Living In An RAF Bomber Control Tower 🏠
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- A British Army veteran and his wife are making a home for themselves inside a former heavy bomber control tower.
RAF West Raynham station in Norfolk has been derelict for 25 years but is undergoing a transformation.
As Kirstie Chambers discovered, part of the building will become a heritage centre open to the public.
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I served here both at 66Sqn and the RTU! Always feel a little sad when these stations close or disband. Luckily for this one its used for commercial and living. I came here as a very young 18 year old in the mid 80's, fresh faced and all!
I would sooner see old airfields tastefully repurposed like this, than totally flattened and destroyed for housing.
Crazy thing is that so many HAD housing already. There's bases in America FULL of empty houses. Literally a bunch of streets full of houses just left to rot. It's remarkable the amount of perfectly functional buildings just deserted in the USA. Particularly military cold war stuff.
Like some historic aerodromes used during the Battle of Britain, now replaced by housing estates......once places that defended the realm, and took the fight to the enemy. I guess im a conservative at heart.
@@OffGridInvestor And with the high numbers of homeless people it would be perfect for them or even for the projected high numbers of fleeing asylum seekers from Afghanistan.
Couldn’t agree more so many of our airfields have been lost to housing or business units.Tragic really considering the role they all played in ww2.
RAF West Drayton is now a housing estate. Travelling to Paddington by train, I watched my old base slowly be knocked down and replaced by houses. It wasn't a flying base, it wasn't particularly visually appealing, but it had a history and a place in the annals of protecting this country that is now lost.
I used to live at RAF West Raynham, back in the early 90's as a child with my father served on 85 sqn. Obviously the sites changed over the years, though can't mistake the control tower and the surrounding buildings/hangers. Its fantastic to hear and see that its going to be a home. Also the heritage of 66 & 85 sqn will be kept going.. Keep up the good work
Wow just wow i served my apprenticeship at this base back in the 80's, i installed many floor coverings all over that base including in the tower, once i had passed my apprenticeship i serviced flooring repairs and installations to RAF West Raynham, Sculthorpe, and Swanton Morley, i remember the station commander did his office and house a very nice gentleman indeed thanks for sharing this brings back memories.
Shame we closed so many bases, we barely have any left!!
I don’t know why they should be kept open. If there is a military need, then presumably, they would have remained open. If there was a civilian need for an airfield, then an entrepreneur would have bought it as such. There was obviously a time when it was seen that we needed that number of airfields but now? The UK can no longer have pretensions to being a major military power with a large standing army, Air Force and navy. We are what we are and, rightly I believe, our meagre defence budget should be spent on smaller numbers but highest technology.
I suggest that the recent humiliation of the USA and NATO in Afghanistan will have focussed many minds on how much the USA can be relied upon. The answer for me was, and is, very, very little. The first priority of the USA is, correctly, the USA; the second priority should be to use the might that it has to be a rock for shared values. It is not a rock - it is shifting sand. That so-called special relationship must be laughed at behind closed doors in Washington. The UK hangs onto it as some sort of comfort blanket. The reality is that the special relationship has not existed since at least the mid-1950’s. At that point, in the Suez crisis, the USA made it very clear to the UK that it would effectively destroy the economy of the UK if it continued on its Suez adventure. If you remember the so-called golden age of the special relationship - Reagan and Thatcher, it was supposed to be almost a meeting of equals. The facts do not support this. The USA saw a change of power in Grenada and felt threatened by it (Cubans in Grenada! What a disaster; can’t have that - after all, Cuba itself is so much further way from America). So the USA decided unilaterally to invade Grenada. That is Grenada with a population of 111,000; which is one Grenadian for every 3,000 Americans;that is Grenada a member of the British Commonwealth. And yet, the USA invaded without telling the UK in advance. Couldn’t trust the UK?
So now, after Afghanistan, how must Taiwan be feeling? What about South Korea? What about NATO? Surely, even dumb politicians might wake up to the reality now. To paraphrase Kissinger “to be an enemy of America can be dangerous but to be a friend can be fatal
No point, we don’t have the planes or the manpower. And can’t afford anymore of either.
@@theofarmmanager267 excellent post👍
Thank you, for what you are doing for/to the control tower. All the best for your future, from an RAAF veteran.
Well done to all concerned.Keeping this important piece of uk history is the best tribute to all the service men and women who did their duty for us all.👏👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏
My first ATC Camp in 1977, all the way from Aberdeenshire.
Fond memories!
Thank you for your service. 🇬🇧 😜.
I think it would be pretty cool living in a converted control tower.
Do you
I lived there as a boy on Blicklin street I think it was. Out the front door….turn left and you were on the airfield. Turn right and you were at the play park. I was only about 4 and I fell off the slide and split my head open, 42 years later the scar remains. Was it the kestrel club that was on the camp? I visited a few years ago when the camp was empty, I spent most of the day wondering around and exploring. Sad to see the decay as it is with many an old RAF camp so great to see the tower get a new life.
Great to see history preserved.
WELL DONE to them for doing this. There is a control tower in the New Forest like this from WW2 that would make a GREAT home. Thumbs up and thank you for the video.
In 2017 on a visit from Australia I went to 'The Green Man' pub near Norwich in Norfolk, where my parents first met during the war. Just up the road, I walked around the old control tower at (formerly) RAF Little Snoring where my Dad worked as an air traffic controller in his last wartime posting. He went on to serve another twenty seven (total 35) years in the RAF.
^^^
Funny you should say that, as back in 2018, I took FOUR 'Antipodeans' to visit Little Snoring & Gt.Massingham
One of them (Kiwi, "Spinnaker John") has sadly since passed away (regrettably) but they all enjoyed the visit.
I used to visit a Pub nr Norwich called "The Green Man" in Rackheath, near a former B.24 8th Air Force base
Is that the same one you referred to, or, is it just another with the exact same name, by chance, coincidentally ?
I went round Raynham before it closed and again some years later. The second visit was very spooky seeing all the abandonment.
OMG . I Lived here in the mid 60s my father was with No 1 fighter sq and I rember riding my bike around the base with friends. I belive the planes that flew at that time were HAWKER HUNTERS AND ALSO THE HARRIER EARLY VERSIONS.
Yes, Hunter F6s, T7s and Fga9s of 1 and 54 Sqn. The Harrier predecessor was called the Kestrel. It was evaluated by the tri-national Kestrel Evaluation Squadron.
Stephan the owner said he found an old map of North Africa behind the wall and they were possibly doing some work there they were i was in the Army in the early 60s and we were in Libya North Africa on a big exercise following the tracks of the old 8th Army and we were attacked by Hawker Hunters from no 1 squadron 8 or 10 of them screamed in at about 40 or 50 ft they were absolutely amazing i will never forget them the best
Were the Aircraft in the Photos Javelins.
Oh wow. I served here in 1984, working in the station headquarters. I can remember that the RAF Regiment occupied the tower then and you needed to climb those stairs to arrive or clear the station from them. There was always a rumour around camp that the tower was haunted!! I believe that 'most haunted' with Evette fielding did a program from the tower for that very reason!!
Ed Durham was great Lightning pilot of 92 Squadron
in Gütersloh
6:02 You can see the old memories coming back when the F-35 flew over
I felt that he was thinking that he'd love to be able to fly these new jets.
Ed went on to become a Lightning pilot in-between his first tour at West Raynham on Javelins and later returning as Station Commander.
He was the fastest man on the airfield that day!
@@JBinthesticks wow, so he knows speed and high performance jets. Yeah, I can imagine you'd never want that to stop!
That would be an awesome house
Writes a letter to Putin to tell him that the RAF base is gone and that he lives there now so maybe he can not point his nuke at his house anymore.
He already know...
I served on the station from 1982-87, we called in on the way to kings Lynn in 2022, we parked outside our old house, where we had always parked when we lived there.. We walked around the old married quarters patch. we had walked around for about half an hour and not seen anybody. Walking up near the old NAAFI we saw a lady with a dog, so spoke to her, she told us the housing estate was alway quiet, as we headed back to the car she walked the same way. it turned out she owned and lived in the house we had lived in for five years.
Was our STcmdr when i was on 66 sqn, was a good man,, great to see he's still about..
Thanks for bringing this video
Most interesting documentary about a wonderful project. Good luck to everyone involved!
@Jon Booty and Shell are always most welcoming and a veritable mine of information.. We go in a motorhome and for a minimal fee stop for the night
Well done both! Keep up the great work!
Wow, what an amazing project! It certainly leaves Homes under the hammer lost for dust!
Fascinating and very well done to the couple. So nice that it isn’t being turned into something in fitting with its past.
What a wonderful home you will have...good luck.
I've often thought these wartime control towers could not only be converted into great homes, but also preserve these buildings important to the history of the UK. But as I don't live in the UK its great to know someone has the same thinking as I. 👍
Wow! My dream home and project. I'm so glad that it is in Shelly and Jon's hands and won't be vandalised like so many have been. I wish them the best of luck.
It already had been. There's over four years of work gone into it so far,
@@JBinthesticks I will never understand the mentality of the people who vandalise these important buildings. They must be insane.
@@CanadairCL44 much of the damage was from metal theft. It was rumoured the previous owner was complicit in the destruction of the whole site.
He went bust and we bought it from the receivers.
Good reporting.
My best posting only spent a year there. The last year of 85sqn ops was a great place so sad.
Wonderful, had a fantastic first posting as gen mech e 1987 to 1990...brilliant time,
Keep up the good work❤❤
I've visited this place a couple of years ago, very cool and I am sure they will make it a nice home. Pity they didnt leave some of the Bloodhound memorabilia there.
Ace - good luck!
I wish this couple well, My dream is to live in a lighthouse.
My dream is to live in a dreamhouse. 😜.
Very interesting but the Runway needs weeding ...
The runways are long gone unfortunately.
The hardstand which remains is the aircraft servicing platform. Yes, it needs spraying off. It doesn't belong to the tower.
What a great place to live. Do it justice.
Now that’s a cool conservatory
Cool 👍🏡
AWESOMENESS 😮
Great❤❤❤
So cool!
Tricia Takanawa vibes anyone?
Will you be keeping us updated on their progress?
Hi Toran
There is a Facebook page. Look up West Raynham Control Tower.👍
@@JBinthesticks start doing RUclips videos and you can monetise them, start earning some money from it...
@@richardharrold9736 if only we had time to produce videos. I'm better off just going to work
@@JBinthesticks just stick a GoPro on your head while working on the place, live stream it, no editing required, and you still have both hands free to work...
@@richardharrold9736 I get your point mate, but I have a full time job. I don't have time to dedicate to producing videos. An hour's overtime would bring in loads more than I'd earn from youtube in a week.
Could it be made possible for light aircraft.
i have driven down the runway in a Mini Cooper before they put barriers up a few years ago .
It's only the the ASP which you drove down.
The runways were much longer, on the other side of the tower and now covered in solar panels.
Good luck to him, a lot of the old RAF building have concrete cancer. Where I live now is like being back in barracks again, but thankfully more room. When I served you could touch the sides of each wall, it was more like a prison cell.
There was carbonation in the roof deck due to years of water pouring through. We dealt with that a couple of years ago.
Man in that photo looks like my ex RAF friend 5.08 next to Mr Durham gonna have to ask him!
SWAP ,PLEASE !
Admirable efforts to restore the building and make it habitable, the practical side of me wonders if it must be a pig to heat in winter though, airfields being some of the coldest, windiest places on earth… 🙂
Anyone else tried to brush the fly away?
😮Heaven 🤠🇬🇧🙏🚀
👍👍👍
maybe have aircraft donated and parked there
I can see the airbase from my house
It's very likely we can see your house from the visual control room then.😀
I (also) have always fancied living in a RAF air traffic control tower. That or a lighthouse.
I dread to think how much asbestos is in there! Keeping it warm with those windows £££. But good luck to them
There wasn't that much asbestos. About a grand to shift it. The windows are all double glazed, but not very efficient due to the thermal bridging of the steel frames.
That place would be an ass to insulate
It's got insulated cavity walls, double glazing, an extra 30mm going on all external walls and 200mm going into the roof.
We won't be getting any protestors gluing themselves to the roadways.😀
Surely haunted.
Well, now they're altering the inside it tends to stir things up, but if it's done in reverence, which it seems to be, might be ok. But yes, it's the first thing that came to my mind.
It's a post war building. No bumps in the night yet.🙂
I would be more than happy living there. I wonder how my he paid for it? U can get unbearable discounts on ex MOD properties & “no pun intended “ but they would all be built like tanks, so no worries regards the cones of these. If anyone knows the site that auctions these off then let me know please. Just imagine having the family over for a bbq, it would be amazing with all the space u will have also I wonder how much ground outside of the tower he legally owns?? Just to make a nice garden out there.
I'd renovate and reopen the airfield, rent hanger space, and have a maintenance centre and small fuel farm set up.
Create some low-cost lodgings, set up an aeroclub with a bar and snacks, man, I'm dreaming now 🤣 🛩 🚁 🤝
@@KumaBean ha, you could make a small fortune doing that. Trouble is, it would have needed to be a large one when you started off. Joking aside, I learned to fly at Swanton Morley back in 1978 when it was RAF SM, a key engineering training base with a Victor in its hangar for students to practice on. West Raynham was active back in those days of course, along with Coltishall and Sculthorpe. All gone now and others still being whittled away to this day. When I retired I moved to France as I still love to fly and they do their best here to keep local airfields open, which is why there are still so many of them and all (except the really major ones) free to fly into in ultralights.
battz99 ultralights and quadcopters
I've already expanded my plans to include a restaurant and a family camp site, I just need to speak to the farmer next door to sort out a lease 😂 👌 🤝
@@KumaBean Very best wishes and good luck to you sir. I hold you in the highest regard. Let me know where it is when the time comes and I will see about flying in the next time I come to the UK.
battz99 ultralights and quadcopters
It's a date, lol 🙂 🤝
His wife a good lier eh hahaha as long as he's happy that's the main thing lol
Nah, not really. We both enjoy the journey.
6:06 Pilots will *always* look when there is a sound above ground level. It also looks like he wants to be back up there. Don't we (well most of us pilots) all. Flying is a drug much more addictive than either methamphetamine or crack.
Imagine being down the pub with a woman who speaks like this narrator. People just don’t talk like that. It’s an affectation
It's the female version of Harry Enfield playing Jeremy Clarkson on Clarkson Island.
2 fruit cakes but funny couple lol 😂 will look nice when done 👍
Great stuff but have to say i hate this 'new way' of news presenters talking. Hold your nose and SpEaK LIkE ThiS. People don't normally talk like this and she doesn't talk like it in the video, just when narrating, so annoying!
Masks thats all,video fine ,so ease down !
sheeple...baa baa
It would have been a good documentary if they didn’t mumble so bad because of those damned face diapers. 🤬
Well, if you visit the tower these days, you won't find any masks because it isn't the law anymore.👍
Go away with the masks🤬🤬
It was obviously the law at the time of filming !