RAF Finmere (Oxfordshire) was one of the many small airfields hastily built during the Second World War.
Built to supplement nearby RAF Bicester (which had the disadvantage of having grass runways) it became fully operational in 1942. It had a number of roles, but its main one was as an operational training unit (OTU) that took ‘rookies’ straight out of training school and turned them into fully operational Blenheim Bomber crews.
This site has been covered here before, and my visit was more out of personal interest, rather than with the intention of posting a report.
However I got a few shots that I felt I wanted to share.
The Control Tower is a fairly typical two storey, plus roof lookout affair. Sadly it is in a poor way.
As is to be expected for a building that has been abandoned for so long there is little of interest that hasn’t been long since looted, lost or destroyed.
Various attempts have been made in the past to secure the building, with windows and doors being bricked up and mesh being used to restrict access.
Despite all of these attempts the building is wide open to the elements.
(nice, but sad, 50’s juke-box @ the far end)
This poor creature was dead, but something else lives there, as these droppings were everywhere!
Not too sure what type of creature, but I think this was its nest:
So why repost a site that has been recorded before?
Well as I said this place is in poor condition. It would be great if places like this could be preserved, but we all know that there are too many of them for this to be a realistic option.
So the alternative is to let them slowly return to nature, but not so for poor old Finmere.
The airfield has been used for many years as a venue for carboot sales, go-carting, microlight flying, and as a venue for a Sunday Market.
This has not been a problem until recently; sadly, it seems the current operators of the Sunday market seem to want to bury the control tower under their junk.
I ask you, is this any way to treat a retired old lady?
There are also piles of car batteries, and drums of chemicals stacked up against the walls.
It’s sad to see such an important slice of our history treated so badly.
.............................................................................
p.s, two little bonus pics from the nearby woods:
.
Built to supplement nearby RAF Bicester (which had the disadvantage of having grass runways) it became fully operational in 1942. It had a number of roles, but its main one was as an operational training unit (OTU) that took ‘rookies’ straight out of training school and turned them into fully operational Blenheim Bomber crews.
This site has been covered here before, and my visit was more out of personal interest, rather than with the intention of posting a report.
However I got a few shots that I felt I wanted to share.
The Control Tower is a fairly typical two storey, plus roof lookout affair. Sadly it is in a poor way.
As is to be expected for a building that has been abandoned for so long there is little of interest that hasn’t been long since looted, lost or destroyed.
Various attempts have been made in the past to secure the building, with windows and doors being bricked up and mesh being used to restrict access.
Despite all of these attempts the building is wide open to the elements.
(nice, but sad, 50’s juke-box @ the far end)
This poor creature was dead, but something else lives there, as these droppings were everywhere!
Not too sure what type of creature, but I think this was its nest:
So why repost a site that has been recorded before?
Well as I said this place is in poor condition. It would be great if places like this could be preserved, but we all know that there are too many of them for this to be a realistic option.
So the alternative is to let them slowly return to nature, but not so for poor old Finmere.
The airfield has been used for many years as a venue for carboot sales, go-carting, microlight flying, and as a venue for a Sunday Market.
This has not been a problem until recently; sadly, it seems the current operators of the Sunday market seem to want to bury the control tower under their junk.
I ask you, is this any way to treat a retired old lady?
There are also piles of car batteries, and drums of chemicals stacked up against the walls.
It’s sad to see such an important slice of our history treated so badly.
.............................................................................
p.s, two little bonus pics from the nearby woods:
.