RAF Manby was officially opened in August of 1938. The very first squadron to be stationed there was the The Air Armament School. Another six squadrons would be stationed here until December of 1973. Slowly after this time the site was split up and sold of to the private sector, and today's a large percentage of the site operates as an industrial estate.
There are enough reports on this locations history, but not much on the safety issues. Now I understand that with this hobby the risks are high, but this place really does top the leaderboard. We decided to arrive at about 8:30pm. Upon arrival there were many other groups there doing as we were, and a local couple who were regular to the locations as photographers. They warned up to not walk over any of the hundreds of doors that are ladened on every floor. As an example they showed us one place on the ground floor, and a door was covering a whole section of floorboards that were missing, and the floor below was the next stop, however the water level was almost to the ceiling of the basement. They demonstrated this on the floor above, simply moved a door and again, a hole leading to the next floor. They also demonstrated hoe rotten the doors are quickly becoming. So firstly avoid walking over door where necessary, and always look where you are going, as not every hole is covered.
We were there and a coach trip of local turned up to trash and tear through the place, no care in the world, one of them could have easily caused serious harm, if not death to themselves. Wear good footwear also, as the floor is littered with glass, nails and rotting floor boards. I would also be very vigilant when opening/going through doors as the majority of them have 6 inch long screws just sticking out, from previous attempts and securing the building.
The building does contain both asbestos and black mold. Warnings for these can be spotted but sadly most of the warning labels have been torn down and screwed up, so take you respirators with you if you have them ,, if not take extra care and ignore the rooms which obviously mould issues, and if the basement does dry out, DO NOT go down there as black mould will be down there for sure. This is a lovely place to go, but it is getting more and more vandalised as the time goes on and it's slowly losing its elegance.
I suppose a lot of this is common sense, but to anyone new to this, and have plans to head there, take you time, and take all the precautions you can.
There are enough reports on this locations history, but not much on the safety issues. Now I understand that with this hobby the risks are high, but this place really does top the leaderboard. We decided to arrive at about 8:30pm. Upon arrival there were many other groups there doing as we were, and a local couple who were regular to the locations as photographers. They warned up to not walk over any of the hundreds of doors that are ladened on every floor. As an example they showed us one place on the ground floor, and a door was covering a whole section of floorboards that were missing, and the floor below was the next stop, however the water level was almost to the ceiling of the basement. They demonstrated this on the floor above, simply moved a door and again, a hole leading to the next floor. They also demonstrated hoe rotten the doors are quickly becoming. So firstly avoid walking over door where necessary, and always look where you are going, as not every hole is covered.
We were there and a coach trip of local turned up to trash and tear through the place, no care in the world, one of them could have easily caused serious harm, if not death to themselves. Wear good footwear also, as the floor is littered with glass, nails and rotting floor boards. I would also be very vigilant when opening/going through doors as the majority of them have 6 inch long screws just sticking out, from previous attempts and securing the building.
The building does contain both asbestos and black mold. Warnings for these can be spotted but sadly most of the warning labels have been torn down and screwed up, so take you respirators with you if you have them ,, if not take extra care and ignore the rooms which obviously mould issues, and if the basement does dry out, DO NOT go down there as black mould will be down there for sure. This is a lovely place to go, but it is getting more and more vandalised as the time goes on and it's slowly losing its elegance.
I suppose a lot of this is common sense, but to anyone new to this, and have plans to head there, take you time, and take all the precautions you can.
