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Report - - RAF Upwood - Cambridgeshire - August 2016 | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - RAF Upwood - Cambridgeshire - August 2016

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silentwalker

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
History
Royal Air Force or more simply RAF Upwood is a former Royal Air Force station adjacent to the village of Upwood, Cambridgeshire, England in the United Kingdom.

It was a non-flying station which was under the control of the United States Air Force from 1981, and one of three RAF stations in Cambridgeshire used by the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE). Upwood, along with RAF Molesworth and RAF Alconbury are considered the "Tri-Base Area" due to their close geographic proximity, and interdependency.

Since 1982, the Nene Valley Gliding Club has conducted its glider operations from a field that occupies the site of the old runways. Initially these operations were under an agreement with the Ministry of Defence. However, in 1995 the club was told they would need to find a new home as the land was going to be sold off. The club was unable to locate a suitable new home and was preparing for the possibility of having to close when the purchaser of the land, Marshal Papworth, agreed to lease the land to the club for 10 years. This has allowed the club to continue flying from Marshals Paddock (so named by the club after their benefactor's death in 2000).

Much of the RAF Upwood is unused, closed by the MOD in 1994. Most of the station was vacated and the land and buildings sold off to civil ownership.

Upwood is also the home of No. 511 (Ramsey) Squadron Air Training Corps who have been on the site since the early 70s. Originally housed in the old fire station the squadron moved to a number of buildings before settling in the old nissen hut church building. When the station was closed by the MOD in 1995, the squadron moved to the Upwood school. The squadron finally settled into the present building inside the fence in 1997.

In 2004 Turbine Motor Works purchased a large amount of property on the former base including the four C-type hangars. Their plan is to convert the property into a state-of-the-art jet engine overhaul facility. Together with the Nene Valley Gliding Club and the Air Cadet Squadron, this facility will ensure that the former RAF base will continue its aviation legacy well into the 21st century.

Part of the facility is now used by airsoft players.

Every year in August the site is home to the Ramsey 1940s Weekend, an event dedicated to recreating the sights and sounds of the 1940s. The event is held in aid of several local charities and has been rewarded with a tourism award. The weekend features living history re-enactors, period dancing, food, exhibitions and trade stands. This has now moved to the north-west side of Ramsey to "The Camp", a former searchlight base. As for the American medical wing it has been disused as of early 2013 and is still waiting for a buyer.

The Explore
Visited with @Porker of the night . This place is pretty much just a concrete and brick shell playground but still some nice shots to be had and quite a large site. Spent about two hours having a mooch around then thought we would set the ropes up on one of the towers and have an SRT session and muck around abseiling for an hour.

On to the pictures,

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18.
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Cheers for having a ganders :thumb
 

MrGrumpy

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Hi,

I live opposite RAF Upwood. As a resident we are having many issues with people parking and damaging our private land to visit the site. The site is a closed site and attempt to access it has not been granted by the land owners (Strawsons Holdings Ltd). There are a number of business within the old hangers but the rest of the site is secured by perimeter fencing which has been intentionally cut many times for "explorers".

Over the last year we have been suffering from people entering the site and releasing the livestock farmed to the south end of the site. The clearing up of these animal is costing valuable public money and residents time. Furthermore the police helicopter is sent to the site almost weekly to find "explorers" and assist wthr fire services putting out arson incidents.

Recently there has been reported a number of more serious incidents over the base including firearms being discharged and stick injuries from needles.

The police, parish council and Strawsons Holdings Ltd are in discussions how to make the site safe and possible bring proceedings against trespassers.

I really appreciate that many users on here are looking for a nice historical place to visit and do nothing more than walk around the site and take photos. But this has lead to an uncontrolled explosion is visitors, some as young as 12, and becoming a problem for local residents. Therefore I kindly ask for your support in restricting your visits to the base. I do not want to see anyone hurt or be kept awake by livestock or the police helicopter any more.

I really appreciate your support in this matter.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

elhomer12

Maglite size T-rex, It's time for urbex!
28DL Full Member
Hi,

I live opposite RAF Upwood. As a resident we are having many issues with people parking and damaging our private land to visit the site. The site is a closed site and attempt to access it has not been granted by the land owners (Strawsons Holdings Ltd). There are a number of business within the old hangers but the rest of the site is secured by perimeter fencing which has been intentionally cut many times for "explorers".

Over the last year we have been suffering from people entering the site and releasing the livestock farmed to the south end of the site. The clearing up of these animal is costing valuable public money and residents time. Furthermore the police helicopter is sent to the site almost weekly to find "explorers" and assist wthr fire services putting out arson incidents.

Recently there has been reported a number of more serious incidents over the base including firearms being discharged and stick injuries from needles.

The police, parish council and Strawsons Holdings Ltd are in discussions how to make the site safe and possible bring proceedings against trespassers.

I really appreciate that many users on here are looking for a nice historical place to visit and do nothing more than walk around the site and take photos. But this has lead to an uncontrolled explosion is visitors, some as young as 12, and becoming a problem for local residents. Therefore I kindly ask for your support in restricting your visits to the base. I do not want to see anyone hurt or be kept awake by livestock or the police helicopter any more.

I really appreciate your support in this matter.

Your problems sound much more related to kids/youths an explorers. I think I probably speak for most people on this website when I say we aren't dicks; we don't go around letting livestock out, mindlessly destroying stuff or driving over your grass verges, or otherwise annoying residents.

We might come and go, occasionally leaving a car parked on the road outside your house for a couple of hours, but what's wrong with that? What about all of the other people who visit Upwood? When I visited there was a group of youths smoking weed on a rooftop, and a couple of other groups of kids wandering around on their own. Do you think people who are old enough to know what they are doing, and the risks involved are more of a problem than these?
 

MrGrumpy

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thetimechamber The land owners are trying to sort it at the moment but are fighting a losing battle at this moment. There is a strong possibility that the chap in the car had nothing to do with the base itself, could have been anyone.

Elhomer12. I agree that this website certainly looks like a group of respectful people (although why do some people pixelate their faces if they have nothing to hide?) who do respect the environment and the beauty spots our country has.Unfortunately in its nature, this site is also advertising that entering places, like RAF Upwood is ok without permission. As for the car parking outside my house. There is a problem with it, I live on the estate directly opposite (Valiant Square) and it is all private land paid for and maintained by all the residents. Anyone not visiting the residents have no right to park on the roads or grassed area around the estate. We are trying to deal with the others entering the site. This is not a targeted rant at anyone on here specifically but I have started on this forum because when challenged some of the youths/locals referred to this site explicitly as to where they have found out about the base.
 

Oxygen Thief

Admin
Staff member
Admin
The local scrotes already know about the place, it's not exactly small and you can't exactly miss it. They may well have found this website afterwards, but even that is a long shot, we're on page 2 for a search 'RAF Upwood'.
 

silentwalker

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
The front gate is open to drive or walk into, hardly secure at all. Easiest explore to date, so chilled out and relaxing and no cutting fences for me. I did fancy petting some of the animals in the neighbouring fields but I was sadly out of time :thumb
 

Six

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
When I went I bumped into a couple of blokes working in there (who were definitely supposed to be there) and they were quite happy to let me carry on wandering around as I was.

As the comment above states, the gates are open. You can just walk in...
 

MrGrumpy

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
The gates are open 9-5 to support the businesses in the old hangers. Not for everyone to wander around. The people on-site are from other private companies and have no ability or inclination to tell people otherwise.

As for our estate, it's been fine for 20years without issue and now we are getting problems. Signs are being ordered by our management company at our cost.

I found this forum on a Google search and it was 2nd result not page.

Let's just make this clear, I don't really care how people on this forum got onto the site. I have actually really enjoyed browsing the site and seeing some of your amazing photography. I just want to use this board as a way of getting a message to people that there are a large number of people going to ruin it for a small number of enthusiasts.
 

silentwalker

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Well that site is no different and will not get any different treatment, you will get idiots arriving at every location, we on the other hand leave only footprints, the majority anyway. People aren't going to stop going there because of your comment, remember you are commenting on an exploring forum :thumb and as for your problem with parking on your estate and not on the RAF site grounds, that is a different matter entirely, please kindly leave my thread be :sleep
 

The Wombat

Mr Wombat
28DL Full Member
There wasn't any graffiti when I first visited, Sad how this place has gone down hill.
But just want to reiterate, that explorers won't have done the damage here; we just take the photos
 
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