Hello all, this is my first report so please take that into consideration! I would appreciate any friendly feedback.
RAF Coltishall is a former Royal Airforce station which opened in 1940 as a fighter base and operated as a military site from 1940 until 2006 with the first aircraft movement being a Bristol Blenheim IV L7835 flown by Sargent RG Bales and Sergeant Barnes. After the war, it became the home of Polish squadrons until they returned home and In the 1950’s. During the cold war, the site was used as a V-bomber dispersal airfield that V bombers were free to use if their home station was damaged. In November 2006, RAF Coltishall was officially handed over to the defence estates before being sold to the Norfolk County Council for £4 million.
Today, parts of the site are used by HMP prison Bure, a solar farm and an enterprise park.
After a failed attempt at finding the site the week before, me and my good friend @ollie_wren decided to return and try again, being successful this time. We managed to get into the swimming pool, which was our main goal as well as the ATC tower. However the windows of the Sergeants Mess and Officers Mess (also on the site) were freshly sealed shut meaning we were not able to get inside.
The swimming pool was something we hadn’t seen before, having a carpeted floor. I tried doing research into this but couldn’t find anything to suggest why it was this way. However it was beautiful inside and we were fascinated by it. Being in a remote location, there wasn’t any graffiti and in quite a good state considering it hadn’t been used for at least 10 years. This is definitely a site i would like to visit again and maybe have another go at the Messes. Overall, it was a really nice, rather peaceful day out.
Some writing on the door.
The foyer/ entrance to the pool
The lonely toilet
Some shots of the pool
And finally, this is what it looked like around the back, probably one of my favourite photos
RAF Coltishall is a former Royal Airforce station which opened in 1940 as a fighter base and operated as a military site from 1940 until 2006 with the first aircraft movement being a Bristol Blenheim IV L7835 flown by Sargent RG Bales and Sergeant Barnes. After the war, it became the home of Polish squadrons until they returned home and In the 1950’s. During the cold war, the site was used as a V-bomber dispersal airfield that V bombers were free to use if their home station was damaged. In November 2006, RAF Coltishall was officially handed over to the defence estates before being sold to the Norfolk County Council for £4 million.
Today, parts of the site are used by HMP prison Bure, a solar farm and an enterprise park.
After a failed attempt at finding the site the week before, me and my good friend @ollie_wren decided to return and try again, being successful this time. We managed to get into the swimming pool, which was our main goal as well as the ATC tower. However the windows of the Sergeants Mess and Officers Mess (also on the site) were freshly sealed shut meaning we were not able to get inside.
The swimming pool was something we hadn’t seen before, having a carpeted floor. I tried doing research into this but couldn’t find anything to suggest why it was this way. However it was beautiful inside and we were fascinated by it. Being in a remote location, there wasn’t any graffiti and in quite a good state considering it hadn’t been used for at least 10 years. This is definitely a site i would like to visit again and maybe have another go at the Messes. Overall, it was a really nice, rather peaceful day out.
Some writing on the door.
The foyer/ entrance to the pool
Some shots of the pool
And finally, this is what it looked like around the back, probably one of my favourite photos
