Upper Heyford

I worked on UH in 1980 on the Pilot bunkers which wer buried underground in between the Hard Hangers, long story but got arrested trying to get out of the place on the first night, then septics dont mess about we both had guns aginst our heads for 20 mins in the snow and they would not let us get our coats out the car till we had beeen identified.

are we having a Dr Strangelove moment here? :rolleyes:

That might annoy John Towers and his colleagues at MG Rover I would suggest.

Flew over UH this morning. The cars now cover 75% of the runway. Perhaps a good time to make an offer on a Rover? Hairy logistics to move them in 48 hours.

Bulldozer.

Flew over UH this morning. The cars now cover 75% of the runway. Perhaps a good time to make an offer on a Rover? Hairy logistics to move them in 48 hours.

this situation sounds about right, if hte fuel supply network is still in place, and the HAS’s are not going anywhere, and the runway is staying intact I can see this as a very useful forward deployment area. 72 hours will see those cars moved, I reckon you could move em in 8 hours under the ‘right’ circumstances!!

Whats the latest on this place??? – i know its “Heyford Park” with a number of businesses on it these days & a storage facility for many cars – & there were two rumours floating about which are as follows:
1. To demolish some of the existing infrastructure including many of the HAS complxes, & turn it into yet another housing site or,
2. There was an article in the US about trying to make parts of UH a “cold war” memorial & museum (ie:to have a few older generation a/c back for static display purposes ie; ex UH F111)………….??

I did also hear that there was a “clause” that if the MOD needed the site back for whatever reason, there is a 48Hr notice to all businesses to “leave”?

Whats your thoughts & what have you heard????

Well Neil , as regards the MOD clause I heard it was 72 hours and anything that was still left there after that would be bulldozed into a heap in a disused corner. Personally I can’t see it as it would take about a week to get all those cars out even they worked 24 hours a day and put the all on transporters.

IIRC There is a contract between the current occupiers and the MOD. They are very cagey about giving out details of this not because of commercial worries but because is “may” undermine any long term planning which they wish to enter in to so the local authorities “may”view the base in a different light. ….Allegedly

Needless to say that when they were asked if teh runway could be dug up and used in the recent upgrade of the A43 al la Greenham Common and the Newbury Bypass, a very firm NO came back.

That said I dont think it’ll ever happen but its good for a few urban legends.

I was talking to one of the security guards on the site last year who was actually an MOD man.I was intrigued by this fact, as most security guards are from the usual big name company’s like Reliance or Securicor.
After I bluffed up his self importance, I asked a few questions about the base and its future, he let slip that the fuel storage tanks were full, and that it’s a proviso that if the USAF are in need of the base, all businesses must be able to move out in 48 hours.
Question: would fuel in the underground tanks deteriorate?. I know that all the large civilian airports and military bases are supplied by a pipeline network that runs all over the country, so would UH have been cut off from this or is it still connected.

The 48 hour bit concurs with neil p’s post at least!.

Upper Heyford

I fly over it regularly – a car park that I am sure is visible from space. I think they are Rovers? As I never fly below 500ft………

I understand that the bomb-proof F111 aircraft shelters will be there forever, the cost of demolishing them renders it non-viable.

UH was a US town in effect c/w bowling alley, cinema, American ‘black and white’ cop cars, Hershey bars etc. (The Americans might be good at many things but making chocolate ain’t one of them.Yuk! Must go…theres a couple of big blokes in suits and dark glasses at the door…

HP

Given it’s location and the Govt. pushing for more and more housing, I know what option I’d bet on as it’s ultimate fate….. :rolleyes: