I've done a bunch of these GPSS sites and I really like them - Islip, Hempsted, Sawtry, Carlett Park, and a couple of others I think (old memory failing me). Flax Bourton was one I was made aware of through @Webbs0710 post a few years ago but for whatever reason it never materialised into a trip. However on a planned day out to Wansbrough Paper Mill last month I finally decided the time was nigh and we headed here first. It was an oppressively hot day, but we had a good wander around the various buildings, and poked our noses into the one accessible storage tank - after seeing the 10" of water in it though decided to not get our feet wet...yet.
After doing the Hempsted one in 2020, I knew the insides of these tanks if they were accessible make for some awesome photos and the acoustics inside are crazy, so we decided to head back equipped with wellies to have a proper go at it. That day came about four weeks later, and went off without a hitch - I do believe these are the first photos from inside the storage tank on here. The water was covered in a thin film of oil residue and other stuff which was swirling into spirals as we waded through it, which came out in some of the photos - it was nowhere near as clear as the water in the tank at Hempsted. Also unlike Hempsted, the tank, instead of having a feed pipe coming down from the top, had a feed pipe disappearing into a deep pit in the middle of the tank which I thought was very cool, although it would be a terrible time if you decided to fall into it.
History....
The GPSS network - otherwise known as the Government Pipelines and Storage System - had it's roots in the 1940s as part of Operation Overlord to support troops in France. GPSS Flax Bourton was constructed in the 1950s, and had it's own railway sidings constructed in 1957 to serve it. It operated uneventfully for it's lifespan, with nothing much to report really, until it was deemed surplus to requirements. In 2012, the government announced plans to sell off the GPSS network with it acquired by a Spanish oil network operator Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH) for £82m. The MoD also signed a contract with CLH for the military to be continued to be supplied with fuel via the GPSS. The sale did not include the six coastal Oil Fuel Depots owned by the MoD, which continued to be operated and maintained by the residual OPA.
Following its acquisition by CLH, the GPSS was subsequently renamed the CLH Pipeline System (CLH-PS)
Thanks for looking
After doing the Hempsted one in 2020, I knew the insides of these tanks if they were accessible make for some awesome photos and the acoustics inside are crazy, so we decided to head back equipped with wellies to have a proper go at it. That day came about four weeks later, and went off without a hitch - I do believe these are the first photos from inside the storage tank on here. The water was covered in a thin film of oil residue and other stuff which was swirling into spirals as we waded through it, which came out in some of the photos - it was nowhere near as clear as the water in the tank at Hempsted. Also unlike Hempsted, the tank, instead of having a feed pipe coming down from the top, had a feed pipe disappearing into a deep pit in the middle of the tank which I thought was very cool, although it would be a terrible time if you decided to fall into it.
History....
The GPSS network - otherwise known as the Government Pipelines and Storage System - had it's roots in the 1940s as part of Operation Overlord to support troops in France. GPSS Flax Bourton was constructed in the 1950s, and had it's own railway sidings constructed in 1957 to serve it. It operated uneventfully for it's lifespan, with nothing much to report really, until it was deemed surplus to requirements. In 2012, the government announced plans to sell off the GPSS network with it acquired by a Spanish oil network operator Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH) for £82m. The MoD also signed a contract with CLH for the military to be continued to be supplied with fuel via the GPSS. The sale did not include the six coastal Oil Fuel Depots owned by the MoD, which continued to be operated and maintained by the residual OPA.
Following its acquisition by CLH, the GPSS was subsequently renamed the CLH Pipeline System (CLH-PS)
Thanks for looking
