This vast site (1050 acres) on the border of the Lake District was decommissioned in 1992 at the end of the cold war. The majority of the buildings and bunkers still remain and are reasonably intact. In 2008 Allerdale District Council bought the land from the Ministry of Defence for £1. The site as yet remains undeveloped, possibly due in part to the huge cost that would be involved in cleaning the site up (unexploded ordinance, large amounts of asbestos and unmarked mine shafts) . At present the site is used by one of the local farmers for his animals. On they day that we visited we were followed round the most of the site by a herd of cows, wherever we went we just couldn't shake them off. There are over 300 buildings on the site with a spoil heap from the original colliery rising in the centre.
The site has had various uses throughout its history: It was quite extensively mined for coal in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the 1920's a smallpox hospital was recorded as being in the north western area of the site. In 1938 work was started to turn the site into an Royal Navy Armaments Depot, this work was completed in 1939, the site was then extended to its present size in 1944. An explosion which killed 11 people and injured 70 more was reported in January 1944, the area affected was cleared and the damaged building redeveloped. The site was used to store various Ministry of Defence weapons until 1963 when it was leased to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) who used it to store explosive mines. For 4 years in the late 1970's it was used by the United States and then in 1981 it was adopted by NATO.
On with the pictures:
Thanks for looking.
The site has had various uses throughout its history: It was quite extensively mined for coal in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the 1920's a smallpox hospital was recorded as being in the north western area of the site. In 1938 work was started to turn the site into an Royal Navy Armaments Depot, this work was completed in 1939, the site was then extended to its present size in 1944. An explosion which killed 11 people and injured 70 more was reported in January 1944, the area affected was cleared and the damaged building redeveloped. The site was used to store various Ministry of Defence weapons until 1963 when it was leased to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) who used it to store explosive mines. For 4 years in the late 1970's it was used by the United States and then in 1981 it was adopted by NATO.
On with the pictures:
Thanks for looking.
