Tangmere Museum in 1980's + 90's

I believe the Herald was delt with by a well known dealer in that area and some parts were salvaged.

But in the long run, a bigger-picture approach, with museums selling wreckology items to collectors on a more regular basis, might stop parts being needlessly lost or corroding away further outside, and additionally prove a valuable source of income to be fed back into preservation.

Maybe Yorkshire Air Museum should have done with the Herald, or what bits are left of it.

This thread has touched on a broader subject however, which is what to do with all the wreckage which gets dug up, dredged up, or saved from scrapyards.
Presumably Tangmere sent the Ju87 engine, Typhoon parts, Gladiator cowling ring, etc etc to the scrapyard because they were already chock-full of wreckage from similar sources. Lots of museums, particularly small ones, are full of this stuff, and more keeps getting recovered. Should museums take on or fund recovery of wreckage that they haven’t got any room for?

Obviously some of the results of aviation archeology does fall in the category of “national treasure”. Parts of extinct or vanishingly rare types, as discussed here, can make a real contribution to worthy projects, like DaveR’s Typhoon, or stand in their own right as historical artifacts. I seem to recall that there is a display of He177 parts at Flixton, for example, which are the only parts of that type I am ever likely to see.
However, it’s surely a bit tenuous to display the mangled fragments of another Spitfire , P-51 or B-17, on the basis that they themselves are national treasures, especially if that corroded Wright Cyclone you’ve just recovered displaces a Typhoon centre section towards a scrapyard.
Sure, keep digging them up: every so often you’ll find something like P9374! More importantly, it will be possible to lay to rest the remains of lost servicemen. But in the long run, a bigger-picture approach, with museums selling wreckology items to collectors on a more regular basis, might stop parts being needlessly lost or corroding away further outside, and additionally prove a valuable source of income to be fed back into preservation.

I seem to remember a picture showing Daimler Benz 601 ? and Merlin Engine and more that went, not to mention the ultimate loss of the Wyvern rear fuselage section, in my view it reinforces my personal opinion on small museums, and my reluctance to ever loan anything out.

Members or helpers don’t understandably posess the knowledge over a spectrum of items that leads to things like this happening, or internal difficulties, been there done that and nearly lost a cockpit.

It is precisely this kind of thing that makes my blood boil, who in their right mind would send items like this for scrap? they are not scrap items of metal, they are national treasures! how these things can be allowed to happen is totally beyond me and the volunteer who called in the scrapman would seriously benefit from a public flogging! , i take it these items were at least offered to the national collections before being disposed of? having said all of the above i suppose the RAF museum didnt actually fall over themselves to recover the remains of the Halton freight pannier left rotting in a Shropshire breakers yard for thirty years did they? so we only have ourselves to blame. selfishly i am just thinking what a fantastic conversation piece a glaliator exhaust ring would be over the mantelpiece!

I am used to shedding a few tears over what has been scrapped or is hidden away and not to be seen again 🙁 I must be mad….

Yes, I think it was Stanley’s. I recall it was on a narrow lane, with the yard almost literally beside the lane.

Somewhere, Dave R, I have a photo of the centre section but it may take a while to locate. And it will only make you cry!

the only scrappy near to oving was paddy Stanley at woodhorn crossing, I’ve not seen him around the village lately but as far as I’m aware he’s still going.

Thanks for the reply Andy, I know you are snowed so didn’t want to pester you for something you may well want to forget about…

It was always a long shot to see if something may have survived as they would have been as much of a pain to scrap in the 80’s as they would in the 40’s. Sometimes these things get spotted and picked up by others very quickly and perhaps it survived in private hands somewhere, if the scrappie still existed then they always remember if it was sold or scrapped. As an aside the museum apparently ‘never had anything other than the engine’ (according to the museum itself).

I have never seen a picture of the remains and I was hoping that someone may have one, it was never published in Flypast and I don’t think it was ever on display in the museum. If the main legs were still attached then there was a huge amount of wing still remaining…criminal 🙁

Dave

It went to a local scrap yard near Oving. I forget where, exactly, although I went to try to buy the stuff back. To no avail. This was about 1987 I think.

A Ju 88 undercarriage door, He 177 undercarriage leg, Me 109-F tail, Junkers Jumo (ex Ju 87) and a Gladiator exhaust collector ring were amongst the (many) items scrapped – along with the Typhoon centre section and both main legs. They were stored outside at the rear of the museum, but the Parish Council complained and without recourse to others one of the volunteers (also on the PC) called in the scrappie.

The chances of anything remaining are less than zero, I’m afraid. They had gone from the yard two weeks later. And I have an idea the scrapyard is now gone, too.

Dave,

I would imagine that Andy Saunders would be a good start for information

Regards