# RAF Driffield - Redux



## TK421 (Jan 23, 2011)

Howdy,

This is my second visit to RAF Driffield, and I went with my good friend Maltonian. I won't bother with the history as this places has been done many times before, and I covered the history in my last post. 

I wanted to revisit because my last one was cut short when I happened upon a group of soldiers (part of the base is still used by the TA), so I missed the engineering section and the Lightening painting. This is the RAF base that just keeps on giving, its a great site, with lots of odd noises so you never quite feel you are alone!!

Anyway, enough of the natter, on with the photos:

Lonley boiler house:






Funny looking mattress, it looks more like a door to me





For a site that was full of men at one point there is suprisingly no porn, but I found this of 1998 vintage:





Officers accomodation, it had wallpaper inside!





Maltonian at work with a tripod, his shots will be far better than mine!





Engineering block:





Green decay:





Sort of fell in love with this rusty green can, but my strict moral code meant I left it...sniff





I'm not going to apologise for posting this because really it makes RAF Driffield, and great to see it is still undamaged:





Where is Shakin Stevens when you want him:





It's gettin hot in here, so turn off all your boilers:





Lovely:





Inside the tower, and no, I did not climb that ladder, because I'm a fat idle 40 year old!





Blue pipes:





Not been to Driffield yet? Get there soon they are starting to reclaim the tiles from the roof:





Final one from me - Glitto, the standard Army cleaning product:






Plenty more on me flickr site 

cheers

Ian


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## klempner69 (Jan 23, 2011)

Very good shots Ian,I am now off to go look for this place on tinternet.


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## nelly (Jan 23, 2011)

Very nice, I have a thing about peeling paint


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## TK421 (Jan 23, 2011)

Thanks Klempner, if you fancy a visit let me know, its only 20 mins drive from me

Cheers Nelly, if you like peeling paint, then this has it by the bucket loads!


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## Foxylady (Jan 24, 2011)

Brill pics as always, Ian...the one of the tiles is stunning. I don't think I've seen the boilers here before. Great to see some of the other bits.
Cheers.


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## TK421 (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks Foxylady, thats very kind of you, its a great site!


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## Craigzad (Jan 25, 2011)

good Redux pics might need to do this place again my self i think as its only 2 mins from me if that. 

But did see white van on site yesterday outside the officers mess (closed building near road side i think) so not sure what they where upto securing the building maybe?


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## skeleton key (Jan 25, 2011)

TK421 you got some realy great shots .
Realy looks my type of explore 
Cheers mate Klemps shall we book a room
Fluffy dont you dare lol
PS nelly me too regarding the peeling paint but never in the lounge 

SK


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## TK421 (Jan 26, 2011)

Hi craigzad, the building near the squash court is taped up with some severe looking biohazard air chambers which I reckon is for asbestos disposal. The other work going on is the removal of the tiles, a cynical man could suggest that it might not be legit!

Hi SK, thanks for your comments, if you are going and fancy a meet up just let me know, I'm not a nutter honest, well perhaps a little mad, but meh!


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## theoss (Jan 26, 2011)

The ladder looks full of promise.


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## hydealfred (Jan 29, 2011)

Very nice shots and report. 

A link to the Lightning - 

http://www.aviation-picture-hangar.co.uk/xp755.html


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## Craigzad (Feb 5, 2011)

TK421 said:


> Hi craigzad, the building near the squash court is taped up with some severe looking biohazard air chambers which I reckon is for asbestos disposal. The other work going on is the removal of the tiles, a cynical man could suggest that it might not be legit!
> 
> Hi SK, thanks for your comments, if you are going and fancy a meet up just let me know, I'm not a nutter honest, well perhaps a little mad, but meh!



just wanted to fill you in with a little bit of news there has been a little bit in Fridays driffield post about the officers mess be knocked down as some thing to do with council giving strawsons notice of a dangerous building down to all the vandalism damn kids  and talk of other parts maybe been knocked down in the coming months  so better explore while you can if need to.

i will get a photo of the storey and will post if up too if you like.


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## TK421 (Feb 5, 2011)

Ah, thanks for the update, what a shame. It might take them a while to demo as its such a large site, glad I have managed to capture it when still mainly intact


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## Doering (Feb 9, 2011)

Great color saturation in some of those photos. Very interesting angles!


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## Phillip Rhodes 2 (Feb 9, 2011)

I wrote to The Driffield Times, but nothing from the council, owners or local residents. 


Apathy is as powerful as any bulldozer and equally cherished by developers. 

Dear Editor

As reported in this newspaper, the officer’s mess on the former RAF camp is to be demolished. This sadly marks the beginning of the end for RAF Driffield. Other buildings will be demolished in due course, probably to include those currently used by the Army Cadet Force. This has been allowed to happen because of an apathetic community and the destructive mindset of property development in the UK.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of RAF Driffield in 1936, yet the contribution the aerodrome has made to the market town itself - both historically and culturally - sometimes isn‘t appreciated or indeed widely understood. Beyond those who appreciate our heritage, the majority of local residents do not understand what effect their silence will have in shaping the future of our past.

It is due to the ineffectual community that surrounds former RAF Driffield, that it is now inevitable that the rest of the site will be cleared and several hundred over-priced and characterless (read: bland and soulless matchboxes) will be built. It is probable that more houses will be built on farmland located between and around Auchinleck Close and Lumsden Close. Building more houses does not mean lower house prices. 

Property developed in the UK is largely based on greed and not need (affordable housing). Developers don’t like affordable housing because it is not as profitable as building over-priced “dream homes”. But for your average house builder they are a necessary evil, because without affordable housing planning their applications are turned down. So betwixt builder and planner they play the numbers game, and finally both parties agree on a acceptable number of affordable dwellings. 

But does that mean the existing 64 married quarters will be replaced with an equal number of affordable houses? Nope! 

Some of your readers might be observant enough to know that most of the buildings on site have been vandalised - this being the only contribution the local community has made in deciding the future of this site. But why has this been allowed to happen, when local residents were reassured that the site would be guarded against vandals and scrap metal thieves? 

The officer’s mess is now to be demolished because it is claimed to be unsafe. And why is the building unsafe? Because it has been vandalised. And why has it been vandalised? Because there was no on-site security to prevent local idiots from trashing the place. By design the site has reportedly become unsafe and therefore more acceptable to demolish.

When the MoD retained the site, vandalism was almost non-existent due to the presence of security guards. When they left, the vandals and thieves moved in. 

Yet I am told by experts that most of the damage is superficial. Firstly the officer’s mess is structurally sound. The brick work is largely in good condition, as is the internal steel and concrete framework. So, do we refurbish a well-loved and much appreciated building - perhaps creating jobs in the hotel and leisure industry, or do we build an extra 20 houses that no one can afford to buy?

My preferred bidder for the site has over 30 years experience in purchasing surplus MoD married quarters (over fifty sites and counting). Indeed they were the professionals who reassured me that the married quarters at Driffield can be refurbished. The 64 houses could have been refurbished years ago and the officer’s mess, too. But the current owners have a mindset that will destroy this and other sites. 

Don’t get me wrong, our needs and aspirations will be sympathetically heard but then ignored, because what I want and what we need will be one-penny less profitable than the mindset and working practices of big business.

I’ve written countless times to this newspaper - appealing for support and to gauge local interest in saving the aerodrome, but there isn’t any. I am constantly being reminded that I am the only person who cares. But that isn’t strictly true. There are others in Australia and New Zealand and America and indeed across the entire UK who care more about the aerodrome than those reading this newsprint. Only in Driffield are the apathetic so great in number and so dangerous. 

It can clearly be argued that apathy is as powerful as any bulldozer and equally cherished by developers. And accordingly others cannot measure the importance of OUR heritage with OUR silence. 

For me preserving RAF Driffield was never about recreating a living museum. For the site to survive and to thrive you have to provide what people want or need. Yes to affordable housing and to sustainable job creation, and yes also to tennis courts and to refurbishing the original 1930s squash court. Yes also to providing other sports facilities and for somewhere to walk the dog. But you don’t have to trash our heritage to make a profit or to offer the above amenities, which the current owners have no intention of providing. And why construct a new-build social amenity when an existing building will suffice? I would add that I am not against building new houses - I just don’t think we need to demolish most of the existing structures.

Even saving a single building would have been a victory worth savouring. So say goodbye to a fully-refurbished two-bedroom terrace with gas central heating, PVC windows and not to mention a new kitchen and bathroom. Add a garden front and rear with off-street parking - and all for a “knock-down” price of £80,000. That was the aim of my preferred bidder.

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The problem is that I know of a someone interested in buying the houses, but I am not sure if he is pulling my leg. My website is www.driffieldaerodrome.co.uk. More later...


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## TK421 (Feb 9, 2011)

Hello Phillip, I think you have made your point well, I hope the local paper takes some notice. For me if they saved the engineering block with the wonderful green doors and the Lightening painting that would be a start, it could easily be incorporated into a redevelopment, if there was enough will.

Unfortunately there are many sites like this with perfectly good housing which has been allowed to go to rack and ruin, with the volume of homeless people in this country it is really criminal, especially when you consider that this is an asset that the tax payer has funded.

Good luck with your quest.

Regards

Ian


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## Phillip Rhodes 2 (Feb 10, 2011)

TK421 said:


> Hello Phillip, I think you have made your point well, I hope the local paper takes some notice. For me if they saved the engineering block with the wonderful green doors and the Lightening painting that would be a start, it could easily be incorporated into a redevelopment, if there was enough will.
> 
> Unfortunately there are many sites like this with perfectly good housing which has been allowed to go to rack and ruin, with the volume of homeless people in this country it is really criminal, especially when you consider that this is an asset that the tax payer has funded.
> 
> ...



The letter was published but as usual local apathy means that the buildings will all come down sooner rather than later. It would be good is someone was to photograph the officer's mess being demolished. I can't do it. The main gate in front of the officer's mess had been left open and as long as you keep out of the way I'm sure that no one will object if someone was to take photographs. I was thinking of taking a few mementos but what?


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## Phillip Rhodes 2 (Feb 10, 2011)

The officer's mess is being demolished today - if anyone take a few photographs of the process I would be grateful?


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## Craigzad (Feb 20, 2011)

*walk around*

just had a walk around the officers mess to see hows its going only took a few pics


























More Pictures of the site on my flickr page with about 3 sets of pics for the camp on there too!

Shame to see the building like this


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## TK421 (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks for the update mate, very sad to see indeed!


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## Phillip Rhodes 2 (Feb 21, 2011)

I'm glad someone photographed the building being demolished. 

The officer's mess survived a German Air Raid on 15th August 1940. On that day the RAF scheduled a practice air raid, so when the real air raid warning was sounded, many didn't take any notice, including those in the officer's mess. Only when the bombs started to drop did they take any notice. During the raid the west wing was received a direct hit and the remains later removed. 

The officer's mess was last used in 1977 as the venue for the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations. Thereafter it was closed. I reckon no one has actually lived in the mess since around 1963/64 when the Thor Missiles.


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## Craigzad (Feb 22, 2011)

the whole main front of the mess is gone now will post a few update pics when i can shame to see this building go


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## dobbo79 (Feb 24, 2011)

yep ive just heard news that a lot of it is now flat....
dammit...missed another chance there didnt i grrrrrrrr


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## Craigzad (Feb 24, 2011)

dobbo79 said:


> yep ive just heard news that a lot of it is now flat....
> dammit...missed another chance there didnt i grrrrrrrr



its a large site there is still plenty of buildings to look at only the officers mess is gone at the moment still H blocks left gym and engineering block left


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## TK421 (Feb 27, 2011)

Indeed, there is still plenty to see, and it is a great site, in the words of someone more famous than me "when its gone, its gone"


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## terrier (Mar 2, 2011)

Been past this place so many times on my trips to the coast, fantastic pics!

Shame to see it being demolished, but thanks for giving us the oppotunity to see inside, i hope the lightning pic is still intact somewhere.

Many places around Malton and the villages TK?

Terrier.


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## dobbo79 (May 3, 2011)

LMAO @ the Dandy Comic...
Yep i agree for a site that had so many men onsite it is surprising - even more surprising that on our visit it was me that discovered a porn mag....lol...


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## TK421 (May 3, 2011)

Yes, but to be fair there was probably more titilation in the Dandy comic than that porn mag you found lol! Hang on, not that I paid much attention you see.......I'll get me coat

Hi Terrier, sorry I did not see your reply, sorry for not replying. Theres a decnet bit to see in North Yorks, just need to do the digging, for me thats half of the fun. You could always tag along the next time too mate!


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## Snips86x (May 3, 2011)

I hate it when they destroy old building and especially RAF sites like this. Such a shame.


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