RAF Real Estate
On one of my fairly frequent visits to Cranwell recently I found I had the time to re-live my youth (or at least 24 weeks of it) by taking a walk around the College side of the Station and was pretty dismayed to see the state of some of the real estate. Gone was the 9-hole golf course (ok..pitch and putt) which was now completely overgrown, the Qaboos facade looked like any maintenance has long been forgotten (peeling paint, weeds in the guttering, rust spots on the ironwork) and the cricket square on the Orange, which I understand was only installed at some expense a few years ago, appears to have gone to seed. On speaking to some of the youngsters (i.e. cadets) it also became apparent that there was no heating in CHOM and certain classrooms in Whittle Hall were out of bounds when it rained due to leaks in the roof. Not a great first impression for those joining the Service and the many visitors to the RAF's spiritual home - I wonder if Sandhurst and Dartmouth are suffering a similar fate? On a more positive note Cardiac Hill is still there but not as steep as it was in my day!!