# RAF Coltishal, Norfolk Sept '12



## prettyvacant71

Hello there peoples


I haven’t been able to get up to much since my little trip up north as things have been a bit complicated, say no more, but I did manage a little snoop around the Norfolk former RAF Coltishall base. 


I’m not into conspiracy theories as it’s easy to see something that isn’t there if you want to, but if it looks and smells like a turd then it probably is. There’s a few dodgy dealings going on about the future of this historic site, and it involves some greedy folks at Norfolk County Council (NCC) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). To keep it brief, the MoD owned the site when it was in use, but after its closure the MoJ took over its ownership. 

All the locals who now live on the former base in the old barracks plus English Heritage and the Spirit of Coltishall Association which are a group of ex-service personal all want the MoJ to sell the site to the Hans House Group of property developers for preservation. Hans House want to save the historic buildings such as the massive WW11 hangers and the many art deco features such as the control tower, boiler room and fire station and turn the area into a heritage center with a working airport where light aircraft can once more make use of the historic runway and solar panels will be placed in various positions to provide electricity. 

This is what everybody wants and seems the best use of the site as now some of the buildings have thankfully been listed. But NCC has its own “ideas” and won’t share them with ANYBODY. There are some back hander's definitely going on between them and the MoJ. The MoJ and NCC have refused to give any details about NCC offers for the site or future plans....in fact they have refused to disclose any details even though a Freedom of Information Request has been made by the many objecting parties. Speaking to four different locals whilst I was mooching about, fat cats at NCC want to dig up the runway and turn the site into a wind farm and agricultural land. Now, some of the thieving scum at NCC (sue me I have jack sh#t) have their dirty fat fingers fully wedged into “other schemes” which obviously show a definite conflict of interest, eg; wind farms and agriculture:icon_evil

So the locals are trying to get to the bottom of this “insider trading” and expose who has vested interests in what, to explain why a perfectly decent offer by a property developer who has the sites best interests at heart is being ignored and the preferred choice is trashing the place and disrespecting the wishes of the former service personal who lived and died for the place.

I feel rather bitter about this for several reasons.....such as the heroes who once lived on the base have had their opinions swept away by spineless burocrats who only have profits on their mind..... and I’m just totally fed up with dictators with “power” and “its all about who you know” just ripping the piss out of people who haven’t got the same connections and can’t beat the corruption. So I hope the right thing gets done and planes can once more take off from the base, the sites buildings are saved and the history of RAF Coltishall is not forgotten.



So now for a little history.....


Work on RAF Coltishall began in 1939 when the airfield, built as a bomber base, was then known as Scottow Aerodrome. Following the established tradition of naming RAF bases after their nearest local railway station, which would have made it "RAF Buxton", but to avoid possible confusion with the town of Buxton in Derbyshire, it was named after the local village of Coltishall. The airfield was completed and entered service in May 1940 as a fighter base. The first aircraft movement at Coltishall was a Bristol Blenheim IV L7835. During WWII Hurricanes, Spitfighters and night fighter aircraft operated from the base, and by the end of the war the base was briefly given over to Polish squadrons until they returned home.

During the 1950’s the base was a designated “V-Bomber dispersal base”. Post war the station was home to a variety of units and aircraft including de Havilland Mosquitoes, Gloster Javelins, English Electric Lightnings and - from 1963 - the "Historic Aircraft Flight" (now known as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight). The last Lightnings left Coltishall in 1974, and were replaced by the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar. The first Jaguar squadron, No. 54Squadron RAF arrived at Coltishall on 8 August 1974. 
Coltishall eventually became the last surviving operational RAF airbase involved in the Battle of Britain, and a visible remnant in the form of a Second World War revetment still stands on the North-West taxiway.

In November 2006, RAF Coltishall was officially handed over to Defence Estates, which are the MoD agency responsible for all UK Military sites that handle the disposal of the site, and will be formally known as MoD Coltishall until its ultimate disposal.

In January 2009, a plan to build a Category C prison to hold up to 500 male sex offenders at the site was approved by North Norfolk District Council. The entire site is now under the temporary control of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), and redevelopment of the former H-block barracks into prison wings started in October 2009. 
When I visited the site I walked around the former military houses of RAF Coltishall. These now form a small civilian housing estate, and after chatting with some of the locals they say how proud they are to be living in such historic surroundings.

The prison, named HMP Bure after a nearby river is now fully operational with a new access road built. The locals living right next door to the H-blocks say they don’t really mind having the jail there, as it’s not your “typical prison” they said, there’s not much activity or noise as the inmates don’t get many visitors.












The officers Mess. These buildings are in excellent condition and like all of the other buildings on the base they had not suffered from any vandalism or thefts which made a pleasant change (but also made it very hard for me to explore the insides!....if i hadn’t been alone i wud have been up for a little climb, maybe!...but not on me own ive used all me 9 lives!)









I wont tell.

















The entrance into HMP Bure
















Foreign Object Debris warning









I don’t know what happened in these metal structures but it must have been noisy as they have thick blast doors.

















One of the many blast walls, this one has a little blue shed attached to it, maybe as there is an engine testing facility next to it so it may be to do with that.









Phone outside blast wall










There are a dozen or so original blast walls 








runway with blast walls








I know you folks into your military sites will know the proper name for one of these watch tower / control tower type structures, forgive me for i am of feeble mind.










I don’t know what that thing on the right is called either, like a mini pill box, but it looks like its shouting at that portacabin don’t it!? 









Some kind of engine testing apparatus in between two blast walls















Looks like a system of exhaust pipes 









I hid inside it, as ya do, when sec speed up the runway, i thought id been rumbled, but for once i had got away wiv it so i had a little giggle to me self, as ya do, whilst i was crunched up trying to hide under me tripod, its at these moments you have a sudden realisation that yes things aren’t all that well in ya head....plus, i must learn how to merge me bracketed shots!










The other end of the testing thingy










The outside of the testing apparatus, the inside of this long rectangular chamber is the shot before.

















The runway in the foreground, another blast wall to the left with the top of the white art deco control tower in the center in front of the enormous aircraft hangers. 









Control tower










Telecommunications room beneath control tower 










Lots of wires, as u wud expect in a telecomms












































Up into the control room
























I had to keep ducking down whilst in here as I could be easily be seen cause prison officers and sec who were walking and driving about....it got pretty tiring! 










Doorway into one of the hangers, which I couldn’t get into but could see through a gap, no planes but I’d heard that there is some interesting graffiti written by WWII pilots on some of the walls.































Art deco fire station building










Hangers to left, art deco brick boiler house to right










If the dogs don’t get ya they send in the bees











Planes entrance into one of the huge hangers










Front of hanger










Squadron badges on hanger










The station motto was Aggressive in Defence. The station crest is a stone tower surmounted by a mailed fist grasping three bind bolts (arrows), which symbolised a position of strength in defence of the homeland, indicative of the aggressive spirit which Coltishall fighter aircraft were prepared to shoot down the enemy.

























Another of the 3 massive aircraft hangers










The former barracks is now a small housing which has this memorial beneath the trees. 
Its wording is as follows “Commemorating the only Battle of Britain Station to have remained a fighter station throughout its 66 year history and the personnel who served here many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice”


Thanks for lookin peeps, hope u found some of it interesting 


Laters everyone


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## johno23

Epic post and very interesting write up!!

Nice work in getting around the place despite the onsite "activity".

This was such a busy bustling place and its sad to see it as it is,but at least it sounds like they "may"eventually do something constructive with it,instead of trashing it.


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## urban phantom

very nice i didnt think you could get near this with it been a prison thanks for sharing


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## UE-OMJ

Very good post, lots to see there.


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## night crawler

Superb write up there and quit eright the place should be saved for the fact it's an old Battle of Britain site. Fight on.


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## steve2109

Great write up, pics and history, really enjoyed looking at that, might have to get up there as its in my neck of the woods


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## the_man_1984

Great post mate. Really enjoyed reviewing it. Cheers for posting.


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## flyboys90

Excellent report & photos,thanks.


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## onebadpuppy

In the words of AC/DC "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap".


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## prettyvacant71

johno23 said:


> Epic post and very interesting write up!!
> 
> Nice work in getting around the place despite the onsite "activity".
> 
> This was such a busy bustling place and its sad to see it as it is,but at least it sounds like they "may"eventually do something constructive with it,instead of trashing it.



yeah i hope ur rite mate it would be such a shame if the council got their way


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## prettyvacant71

urban phantom said:


> very nice i didnt think you could get near this with it been a prison thanks for sharing



yeah me backs bugged from all that stealth creepin bout


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## prettyvacant71

onebadpuppy said:


> In the words of AC/DC "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap".



not heard that one for yonks....was that wen folks played them instrucment type thingys???


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## Munchh

Very nice, surprised you were able to get so much of it. Thanks for posting.

The pillbox looks like it could be a Norcon. Cheap, nasty and dangerous and not that common, which makes it a good find if that's what it is. It's also not on the DOB database. Don't suppose you've got an approx grid ref have you? The other possibility is a Pickett Hamilton Fort, also rare. I've definitely seen a pic of one like this before but I can't for the life of me remember where.


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## urban phantom

prettyvacant71 said:


> yeah me backs bugged from all that stealth creepin bout



Its all good fun ha ha ha


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## MD

great stuff


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## karltrowitz

Great report. It brings back memories for me, as I spent a couple of weeks there on detachment from Lossiemouth in the late 80's when I was working on Jaguars. The engine testy thingy is actually called the de-tuner in RAF parlance. They parked the Jaguar in front of it with the exhaust going up the chute. The shaped doors at the front fitted around the Jag's fuselage. Strangely enough, the one at Lossie was destroyed back in the 80's when an engine spat a turbine blade through the aircraft's fuel tank and the whole thing went up. Luckily no-one was killed but the little hut (in this case the blue one you can see) went up in flames with the jet. Of course, all the aircraft's paperwork was in the hut during ground runs and that all went as well!


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## UrbanX

Nice pics and impressive you got to see so much! Thanks for sharing your adventure


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## seansamurai1

The metal building looks very much like a gas turbine enclosure, possibly for test bedding engines before fitting.


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## UrbanX

Nice pics and impressive you got to see so much! Thanks for sharing your adventure


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## GEMTX

Here Here.......


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## adzst24

Great report thanks for sharing it.


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## prettyvacant71

Munchh said:


> Very nice, surprised you were able to get so much of it. Thanks for posting.
> 
> The pillbox looks like it could be a Norcon. Cheap, nasty and dangerous and not that common, which makes it a good find if that's what it is. It's also not on the DOB database. Don't suppose you've got an approx grid ref have you? The other possibility is a Pickett Hamilton Fort, also rare. I've definitely seen a pic of one like this before but I can't for the life of me remember where.



thanks for ur info on that!!! No sorry i don't have a grid ref no. do u mean the OS kind?


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## shane.c

Very good report and pics,..


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## Farmerboy

Excellent stuff. So sad to see the site laying quiet and empty. When I was very young when on a base tour and it was amazing! So busy and loud! The grafitti you mentioned could be the stuff done around the 1st Gulf War. Impressive colour murals on the inside of the hangar doors/walls. They should be preserved as they are amazing


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## Jet48

Great report some very interesting pictures Thanks for sharing.


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## outkast

Munchh said:


> Very nice, surprised you were able to get so much of it. Thanks for posting.
> 
> The pillbox looks like it could be a Norcon. Cheap, nasty and dangerous and not that common, which makes it a good find if that's what it is. It's also not on the DOB database. Don't suppose you've got an approx grid ref have you? The other possibility is a Pickett Hamilton Fort, also rare. I've definitely seen a pic of one like this before but I can't for the life of me remember where.



Theres one at RAF uxbridge


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## Munchh

prettyvacant71 said:


> thanks for ur info on that!!! No sorry i don't have a grid ref no. do u mean the OS kind?



Any grid ref will do, roughly where it is on GE. 

It's none of the one's I previously mentioned. It's a 'Yarnold Sanger'. It gets it's basic idea from a Norcon but instead of one concrete pipe it's in several sections literally put together like a jigsaw. I found where I'd seen it before, RNAS Portland.


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## outkast

outkast said:


> Theres one at RAF uxbridge



aint there one at RAF newton also.


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## krela

outkast said:


> aint there one at RAF newton also.



In the 80s there was a Yarnold Sanger at almost every entrance/exit to pretty much every MoD Navy & RAF base in the country...


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## johno23

krela said:


> In the 80s there was a Yarnold Sanger at almost every entrance/exit to pretty much every MoD Navy & RAF base in the country...



RAF Coningsby in Lincs still had these had various points when I went about a year or so ago.


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## outkast

I think there may also be one at bentley priory.


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## glinny

Awesome mate !


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## John_D

Superb report and pics, hope the site gets preserved as the locals want.


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## leftorium

johno23 said:


> RAF Coningsby in Lincs still had these had various points when I went about a year or so ago.



the Yarnold Sangar was definitely post war more about PIRA nail bombs than Nazi machine gun fire I guess - I certainly wouldn't want to be in one that was being bombarded by anything more dangerous than a wet haddock gun on single shot


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## krela

leftorium said:


> the Yarnold Sangar was definitely post war more about PIRA nail bombs than Nazi machine gun fire I guess - I certainly wouldn't want to be in one that was being bombarded by anything more dangerous than a wet haddock gun on single shot



Exactly this, they were put in place in the days of IRA car bombs in the late 70s.


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## hydealfred

Superb report - very well done - I can almost see the Jaguars


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## richy 2 times

fantastic report,probably the best ive seen,well done.


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## Hendreforgan

An astounding report with so many of the pix telling a wonderful story, and some too, leaving one thinking too. I just love the signs . . . are some of the "latter" ones for real? Killer bees, eh?

The pipes you think are "exhausts" look to me, due to the heat marking to the inner radius, to be controllable air intakes for the safe combustion from a jet engine when it's parked up tight to the tunnel . . . a way of ensuring that all that heat is "sucked" down the shaft?


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## brian1970

Fantastic !


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## theherbster

Great report. I was based at Colt back in 2000. Still my favourite base so far. Yes, they are detuners and engine test beds in the photo's. Designed to take the engines up to Max power but muffling most of the noise. You can see the rail where the bar was put across as a large chock on one photo. It looks like a standard sanger to me. Most bases have em, there's loads at Waddington where I am now. Can't believe they turned my old room into a sex offenders prison, bet they enlarged it too!


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## Mars Lander

how the hell did i miss huge helping of awesomeness , magificent piks and what a place!!!!


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## Runner

Great post, really well written up - I enjoyed reading that.


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## zooomer

The long building with the blast doors is what we used to call the Hush House, its where they test the aircraft engines.


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