Burtonwood Control Tower and it's Dibnah connection

Thanks Jon… looks like Woodvale was my second WWII RAF field..

A few wartime shots of No 315 (Polish) Squadron at Woodvale

😉

http://www.merseyreporter.com/history/historic/woodvale/index.shtml

Jon

Thanks Jon… looks like Woodvale was my second WWII RAF field..

Well given I was only able to spare an hour (forgot I had prior plans!) I managed to get round the old place and get some snaps. Also sorry the pictures are not amazing but it has been a naff day for weather up here and it was raining at the time! 😀

In order –

1. Access gate and track still in situ for railway siding to Header House
2. The Tabacco houses on Site 3 – now demolished and a new housing estate….. 🙁
3. The site of Header house – now completely cleared and slowing being turned into Chapelford Urban Village
4. The one sign that has been missed!
5. 2 Nissan huts I stumbled across by accident in the neighbouring village of Clock Face – Surely they are ex Burtonwood….!?
6. The 2 K hangars on “A” site
7. Looking West along the former main runway now the M62
8. The airfield to the South of the M62

I did try to get up to the Blister hangars on “E” site but the roads up there have been blocked off to cars so that will be one for a return visit on foot.

Jon

I was a young lad when BWD was active. For Jon H, my most vivid memory was a B-47 Stratojet take-off. She rolled and rolled down that 10,000 ft runway, the noisiest aircraft I have ever heard. Much louder than a Concorde departure. I could feel the sound waves battering my chest! Also remember one of the engines of a C-124 Globemaster backfiring just before lift-off. The pilot put the nosewheel back on the runway braked hard and then taxied all the way back to the holding point. After a lengthy run-up it took off successfully.

Until I’ dvisited the UK, I’d never ever known of Burtonwood… then the day arrived and, having flown into Manchester, the quiet (subdued, lagged, in dire ned of a pint or two) early morning car ride to Southport was pleasantly ( 😉 ) interrupted by me spotting and nattering on about some structures which appeared ‘appropriately dated’. To this day, it’s still the only WWII UK airfield that I know I’ve seen. (I sincerely apologize if If Woodvale counts as a former WWII site and anyone feels particularly offended at my exclusion thereof.)

😉

http://www.merseyreporter.com/history/historic/woodvale/index.shtml

Jon

random Burtonwood comment

Until I’ dvisited the UK, I’d never ever known of Burtonwood… then the day arrived and, having flown into Manchester, the quiet (subdued, lagged, in dire ned of a pint or two) early morning car ride to Southport was pleasantly ( 😉 ) interrupted by me spotting and nattering on about some structures which appeared ‘appropriately dated’. To this day, it’s still the only WWII UK airfield that I know I’ve seen. (I sincerely apologize if If Woodvale counts as a former WWII site and anyone feels particularly offended at my exclusion thereof.)

If any of you lot are lurking in W H Smiths, there’s a new publication about Fred Dibnah complete with free DVD.
What I didn’t realise was that he brought down the control tower at Burtonwood in 1988 and there is a small article in there about this including some sad but awsome pictures of the tower coming down, I bet there’s some news footage of this somewhere.
If you’re Dibnah fans, and I gather he didn’t like flying much, the whole thing is a sad reflection on how the great man’s heritage is being destroyed by legal wrangles, it had me in tears.

Hi all, the Fred Dibnah book refered to is called “Fred Dibnah-A much loved steeplejack”. Piece about burtonwood is on page 49. I have a copy signed by his wife Sheila.

Steve.

My Yorkshire born stepdad on hearing of Dibnah’s demise:
“Good! one less effing Lancastrian!”

He wasn’t being serious as he always watched the show.

RAF BURTONWOOD has some amazing history and there is a museum connected with it at the GULLIVERS WORLD theme park, a short distance away from the site, and i think its free to enter……….Having worked in WARRINGTON for 20 years now, I have seen the decline and demolition of the older RAF side and also now, the same thing has happend to the USA side which included the massive storage facilty called HEADER HOUSE. even in my short time, i can remember seeing line after line of HUMMER type vehicles. An even today rumours of huge secret underground facilities are often bantered around the internet………The company i worked for had a SUBSTATION on the old RAF site amongst others and whilst we were de-commisioning it, we had to have a GUIGER COUNTER test on the van wheels and our shoes, every time we left a certain part of the site………..apparently it was the old aircraft instrument dump, which we were told used slightly radioactive material (thats what we were told anyway!). On the outskirts of the site The original american prefab living quarters still remain and are known as the TOBACCO HOUSES, and are still lived in as far as i know. As for the HANAGRS that still remain, the two older types are in use as a cladding factory and a fleet car disposal workshop. As for the concrete ones, i know one used to be used to store new cars, But i cant say if any are used today, Also i dont know what the future holds for the hangars, and as has been said earlier in the post, demolition is the most likely option…………………

Photo of the area in question in their heyday

Well, when I was home last year I rode there from Wigan on my bike and spoke to the jobsworth on the gate at ‘A’ site to see if I could go around and take some photos. He said no and gave me some pony about having to write to English partnerships for permission. If I were you, I would go down the road by the old perminter fence, bypass the gate and follow the road around to what seems like a dead end. Over where the road is blocked you can climb over and get access to ‘E’ site without any hassles. If anyone hassles you, just leave the site. They might try and say they can do you for trespass but they can’t. As long as you don’t steal or break anything, they can’t do anything to you but ask you to leave the site. I think the murals are in the blister hangers but they are always locked and there is no way to get access to them. When we were younger we walked right up onto the roof of one of the hangers to have a look (it’s solid concrete!) and promptly got asked to leave by the security who saw our photo flashes!

There is an air raid shelter near there also. That is the part of the airbase where a lot of the B17’s e.t.c were cut up… I bet there is allsorts undeneath the surface!

I have been meaning to go for a drive round there anyway since moving to Warrington (2 years ago now!), so now finally going to do it.

I always used to wonder where the dump was going past in the car!! Now if only I had a metal detecter…… lol

Meanwhile I can recommend have a look round on google earth – you can still make out where a lot of stuff was.

Jon

They are available I understand at £80k each

Well, when I was home last year I rode there from Wigan on my bike and spoke to the jobsworth on the gate at ‘A’ site to see if I could go around and take some photos. He said no and gave me some pony about having to write to English partnerships for permission. If I were you, I would go down the road by the old perminter fence, bypass the gate and follow the road around to what seems like a dead end. Over where the road is blocked you can climb over and get access to ‘E’ site without any hassles. If anyone hassles you, just leave the site. They might try and say they can do you for trespass but they can’t. As long as you don’t steal or break anything, they can’t do anything to you but ask you to leave the site. I think the murals are in the blister hangers but they are always locked and there is no way to get access to them. When we were younger we walked right up onto the roof of one of the hangers to have a look (it’s solid concrete!) and promptly got asked to leave by the security who saw our photo flashes!

There is an air raid shelter near there also. That is the part of the airbase where a lot of the B17’s e.t.c were cut up… I bet there is allsorts undeneath the surface!

The other hangars are now owned by ‘English Partnerships’ and their plans for the site indeed do not incorporate the hangars. There is a fight to get the ones on E site (the blister type ones) listed but Warrington Council can only see £££££££££ it appears, which is typical of any northern council to be honest. All corrupt and just after the cash.

I flew over there a few years ago in Cessna 150 and it is amazing how clear the outlines of the runways and hangers are south of the motorway. There are also wartime murals in some of the hangars apparently.

So it is true 🙁

I still get wistful when driving down that stretch of motorway as it is directly over the main runway. Imagine the aircraft that thundered down it in years gone by……..

In fact given I only live 5 minutes away I will pop down in the morning with my camera and see what I can snap!

Jon

The other hangars are now owned by ‘English Partnerships’ and their plans for the site indeed do not incorporate the hangars. There is a fight to get the ones on E site (the blister type ones) listed but Warrington Council can only see £££££££££ it appears, which is typical of any northern council to be honest. All corrupt and just after the cash.

I flew over there a few years ago in Cessna 150 and it is amazing how clear the outlines of the runways and hangers are south of the motorway. There are also wartime murals in some of the hangars apparently.

If any of you lot are lurking in W H Smiths, there’s a new publication about Fred Dibnah complete with free DVD.
What I didn’t realise was that he brought down the control tower at Burtonwood in 1988 and there is a small article in there about this including some sad but awsome pictures of the tower coming down, I bet there’s some news footage of this somewhere.
If you’re Dibnah fans, and I gather he didn’t like flying much, the whole thing is a sad reflection on how the great man’s heritage is being destroyed by legal wrangles, it had me in tears.

Ah very fond memories of Burtonwood. Used to love going to Manchester with Mum so I could see all the buildings! Shame really as nothing has been built on the site since…….. 🙁 Also for some reason I have a feeling the few remaining hangars are not going to be around much longer either….?

Jon