RAF Marham posting
 

Quick query, what is Marham like as a camp for a married Officer with pre-school children?

Any input welcome

Regards

HG

No input must mean something! ;)

Not military myself, but I have been to take part in the March 30-130 event there held in March each year. A wet and windy and desolate place indeed, and miles from anywhere, if you can even find it, so both you and your wife would need a car each to get anywhere like Cambridge, King's Lynn, Wisbech, Peterborough, Norwich, etc. Not too far from Cranwell. Lovely countryside for the kids, and good seaside on the north Norfolk coast.

The RAF lads looked like they enjoyed the fast cars event (mostly Mitsubishi Evos, Subaru Imprezas, Nissan Skyline GTRs etc.) and some got taken out for a blast. The tea and hamburgers were pretty desperate, I remember.

Me? :D I managed to come 12th or 13th in the acceleration from 30 mph to 130 mph, and reached about 180 mph before having to stomp hard on the brakes at the end of the runway. My speedo was showing 200 mph, but they put a V-box on your dashboard to get a more accurate satellite reading which comes up on the TV displays. A hare came lolloping across the runway and I assumed it would keep going so I didn't brake, but it stopped in the middle and turned to stare at me. Only just missed it by the skin of my teeth and was very lucky not to have crashed and rolled, as some have. (Pheasants etc.)

Well, you did ask! :cool:

HG, in days of yore, known as El Adem with grass. For those that don't know, an airfield in the Libyan desert 16 miles south of Tobruk.

Qtrs adequate.
Internet to qtr, diabolical.
Remote.
We found the primary school appalling, very poor teachers and experience.
Rainbow nursery next door was very good though.

Pontius Navigator wrote: Perhaps, but since those days they've invented the motor car. Marham really isn't in the 'middle of nowhere' any more - and it's one of the less than a handful of fast jet bases left in England nowadays...:uhoh:

I had a brief posting to Marham in '92, from LBH, in January, then back to HQ 2ATAF in April (how's that for personnel managmenmt). My OMQ was at West Raynham as the MQs on base were fully occupied (most of us were allocated wg cdr or above quarters in Atcherley Square, sqn ldr quarters in other select parts of the patch for the less senior JOs - the NCO/airman quarters were dire, needing much modernising).

The first couple of weeks I had no idea how I got to work, there was persistent heavy fog, so the road journey was a virtually blind adventure - don't know why we bothered as just about every day was black flag until midday (sometimes the whole day and night).

The base itself was the usual V-force sprawl with a couple of HAS sites (still occupied), so II(AC) was assigned a hangar/apron set up aka 'the waterfornt'. It is a typical near-coast flatlands place, although slightly elevated above the surrounding swamp (what passes for a major hill in Norfolk); plenty of wind and rain, except when there was fog and mist.

The locals speak with a strange accent and some dialect and seem to be related to just about everyone else (definition of a virgin in Norfollk: girl who can run faster than her father and brothers). 'Duelling banjos' springs to mind...:E

Otherwise, you can fall back on the old V-force description (from the civilised bases to the west of Marham): "El Adem with grass".

This will be of little use to you, as there may have been major improvements since I was there:rolleyes:

Regards

Mister B

HTB, no doubt the locals can still count up to 12 on their fingers....:ooh:

Very quiet at the moment, getting noisier in a few years.

Seriously though, when I left 2 yrs ago...
Facilities sparse but were getting better. Gym was poor, messes pretty standard. You need a car (isolated). The preschool on the patch was excellent (Rainbow). Nearest big supermarket (Waitrose) or Kings Lynn. KL is the nearest town, ok for shops, eating out but avoid on Friday and Saturday nights.
Norwich is about an hour away, Peterborough about the same, I always preferred Norwich.
Best bit- having the North Norfolk coast on your doorstep, some great country pubs and a more sedate pace of life (outside the wire).
Lots of complaints from the young ones about being isolated, to which my reply was "You should have been to Binbrook"

Spent seven years there in the 70s with little kids. It was the best seven years of our married life both socially and professionally.

Concur with Pontifex. I also had a very happy 6 years at Marham in the 70s. I was married with a pre-school sprog as well. We never lived on base, but spent 3 years in Swaffham and the other 3 in Kings Lynn. 15-20 minute commute from Swaffham, a bit longer from Lynn. I understand both towns have gone downhill since I was there, but that would apply to virtually all towns in Britain. As Beagle points out the oft quoted El Adem with grass description probably had some relevance when hardly any airmen had cars but with your own transport Marham's no worse than dozens of other RAF stations (oh sorry, we dont have dozens any more :()

I've lived in Cornwall for 37 years but still get homesick for Norfolk when I hear that lovely accent (HTB's strange accent). Beagle's joke about 12 fingers was quite funny - at least it was the first 37 times I heard it :*

Well I won't mention their webbed feet then.....:p

The closest pub has been closed down and demolished!

http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/norfolk/...am_oldbell.jpg

But the beer was terrible.

Stewart & Patterson's :yuk:

MARHAM FIELD
 

To misquote Mark Twain, the worst winter I ever spent was summer at Marham.

After the RAF, I had a sales patch covering Norfolk and Suffolk. They are almost without exception completely delightful counties...


..the exception is RAF Marham. I was there for 4 months in the Service :{

I recommend blackmailing your posting officer.

I was there for 12 months. One day I got a call asking if I fancied an exchange to Coltishall. I had packed my stuff before the chap on the other end of the phone had hung up.

There is no equivalent of mañana in Norfolk. Nothing is that urgent.

Ys:O

Downham Market
 

My son and daughter-in-law's neighbour is aircrew there. They live in Downham Market which is very pleasant with good facilities but bit of a drive.

I held at Marham as a fg off. Having lived in some of the UK's biggest cities, even I was surprised to see a chainsaw appear during a fight in one of the bars in KL.

TV reception depended on the weather - if it was good, you could get BBC1. If it was windy you could forget getting Ch4. If it rained , well it was fine if you liked BBC2. I got quite good at crosswords.

Downham Market - a "bit" of a drive being the operative word. Less than 10 miles on fairly empty roads. Downham also has the advantage of being on the direct King's Lynn - Cambridge - London rail route, as well as local bus services.

ian - that's like saying the oldest man in the village has died - there must be a pub which is the closest now! ;)

I wonder why Pontifex and I had such a good time whereas lots of others had the opposite. Could it be that it all went downhill after the tankers left and the Tornadoes arrived? ;)

TTN, of course it's what you make of it. That station stuck in the middle of the Hatfield marshes had a great social life not withstanding Donny just down the road.

Spent 4 years working there in recent years.
It is a lovely area - but it is isolated and about as far from any pub as you can get in UK.
The local people don't sink in quicksand and the Queen is a neighbour - and she lives closer to a pub than the folks at Marham!

You need to drive for 15 mins to hit civilisation.

You sure about that Rigga? I was based there for five years and I thought the drive to civilisation was at least an hour and quarter. ;)

I lived in whilst I was there but my colleagues who were in MQs were less than happy with the standard of the houses or the quality of the "maintenance". Things might have changed since then.

HTB,

Ahhh... not so happy days. I also pitched up on II(ac) from LBH (from a disbanding XV sqn) at the same time as you. On the engineering side there was a mix of II(ac) people from LBH, a few Tornado bods from other units and a lot of Bloodhound bods from Raynham who had never been near anything that needed a turnround servicing.

ISTR arrival day for most folks was 6th Jan, which was first day after Xmas grant. Most blue chits never got completed because gung-ho CO (W/C Holding I think) insisted on a full flying program on the 8th. I lasted until June or July when I managed to get a swap into the engine bay. It was my second II(ac) tour in my career and not a patch on my first.

I was at Marham twice. The 1st tour was 3 years and 8 months, and then after 2 years at Akrotiri, I asked to spend my last 6 months service at Marham.

My request was granted! Not a lot of competition.

Most of the 1st tour was as a living in, single Cpl/T, for the last two years, traveling to Teesside by BR at the weekends.

The social life around Marham was very much what you made it. I was active in the Sailing Club at Denver Sluice and the Jennings Arms.

Saturday nights we went to Norwich! Close to 50 miles away.

I got married and lived out in a grotty flat in KL. This only lasted 4 months and I was posted to Akrotiri with an accompanied passage.

The main thing that made my time there so pleasant was that I spent all of both postings on 214 Sqdn. The early days of IFR before it became AAR and lots of detachments. :ok:

Didn't have a car, wife didn't work. This was the norm in those days.

Hey,

Look on the bright side, it's not Coningsby!

I think you will find that a lot of the people that are commenting from fading memories of long ago. Bloodhounds 1992, don't think so,
Yes the quarters (all ranks) were dire, but now they have mostly been modernised and all have gas central heating. The maintenance is contracted the same as every where else. Television reception has improved with digital and satellite proving to be as good as anywhere countrywide. As for schools, cannot really comment as all of ours have flown the nest, but they were adequate at best when they were attending. Broadband is ok, not the fastest in the country but good enough for normal use, supposedly being upgraded soon, whenever that is.
The local towns, Kings Lynn, Swafham and Downham Market have a good selection of shops (so my wife tells me) with all the family sized supermarkets and DIY shops you could need, but you do need a car for convenience as the bus service is not 'every half hour at the end of the street' , but there is one, as long as you are ready to return by 6 in the evening.
The 3 pubs that were in the village have all gone, 2 are now private houses and the third, (the picture shows where it was) is now 16 houses. They closed because no one used them, not like the 70s when they were busy at least 3 nights a week. There are 2 or 3 pub/eateries within 5 miles that are very good, they must be or they would have shut with the rest.
There are some lovely beaches around the North Norfolk coast, and despite what some have said we do get the weather to enjoy them, there are also many places inland to visit, Sandringham and other BIG houses and the forest around Thetford to name a couple, you just have to travel a bit, but no more than any other location.

When I first arrived at Marham there were 3 Victor Tanker squadrons, so I have been here a while and have seen most things that Norfolk can throw at you and seen how much the station has changed, I recommend that you get here with an open mind and see for yourself, if you do not enjoy it, it may be your own fault

Better off PVRing.

But that would apply to pretty much any posting now that Lyneham has closed.

I heard people referring to Marham as the "M-word"

"El Adem with grass" .... I preferred El Adem myself but then I only did 5 days in the desert.

I also did a year at Coningsby! Am I to be considered unlucky?

You need a car

Well I live local'ish to Marham...............

There's good news and bad news:

Bad

It's isolated and the bus service is poor
Local shops - limited (within 5 miles)
No local pub
Winter can be bleak - those Easterlies (Brrr)
Not sure about local schools
Lots of Eastern Europeans - sometimes you can be the only English speaker in the bus queue...............
Local wages are not good - if your wife was thinking of a part time job.......
Long term prospects for kids are limited...............
You really do need a car

Good

MQ's now largely upgraded
Broadband as good as anywhere outside a major town
A47 means reasonable transit times to Kings Lynn and Norwich (20 mins to KL and 40 to Norwich)
Shops in KL much improved
Norwich Shopping very good now
Swaffham is Ok for a bit of local shopping
Norwich clubbing is OK now (if that is your thing)
Trains to London or the North from Downham Market
Norfolk Coast & Broads not far
Good Fishing at Pentney
Good Sea and Beach Fishing
Good Boating
Good golf (plenty of choice)
Lots of Country Fayres and stuff in the summer
Growing number of outdoor concerts and festivals in summer
Lots of National Trust Properties
Good place to have a dog
Great if you like walking
Multiple sports clubs (some small and friendly, some big and impersonal)
You will find the villages very friendly and the schools generally OK.
You need a car
East Anglia is family friendly

I brought my house from an Ex-Plumber (in Dereham) and my neighbour was a sparky on Tornadoes, they both chose to commute daily (approx. 25 mins e/w) as they felt it was easier to get to Norwich and other towns from here, and there are a better choice of schools in Dereham (6 x pre-schools, 4 x Primary and 2 x Secondary)

Most of the old perspective on East Anglia is out of date, the place is changing........

Hope this helps.

Did I say you need a car ????

Arc

I was stationed there from 67 to 69 in ATC and Ops - 3 sqns and TTF (all Victor BK1) and 252 site behind the tower though the missiles had gone. I recall some real snow and a snow blower going nearly all night but equally some fabulous summer weather. Brilliant beaches, pubs in the village (my 21st was in the one shown as a load of rubble) and a very free and easy relaxed life as a single man.
Apparently there were some shenanagans in quarters - so said the News of the World but on the single side , there were famous bands most weeks and loads of good looking girls from all over the place, including some from Brampton on a night out.
Oh yes - I nearly forgot - I was in the tower when a certain young man from W. Raynham in his hunter buzzed the place at very low level en route back from Tower Bridge. The lights were at green on the Burmah Road and the F/Sgt local controller was just coming back from lunch.
Quite a few incidents at the time, the worst being the Victor and Canberra in 1968.
I digress, I know diddly squat about the question.

5aday

What an unusually honest thing to say on PPRuNe! Congratulations:ok::ok::ok:

acmech, there is nothing wrong with my memory.... I worked alongside the Bloodhound techs at Marham in 92.

85 Sqn were operating the Bloodhound at West Raynham until the second half of 1991. Bloodhound techs were posted into Marham in Jan 1992.

heights good,
I arrived there as a 23 yr old Fg Off and thought I'd been sent [3rd Tour] to the middle of nowhere -I hated it initially, but, after about 3 years I then began to like it.When I was posted after 7 years or so I was quite sad to leave.I was pleased to return some three years later.Thus I spent about half of my career there.One of the Navs, Ernie W spent virtually the whole of his 35yr career there.
However I think you need to do a short 'speak Norfie' course to get the most out of it.
First listen to Allan Smethurst on Youtube singing 'Hev yew got a loight bor'
Then when someones going to the nearest town on a fruitless mission you can say 'Haar yew trarttin' to Swarfham fer narthin'
Water boots=wellingtons
Windowscreen=windscreen
point o' two's= pint of mixed mild and bitter
After 3 months you'll only refer to King's Lynn as 'Lynn' [although you'll be aware it was Bishops Lynn until the Reformation
You'll enjoy it !
Nice County, Nice people

That was one of the strange quirk's of the Swedes that I had forgotten, do the natives still mix their beers?

They also had a liking for 'brown & mild'.

When I lived out in Lynn, and actually had a 'local' I was one of the few customers that drank my bitter 'neat'!

That area has some of the best pike fishing in the country. If that's your thing of course. If it is, then please do post some photos in JB!

King's Lynn
 

Probably in the Summer of 1945 I was taken on a rail excursion with the rest of the village kids to Hunstun. Now when the train pulled into King's Lynn the platform porter called out "Lynn Regis". On enquiring as to why he was calling this out, I was told "Because its Royal". Further confusion was when the train left the station backwards and we had not even been to the seaside.
Having been educated in Naarfulk I cun speak the lingo, in fact I was probably in my teens before I wur corrected frum saying "Windowscreen". I only graduated to drinking bitter when I was of legal age to order my own. After M & B it was quite shock to the pallet.
I fell sorrow for those now in a village with no pub but the county went into decline when Bullards and Lacons ceased to exist.

And blame Dr Beeching for not being able to change at South Lynn for King's Lynn. The M & G N would have given you a direct train to Brum.

Ian16th
I'd been at Marham (pronounced raff marram by the locals)about 6 months and managed to get invited to a party at Pentney Abbey
I stopped en route and asked for a pint of two's in the local pub in Pentney.It was one of those moments when the ball on the Pool Table stopped in mid shot and the pub went deathly quiet.The Landlord said 'Haar yew gooin' to the abbey?Is it three in a bed tonight'?'
I was and it wasn't
Good party though

Vendee, my humble apologies to your memory, I had to check the Bloodhounds retirement date and found out it was 91, 2 years before me. I would have sworn that they were long gone before that, more like 82, I even thought West Raynham had shut about then as well. Every day is a learning day :O