What on Earth is This?

That long funnel shaped thingie:

There’s an almost identical one at the Lockheed facility in Ca at Helendale (between Edwards AFB & Barstow sort of)

As for Foulness, it appears to be littered with landrovers.. 🙂

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.58895&lon=0.920257&z=18.8&r=0&src=msl

There’s the Buccaneer and what looks like some other fuselage sections.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.609061&lon=0.942501&z=17.2&r=0&src=msl

Anyone know what the zig zag area is?

thanks for all the posts guys, certainly makes for an interesting read! also shocked that a tsr2 wing survived well into the 80s!!!

The whole area north along the coast for several miles is a maze of current and disused facilities, the whole southern section was serviced by it’s own railway network which has access to the former BR network just south of Shoeburyness Railway station were it crossed the High street and followed the line of Gunners road into the current DERA facility, it then proceeded on spreading through a number of branch lines covering a number of dispersed sites South of the creek.

A single line crossed the Havengore creek alongside what is now Bridge road into the Northern section of the site, again splitting off into a number of service lines to various dispersed sites as far up Courtsend though drawn up, I have my doubts that this section was actually laid overall there was possibly some thirty miles of laid track inside the sites boundaries. Today with the dismantling of the bridge only the sections out too the DERA facility remain in use though large sections can still be seen on GA beyond this.

Sadly my original survey maps of the area stretching back in time many decades and collected by my Grandfather were waterlogged in a flood and have been badly damaged with only a few notes on the remaining track layout being salvageable but I do recall several hefty volumes of planning notes regarding servicing the various munitions facilities on the sites in ‘Times of Hostilities’ what ever that meant, they were extreme in detail and included information on the holding capacity of the stores, handling instructions and train formations all gravely annotated with dire warnings about the security of the contained information, I never did find out how he came to have these documents and maps but they were of great significance to him.

Went to a families day there about 15 years ago, when there was a Sea King and a fairly complete Phantom amongst an array of tanks and APCs on display. Had a ride on their narrow gauge railway and the hovercraft. There is a very sophisticated radar there too, used to track the various projectiles they fire off into the mud (every one is recovered, apparently). Fascinating place, but I’ll probably have to kill you all, now I’ve told you!

Y’all might like to know that the Met Office used to issue (and may still do so) very carefully constructed forecasts (twice daily) to Shoeburyness/Foulness to tell them if/where the soundwaves would impact in the surrounding area (including the N Kent coast). If the concentration was likely to be high in any area then firing/explosions were suspended
Ian Brown might also like to comment on “The Dreaded Radar Fuze”. This was a small radar device in the nose of a shell that was supposed to detect when it was near the target and then go ‘Bang’. The problem was, I think, (but Ian will correct me) that this radar gizmo couldn’t differentiate between the target and heavy rain!!! So if it was chucking it down then the round was likely to go ‘Bang’ before it should have done!! Some of the trials involved firing this round through sprays of water (to replicate various intensities of rain) to see if they could teach the software to tell one from t’other.. Bit simplistic – but you will get my drift.
Very interesting place.
HTH
Resmoroh

Google Maps used to feature a red/white/blue Bucaneer fuselage on the SE side of the island but that has gone now from their satellite picture.

I always wondered what was at shoburyness, i knew in was used to test artillery, but that was it, never actually thought to look anymore into it.
I live near Margate on the kent coast and you can often here the deep booming of the guns there, there are several groups/protests against it, as it has caused structual damage to houses and even smashed windows locally. It must be many miles away.

There is one thing I am sure of about this area. The collection of well separated building to the NW of Ridgemarsh is definitely a current or ex ammunition depot. I became quite familiar with such establishments during my army service. I haven’t the faintest idea what the other structures are or were though.

The majority of the remaining airframes were removed by Hanningfield metals along with much of the remains at Pendine in the late 1990’s

As recently as last summer one of the Mig 23’s were removed by Hanningfield metals. This was chopped and the remains moved to the yard at Stock. The centre section on it undercarriage was certainly there last summer.

About 10 years ago I spend four days driving (escorted) around the whole place in order to carry out a thermal survey of the electrical distribution system within. Imagine the security checks every day to allow me and one other into this place carrying what to most looked like a tv camera ?
We even had to pass through the “strictly no entry” security into AWE !
I can confirm that I saw lots, most has gone now, but part of TSR2 several lightning parts, what I think was a BAC 111 fuselage, most of the airframes were in one area ? Whilst within AWE area, a heavily escorted truck arrived and two MP’s came to us to ensure we “averted” our eyes whilst whatever they were doing was done !!!!! I can assure you it is desolete and bleak, but apparently a very good nature reserve, despite some loud bangs and woooshes. Keith

Foulness

The bike section of the Southend-on-Sea Triathlon used to go through the old proving grounds and Foulness and I remember competing there about 10 years ago. It was being run-down at the time but I can recall an ex-Boscombe Down red/white/blue Phantom in there plus a couple of Buccaneers and at least one tank.

I wasn’t really too concerned about the bits & pieces – more with holding my bike steady at around 30 mph – it was only when I got to the turnaround at the North end of the course that I realised I had been pushed along by a serious tailwind … the return was significantly slower!

(Back in the 1980s I remember a damaged Harrier 2-seater on a low-loader heading down the A127 in that general direction … probably blown to smithereens!)

Some of the former inhabitants

http://www.abpic.co.uk/results.php?q=shoeburyness&fields=location&sort=latest&limit=50

Aaaah Foulness Island, the home of the Proof & Experimental Establishment.

I can explain, as not only have I been there by road, but have flown past a few times at fairly low level 🙂

At the very western edge of the long grass triangle, mounted on the concrete plinth is (or was…) a large ships gun. Not sure the calibre but a BIG gun! This was used to fire various projectiles out to sea and used to rattle my windows even 12 miles away!

At the Eastern end of the grass triangle, are two towers, between which is strung a cable (you can just see this on Google earth) with some form of measuring device attached. What they used to measure is probably still secret, but if you look further south on Foulness Island, you’ll see another long building which I’m reliably informed was also used for weapons testing, being used to for firing projectiles along.

When I went there in the late 70s, there were still lots of old miltary aircraft targets languishing about on the northern edge of the Island at a place called ‘White City’, including bits from the TSR2. I recall early Buccaneers, Lightnings, Sea Vixens, a Pre-production Lynx (XX337 rings a bell?) and many more. Most of the aircraft have now been disposed of, but I did notice a MIG 23 just inside the sea wall last time I went past a few years ago..

It’s a fascinating place, and in the 70s, was like stepping back in time. The local pub on the island at Churchend was straight out of the 30s. The facility has downsized a lot since i went there last, but the ranges are still active during the week, so they must still be firing things……

Top Left Building are the ex-AWE compound its a secure facility inside a secure facility.

A Rocket testing facility has also been on the site as well as jet engine testing, and of course

Aera X

Hi…

I can tell you what the two lattice towers are/were used for. They are made entirely of wood, and strung between the towers is a metal hoop. Munitions that detonate magnetically were fired through this metal hoop…and of course went bang as they passed through. You’ll have to excuse this rather simplistic explaination, but this was from memory of a film I saw as an Air Cadet back in the early 1980’s when I was with 1312 at Southend Airport. We had an Army Major type give us a talk and film show on the work done at Foulness Island. It was fascinating stuff to watch, and consisited of nothing more than grown men blowing things up, such as tanks, in increasingly imaginative ways!!

Later on, my work took me onto Foulness (early 1990’s)…but most of the surface activities on the island had been run down to a large extent. I was held up a number of times as various munitions were blown up, and remember seeing a fuselage of a 737 (possibly) low lowded through the village to it’s destination. If I remember correctly, it was blown up in various ways to study the effects of small explosions on airliners. Of course, most of the work there was done underground at the AWE. A sometimes bleak, but facinating place.

By the way..have I contravened any official secrets here!!!:cool:

Regards;
Steve

If you use Google Earth application, rather than Google maps, you can switch on information about the area.

Near the armored vehicles is says “MOD Tank testing Ground”.

Man! There are some really strange structures in that area….is that where they film Dr. Who? 😉

Tank destruction ground more like.

Dr Who is filmed in Wales.

Any ideas about the circle actually set in the mudflats?

I’ve been trying to find any evidence of a/c on the site, but I can’t. According to a bit of Googling there’s rumoured to be a Mig23, 3 Canberras, a Phantom and Sea Vixen, plus a few bits of Lightning. I was interested to read that the 3 Bristol 188 research aircraft ended their days there including the example now at Cosford, is this right.
Funny how this topic should emerge on the day that the planning application for Stansteds second runway is being submitted ( and I hope it gives the Uttlesford planners the worst headache of their lives ), don’t forget that Foulness was once considered as Londons third airport ahead of Stansted.

May be from the Napoleonic war period…

Bri :dev2:

Foulness is full of odd structures that are difficult to understand, on the areas I’ve managed to access there’s also evidence of the use of some pretty powerful weaponry.
It’s a good place to look at on GE, what was the purpose of those wavey lines in the natural ground above your site, what are those two long thin structures pointing out to sea, and further south, theres a perfect concrete circle, what was that for?
If you look further south, next to the area used for storing redundant trains, there seems to be a load of turretless tanks, candidates for a bit of target practice no doubt.
What surprises me is that I can’t spot any airframes, TSR-2 used to be dumped there, I’m surprised I can’t find any others.

If you use Google Earth application, rather than Google maps, you can switch on information about the area.

Near the armored vehicles is says “MOD Tank testing Ground”.

Man! There are some really strange structures in that area….is that where they film Dr. Who? 😉