from Inchindown. Due the viscousity of said fuel-oil - basically one step away from crude oil, heaters had to be installed at regular intervals along the length of the pipe to assist the flow.

The site back in the day, with Naval vessels in the foreground (c/o InvergordonArchive) :







And as it is now - Flashearth - linky


The Tank Farm ( along with it's smaller sister-site, Cromlet Tank Farm, now demolished and replaced with housing ) was built shortly after WW1. The Admiralty apparently de-commissioned it in 1956, or at least scaled back operations there drastically, and handed it back to the town in the mid-eighties. Certainly, some of the signage, and lighting there suggested it was still being used up until then.




> On 15 February 1941 a Junkers 88 made a daring attack on the Invergordon base. Diving to 40ft east to west over the oil storage tanks, it dropped two 500K bombs. One went through a tank, into the next one and exploded without causing a fire, but tons of oil flowed out on to the railway tracks and nearby station. The second bomb went through another tank, but failed to explode after landing in the oil slick. The Junkers made a sharp bank to avoid a church steeple then machine gunned a Sunderland causing slight damage before speeding off. The attack had lasted four minutes without the defences reacting to what was happening. Two civilian workmen on Top of the tank when the attack occurred slid down to safety. One ran off home while the other reported to the nearest hostelry for a medicinal dram!



There are conflicting stories as to whether or not both, or even one of the bombs actually exploded, there was certainly no fire. Tank 13 was completely destroyed however, and there is still a gap where it stood to this day. There was only a single casuality, the local bin-man's horse, which died after the fuel-oil got into it's hooves (hoofs?) 

Aerial photo taken by the RAF shortly after the attack, showing the destroyed tank, and the damage to the adjacent one ( c/o InvergordonArchive again  ) :






On with the pics - the internals were hand-held, so high ISO and one or two glasses of Fizz too many the night before goes _some_ way towards explaing the poor quality 

First impressions :






These were big 






And stretched as far as the eye could see :






Plenty of pipework etcetera still extant - no scrap-thieves have been here 











This is not as random as it may seem - apparently some of the tanks to the west of the site were used for fresh-water storage :






As someone had away with the ladders ( :icon_evil ) Miss B sought an alternative route to the top 











But we both thought better of it 

If she couldn't get up, she was going to get in though!






It would have been rude not to follow  Inside these tanks was absolutely filthy, be sure to wear old gear if you ever go here  The acoustics were absolutely fantastic though, and the space inside was somehow reminiscent of a film-set :











These appeared to be 'element' type affairs, presumably to keep the oil from getting too 'sludgy' :






Miss B was determined to get to the top ( excuse the shaky shot! ) 






It was about this stage we'd both had enough in here - the heat was incredible, and the fumes were getting us a little 

Onwards, to a wee brick-built pump-house :











Oddly, two of the tanks here were brick-clad, we'd assumed these to be the bombed ones when we saw them, but now realise that not to be the case, so it's a mystery...






Baby tank with it's big brothers, say 'Awwww' 






All the tanks had windlasses, c/w cables running up to the tops :






Looking over to the town :






And over the tanks :






Then we started heading back, past another, larger building, with a decent-sized genny-affair in it :






Made by 'Paxman-Ricardo' if that means anything to anyone?






And a lonely transformer 






And some serious underground piping :






Time to go, our route back :






Machine-sheds along the way included the store for the 'Foam Cannon' - sounds ace 






And the rather cute 'Grass-cutting Machinery' shed :






Last look back :







Really enjoyed this, weather was great too. Missed a fair bit also, and I know there's a couple of other folk who want to see it, so I'll be back 


​


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## BenCooper (Aug 3, 2009)

Oh, that is excellent


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## klempner69 (Aug 3, 2009)

*Excellant*

I really enjoyed this set..I am glad Miss B decided to go in...awesome stuff.


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## lost (Aug 3, 2009)

Excellent, I've always been curious about this place, but not curious enough to look closely. A lot better than I expected.


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## RichardB (Aug 3, 2009)

That looks like a cracking site, I must put that on my list. All my clothes are old and grubby anyway, so I'm fine there.

Paxman made the Valenta engines that powered High Speed Trains until they were replaced with cleaner MTU engines over the past couple of years.


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## kernowexpeditionary (Aug 3, 2009)

gotta see this! engineer will be excited to see this post too! well done m8


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## Urban Mole (Aug 3, 2009)

Excellent report, and great pictures, good job.

This is a really interesting site, and Id love to see it, but I notice your quite close to it, unlike myself 

lol at the tags, btw


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## Black Shuck (Aug 3, 2009)

Zimbob excellent work mate. Loving those! I would be in there like a shot! Probably woudnt get out again mind you!


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## Sabtr (Aug 3, 2009)

Hey the tags on this thread nearly describe me. 

Seriously though this looks an amazing place. Pipes, sheds and tanks aplenty. There's stuff here for everyone.

Wish I was closer.....


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## Seahorse (Aug 3, 2009)

Ye bugger!!! I thought this place would be shite, but it's NOT!!! 

And here was me wasting time in the Caley last year, when I could have been enjoying myself with the tanks instead.

Mind you, the bar was full of Celtic supporters on the day the Dons gubbed the Tims, so maybe I was in the right place on that day after all.


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## Flexible (Aug 4, 2009)

What a place. I bet all that oil spilling out of that tank was a sight to see, and a b*****d of a job to clean up. I imagine being inside one to be both scary and awe-inspiring. You mentioned the smell - were there any fuel oil remains in there?

Incidentally, 



> Paxman made the Valenta engines that powered High Speed Trains



The Valenta is also to be found on some Royal Navy frigates and subs.


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## TK421 (Aug 4, 2009)

That is EPIC! The inside of thos tanks are quite surreal, and despite the slightly shaky photo, well done for getting in, who would have thought that was all inside!

Well done to you both!


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## Lightbuoy (Aug 4, 2009)

Absolutely crackin' stuff. Well done to ya both for making the effort. Particularly like the look of the brick Pump House. Enjoyed looking at this one -a lot 

Incidentally, Paxmans did indeed make diesel engines, and before that, steam engines. Had the opportunity to look around the Standard Iron Works prior to it being demo'd back in 2005. For anyone's who's interested, see below for more info.....

http://www.paxmanhistory.org.uk/


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## nemesis (Aug 7, 2009)

*Hey KEF*

Doesn't that look a lot like the above ground site at Crymell. The ghost pipes, the generator; just shows how industrialised the process was across the whole country. A re-visit with cameras might be good.


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## Earth Worm Jim (Aug 7, 2009)

That place looks ace. If I'm ever up that way I'm going to have to have a look.


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## Dieter_Schmidt (Aug 7, 2009)

I'm sure there was a place like this at Rosyth, but some oil (i think) was held in a huge bunker, which they are VERY slowly demolishing, cos it's bombproof.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=56.024433&lon=-3.42454&z=16.8&r=0&src=msl

All the tanks are gone.


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## zimbob (Aug 7, 2009)

Dieter_Schmidt said:


> I'm sure there was a place like this at Rosyth, but some oil (i think) was held in a huge bunker, which they are VERY slowly demolishing, cos it's bombproof.
> 
> http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=56.024433&lon=-3.42454&z=16.8&r=0&src=msl
> 
> All the tanks are gone.



That would make sense, Rosyth was, and to some extent still is a big Naval base. In it's day, InverG was one of the biggest in the UK.

Bunker looks intriguing... get in there


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## Dieter_Schmidt (Aug 8, 2009)

zimbob said:


> Bunker looks intriguing... get in there



Haha, nothing there now except some of the exterior wall. They are still hacking away at it.


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## Engineer (Aug 18, 2009)

*Oil Depot.*

Excellent explore, interesting details.

Got a bit of info on the brick clad tanks, they are type B1, the tanks in my Beeston Castle post are type C2.

The winch and cable operate the elevating suction pipe so that the cleanest oil is taken from near the surface, modern systems use a float.

http://www.tkd-joint.com/img/LOADING ARM-1.jpg


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## King Al (Aug 18, 2009)

Great find ZB, The shots inside the tank are really cool, I see what you ment about it looking like a film set


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## DC2Z (Aug 18, 2009)

Good photos and it looks an interesting site. Loads to explore


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## james.s (Aug 18, 2009)

I really want to go! it looks awesome. I can think of many things I could do with those heating elements


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## Landie_Man (Aug 18, 2009)

nice work!!!


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## Pincheck (Aug 18, 2009)

very interesting mate nice pics


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## Digitographer (Aug 18, 2009)

That transformer looks like a robot, standing guard.


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## Wuvwee (Sep 26, 2009)

Great report, of course you realise I'm going to have to a have a look.
There have been a couple of organised visits to Inchindown this year, neither of which I was quick enough to get booked on but this looks like a really good antidote to disappointment.


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## zimbob (Sep 26, 2009)

Wuvwee said:


> Great report, of course you realise I'm going to have to a have a look.
> There have been a couple of organised visits to Inchindown this year, neither of which I was quick enough to get booked on but this looks like a really good antidote to disappointment.



Ah, shame you missed those, Inchindown is ace, I went there a whiley back 

I need to get back to Seabank, there's a couple of bits we missed, due to the siren-song of food and wine


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