Brigstock POW camp

Badger Exploration · Jan 14, 2023

Hold on to your hats for a good history lesson and a ton of photos. This explore took place in June 2021. Please note that the photos you are viewing here were taken on a poor camera on a day with heavy rain so some may appear blurry. Anyways without further ado here we go.

History: This camp was first built in 1925 with 55 huts as an immigration camp for Canadians.

The site was sold to the War Office in 1939 and was repuropsed as an Army Camp, ATS and Land Army Camp and US Army Training

When World War 2 ended in 1945, it was belonged to 400 Auxiliary Territorial Service Females until 1947 before the US Army took over four years later.

Plans to convert the site into a borstal were made but never fell through and in 1960, Stewarts & Lloyds Steelworks bought the site for £23,000 at a bid.

100 people moved from Scotland to work at the Steelworks and used the camp for living quarters, paying between £2-£4 a week in rent.

The residents were allowed to stay up to nine months to allow them to find suitable accommodation, with many moving into Corby.

It has remained mainly empty since the 1960s bar a spell when the site was a chicken farm.

It's most recent usage was a lorry park and cattle transport until 1993.

It has remained empty and disused ever since.

BikinGlynn · Jan 15, 2023

Nicely covered but as your write up it was never a pow camp.

Sam Haltin · Jan 15, 2023

This is a description from a post by Infraredd. "Brigstock Camp built 1925 and over the years was used for an Emigration Camp, an Army Camp, ATS and Land Army Camp, US Army Training School, and in 1960 Stewarts & Lloyds Steelworks purchased Brigstock Camp for £23,000 at an auction. One hundred people moved from Scotland to work at the Steelworks and used Brigstock Camp for their living quarters and paid between £2.00 to £4.00 a week in rent and were allowed to stay up to nine months to allow them to find suitable accommodation."

Hayman · Jan 15, 2023

It's interesting to read that it was used by the Stewarts & Lloyds workers and their families before they moved into the purpose-built accommodation in Corby.

When I was working for the central heating firm Servowarm, I spent much of the winter of 1981/82 delivering materials to the S & L estate in Corby when the original district central heating system was being replaced with individual gas boilers in each house. The district heating system consisted of a hot water closed-circuit with the water heated in a large on-site boiler house. The heated water was pumped from and back to the boiler house via two rings of heavily-insulated underground pipes. At each house, the supply ran through a hot water immersion heater in the hot water cylinder; then to the return pipe and back to the boiler house to be re-heated.

Having to pay for the amount of gas used came as a shock to some residents; previously there was a flat rate charged per month, with one month off in summer when the system was shut for maintenance and they used the electric immersion heaters that were also in their hot water cylinders.

BikinGlynn · Jan 15, 2023

Hayman said:
It's interesting to read that it was used by the Stewarts & Lloyds workers and their families before they moved into the purpose-built accommodation in Corby.

When I was working for the central heating firm Servowarm, I spent much of the winter of 1981/82 delivering materials to the S & L estate in Corby when the original district central heating system was being replaced with individual gas boilers in each house. The district heating system consisted of a hot water closed-circuit with the water heated in a large on-site boiler house. The heated water was pumped from and back to the boiler house via two rings of heavily-insulated underground pipes. At each house, the supply ran through a hot water immersion heater in the hot water cylinder; then to the return pipe and back to the boiler house to be re-heated.

Having to pay for the amount of gas used came as a shock to some residents; previously there was a flat rate charged per month, with one month off in summer when the system was shut for maintenance and they used the electric immersion heaters that were also in their hot water cylinders.

The houses most went to in Corby after the camp were temporary pre fab concrete ones.... that are still in use today.
Some lucky recipients have now had insulated cladding added to the outsides of their "temporary" houses to make em a bit more er permanent!

Hayman · Jan 16, 2023

BikinGlynn said:
The houses most went to in Corby after the camp were temporary pre fab concrete ones.... that are still in use today.
Some lucky recipients have now had insulated cladding added to the outsides of their "temporary" houses to make em a bit more er permanent!

Thanks for that info. When I was working at Corby there was a lot of snow. The houses that had not been converted had no snow on the roofs because it cost no more to have the radiators full on at maximum temperatures. The ones fitted with the new individual central heating boilers had snow on the roofs because occupants were now paying for how much gas they used. No more sitting around in shirtsleeves in winter.

BikinGlynn · Jan 16, 2023

Hayman said:
Thanks for that info. When I was working at Corby there was a lot of snow. The houses that had not been converted had no snow on the roofs because it cost no more to have the radiators full on at maximum temperatures. The ones fitted with the new individual central heating boilers had snow on the roofs because occupants were now paying for how much gas they used. No more sitting around in shirtsleeves in winter.

Unfortunately I was born in Corby but lived in a neighbouring village all my childhood life before buying my first house in Kettering

Hayman · Jan 17, 2023

BikinGlynn said:
Unfortunately I was born in Corby but lived in a neighbouring village all my childhood life before buying my first house in Kettering

While working on the Corby job, I stayed at a hotel in Nottingham Monday to Thursday nights (Servowarm had a depot in West Bridgeford, Nottingham), going home to London at weekends. I think it was the Trent Bridge Inn.

Nyrian · Jan 17, 2023

How come badgers posts appear different to everyone else's? There's just text then a bunch of clickable mini images to see the actual images rather than them being shown in line?

Badger Exploration · Jan 17, 2023

Nyrian said:
How come badgers posts appear different to everyone else's? There's just text then a bunch of clickable mini images to see the actual images rather than them being shown in line?

No idea...

BikinGlynn · Jan 18, 2023

Badger Exploration said:
No idea...

I think its to do with inserting the images.
if you are inserting them direct to site u need to click full image on each before posting I believe.

I post in flickr then paste a link which is faffy but works better when u have so many pics.
Flickr is good cos you can organise all pics into albums but u do have to pay monthly for over 1k pics.

If u have a spare day or 2 heres my albums, just of stuff Iv posted over the years
https://www.flickr.com/photos/149212758@N08/albums

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