Archived Report - RAF Manby - Sergeant's Mess Autumn 08

[compound eye]

This is a report from last Autumn. I used to work over at the Local Council [bleugh] and one day noticed that the double thicknesses of chipboard held on with 6" nails had been sensitively 'teased' away from one of the doors...

This is the building that ELDC used in their withdrawn Eco-town proposal to show the kind of place that would be redeveloped - which is utter crap because this building is at the front of the business park, not at the back on the proposed airfield site!

Like a lot of messes you get the same repeating rabbit hutch bedrooms, and we've all seen plenty of those, BUT despite some serious cider fueled pyro parties throughout, plenty of the fixtures and fittings remain. Hence this is a much better explore than some of the empty shell barracks about.

Here goes -

The pantry was very bare



The sergeant's lecky was on the meter, not much better than 'Rising Damp'!



This building had more urinals and 'traps' per head than any mess I've seen! There was even a comedy loo plumbed in at the end of an open corridor with no evidence of partition walling - the thing was spraying water all over though and so remained unshot.



The main West corridor on the 1st floor,- notice how pikeys have systematically smashed holes to light the roofspace/mark the corridor & therefore the conduits, so they could see to steal the wiring and piping...



Looking across from the saloon bar [unimpressive 70's Two Ronnies mock taverna style] to the lounge bar across the main hallway.



The 'grand' entrance - seems like sergeants get 1 arched window and officers get 3! They still get 2 telephone booths though...



I'm a secret lemonade drinker... propped the 'nightsearcher' inside this giant fridge, the rest of the kitchen had been stripped clean bar the ventilation hoods



...and all those public information films said that 70s foam furniture went up in 30secs. Various bar sofas have been ripped out and dotted throughout the ground floor - I guess even vandals like to chill...



The East wing of the building is breezeblocked off and had seen office type use at some point but was no big deal - shooting MFI kitchenettes and filing cabinets isn't my bag.

Since I shot this set I've sold a couple of images for computer game backgrounds and the bar sofa has appeared on the cover of the Fall [Autumn to most of us] issue of the Colorado Review.

I would love to go back and shoot the Officer's Mess, but my contact there has been about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike in confirming when I can [legitimately] go in.

Thanks for looking