The Bastards Closed all the Best Bases.
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Good God, a manual dishwasher and drying implement..... How quaint.
Last edited by NutLoose; 5th Mar 2013 at 22:29.
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Looks as If Brawdys days are numbered BBC News - Cawdor barracks to shut with 600 troops moving to St Athan
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Top of the Pile for all the reasons Bob Viking pointed out,
Coltishall, people would mostly be a solution to a problem and were happy.
Fortunately my civilian career has allowed me to stay nearby.
Soft spot for Cottesmore too, enjoyed it even with the Leaping heaps.
CLOSE....
Conningshole = Dump and people would be a problem to a solution + miserable.
Marham. ditto
Coltishall, people would mostly be a solution to a problem and were happy.
Fortunately my civilian career has allowed me to stay nearby.
Soft spot for Cottesmore too, enjoyed it even with the Leaping heaps.
CLOSE....
Conningshole = Dump and people would be a problem to a solution + miserable.
Marham. ditto
Last edited by Alber Ratman; 5th Mar 2013 at 23:43.
Thought police antagonist
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"Bruggen; if only for the golf course"
You will be pleased to learn that said golf course is still there and very much active. I went to Bruggen last Sept for the closure / reunion of the gliding club and sports flying in Germany per se. Had a good, and nostalgic, look around, on a glorious sunny day but the base was devoid of people.
"Q" is now a wasteland, as are the HAS sites. There is a small(ish) memorial under the "Welcome to Javelin Barracks" sign to commemorate ( which is nice of them, I suppose ) the former RAF Bruggen and other traces remain.
If you want to see a real ghost town however, try Rhein'D. Lets just say the silence was deafening. The party was held there as the Army, being the Army, declined to let the party take place at Bruggen.
Purely for nostalgia, the BP garage in Elmpt has gone, but, the much frequented schnell imbiss, on the "S" bend by the Esso garage / Neiderkruchen road, has now been transformed into a paved dining area, with seats and tables no less....hence we had no option other than to dine there....force of habit as they say
.
You will be pleased to learn that said golf course is still there and very much active. I went to Bruggen last Sept for the closure / reunion of the gliding club and sports flying in Germany per se. Had a good, and nostalgic, look around, on a glorious sunny day but the base was devoid of people.
"Q" is now a wasteland, as are the HAS sites. There is a small(ish) memorial under the "Welcome to Javelin Barracks" sign to commemorate ( which is nice of them, I suppose ) the former RAF Bruggen and other traces remain.
If you want to see a real ghost town however, try Rhein'D. Lets just say the silence was deafening. The party was held there as the Army, being the Army, declined to let the party take place at Bruggen.
Purely for nostalgia, the BP garage in Elmpt has gone, but, the much frequented schnell imbiss, on the "S" bend by the Esso garage / Neiderkruchen road, has now been transformed into a paved dining area, with seats and tables no less....hence we had no option other than to dine there....force of habit as they say
.
Last edited by Krystal n chips; 6th Mar 2013 at 04:21.
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the BP garage in Elmpt has gone
Glad to hear the Esso garage is still going and the schnell has gone up market. Obviously in competition with the Ratsie outside the main gate.
Ah the good old days. I would still be in and there if Bruggen was still open.
Keep:
LYNEHAM. Never felt more at home anywhere else.
ST MAWGAN. Peferably with no fence for easy access to Watergate Bay and a ride home from the plods when you're a bit wobbly.
Close: St Athan. *hole
LYNEHAM. Never felt more at home anywhere else.
ST MAWGAN. Peferably with no fence for easy access to Watergate Bay and a ride home from the plods when you're a bit wobbly.
Close: St Athan. *hole
Sutton-on-Hull. Resurrected from a WWII Barrage Balloon Depot to become the training school for RAF Firemen, where, through the 60s and 70s, many redundant airframes were reduced to charred canvas and blobs of alloy.
Every summer, Dad would load us all into the Moggy Traveller and we'd head down to Kent, where our cousins would buy all the charred canvas and blobs of alloy from us to flog to their schoolchums as BoB memorabilia.
Every summer, Dad would load us all into the Moggy Traveller and we'd head down to Kent, where our cousins would buy all the charred canvas and blobs of alloy from us to flog to their schoolchums as BoB memorabilia.
Last edited by diginagain; 7th Mar 2013 at 14:37.
There's still enough tarmac at Thorney for RW circuits; I've spent many an hour there doing 'stuff' in a CH47.....as long as you're careful not to scare the horses. There was a rumour a few years back of amalgamating all UK SF Air and maritime assets at Thorney due to it's access to the sea and remote location. Seems the beancounters were not convinced.....
Oh, and Beags, clattering around Abingdon does take one back to the 'good old days'.......
Oh, and Beags, clattering around Abingdon does take one back to the 'good old days'.......
Last edited by Evalu8ter; 6th Mar 2013 at 06:24.
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Closed bases I enjoyed and would bring back... Cottesmore, great tour there. The rest are detatchments, Hendon, Chivenor and Filton.
Woke up to a pea souper fog one morning and thought Ahhh it was all a bad dream Honington has gone!
Woke up to a pea souper fog one morning and thought Ahhh it was all a bad dream Honington has gone!
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Keep:
Leuchars - flippin' bleak in winter though
Chiv - lucky enough to spend 4 years there
Brawdy - even with the 40 knot fog, what a great place. Gorgeous countryside, friendly locals, fantastic pubs
Wattisham - loved the local area. Surprised to see a number of negative comments, but life would be dull if we all liked the same things
Tangmere and Thorney - nice part of the world
Little Rissington - never had the privilege of serving there but the local area is lovely
Aston Down - ditto
West Malling - crying shame that it's been turned into a housing estate
Close:
Valley (twinned with HMP Belmarsh)
Valley
Coningsby
and did I mention Valley?
Leuchars - flippin' bleak in winter though
Chiv - lucky enough to spend 4 years there
Brawdy - even with the 40 knot fog, what a great place. Gorgeous countryside, friendly locals, fantastic pubs
Wattisham - loved the local area. Surprised to see a number of negative comments, but life would be dull if we all liked the same things
Tangmere and Thorney - nice part of the world
Little Rissington - never had the privilege of serving there but the local area is lovely
Aston Down - ditto
West Malling - crying shame that it's been turned into a housing estate
Close:
Valley (twinned with HMP Belmarsh)
Valley
Coningsby
and did I mention Valley?
Last edited by Ali Qadoo; 6th Mar 2013 at 07:49.
Looks as If Brawdys days are numbered BBC News - Cawdor barracks to shut with 600 troops moving to St Athan
"It's a very remote, singleton garrison site," he said.
Back in Hunter days in 1976, morale amongst those posted there for a tour wasn't good. The groundcrew weren't happy at being miles from anywhere and the Officers Mess was run by TGWU civilians who weren't terribly flexible. We students liked it though - unlike Valley, the locals were very friendly.
In those days, the M4 stopped at Newport, apart from a couple of small sections near Port Talbot. The A40 from Carmarthen to Haverfordwest was all single carriageway and it took about 5 hours if you were lucky to get from London to Brawdy...most of which was west of the Severn Bridge.
Hearing of the level of discontent, some MP finally made it to the station. He didn't endear himself to his audience when he began by saying "I didn't realise how far this place was from London", but then a hairy old NCO politely asked him why the mileage allowance rates were so poor. The MP tried to brush this aside as being a trivial question, but was then asked what his mileage rate was - it was about 3-4 times the RAF rate. Then the NCO continued "So you've come all this way at ()p per mile and you can't even tell us why we only get a quarter of that? If that's a trivial question, heaven help us if anyone wants the answer to something more serious!" - before getting up and walking out...
But flying single seat Hunters in the Summer of '76 took some beating.....
Last edited by BEagle; 5th Nov 2013 at 16:04.