RAF Poltimore /
Account written by: Groobs
Just in case
you hadn’t clocked the date of this exploration, it’s worth pointing out that
this trip was undertaken by CookFromFrozen, UncleEggMan and I, as
part of our Halloween get-together. I had visited this site before, (note
daylight images) on a solo effort, and it turned out to be a really sketchy
location. I got some really weird vibes the further into the structure I went.
Based on the fact that it had spooked me out, and wanting something to do
before we went back to my place, for an evening of scary movies and even
scarier metal (as presented by Mulletman), it was the obvious choice. It was a
cold and clear night and we were on site for about an hour.
I know a little
about the history of the place, but less than I’d like really. I understand it
was an RAF command base during WW2, and that a second building may have been
established later, during the late fifties. I guess the base was abandoned in
1996, there are some documents inside that suggest this. Due to time
limitations (Told the Wife that we’d be back in time for mulled wine and
chilidogs, Grr.) we were only able to thoroughly explore the older of the two
buildings. A second trip is planned to explore the other building shortly,
which looks to be the more interesting of the two. *NEWSLINK* It looks to be a fairly bomb-proof
structure and various signs inside indicate that whatever it’s purpose, there
were facilities in place for an NBC (Nuclear/Bio/Chem) attack.
We’d rolled up
and parked by the gates to the base and following some minor preparations, made
or way to the chem-proof building for a scout round. The door to this building
is impressive and gives a clear indication of the buildings purpose. It’s well
thick and bolts the frame at about ten different places, it’s real tough to
move, even on greased hinges. A peculiar peep-hole lens affair sits in the
middle of the door, calling itself a ‘Judas Lens’ (No… me neither). We’d only
got as far as the plant room near the entrance when the head-torch we had taken
with us began to fail, despite having a brand new battery. (?) Very weird, and
frustrating given that it was the only light we had.
As an aside to
this account, take heed of the following advice: The next time your
Wife/Girlfriend/Mum advises you to… take your mobile phone/wrap up warm/take an
umbrella or in this case, take a candle in case of torch failure, then just do
as they say. Women of all ages and experience obviously have a link to the gods
that we’ll never understand. I remember rolling my eyes at my wife when she
suggested it, laughing at the narrow likelihood that, with two spare bulbs and
two new batteries, my torch would fail. But fail it did and bless her, she
rescued this trip with her sage-like advice.
We decided to
move over to the left hand building, the WW2 command section, for a look round.
Given that I’d been in before and knew my way around, it seemed the safer bet
in candle light. The building is in an advanced state of disrepair and now
appears to be used as a dumping ground by a building firm. There is a central
corridor, from which stem several rooms to either side, many of these rooms
still have plates or lettering on them indicating their original purpose.
Although it has to be said, most of these rooms are totally boring, there’s nothing
in them at all. The single candle mounted in an empty can of Carling, provided
us with a surprising amount of light and actually better served to illuminate
large areas than the torch. Advancing slowly toward the main ops-room there
were some very eerie bangs and crashes heard in the distance, at one point
freezing all three of us on the spot. We approached the ops room from the upper
floor, where there were tiered sections looking down on the main floor,
interestingly there are also the remnants of one of those map tables, as seen
in all your favourite war movies, where those WRAF dollies push troops and
vehicles around like mantoys. A main office overlooks the whole affair and is
now the site of some severe damp damage and bitchass ten-year-old-style graffiti,
at a guess, this would have been the C.O.’s office, and I reckon if he was here
still, he’d have something to say to the destructive little blighters, what!
Even in the glum and flickering candle light though, it’s quite easy to see
exactly how this large room would have functioned in it’s operational days.
Having moved
through most of the buildings upper levels, we made the decision to visit the
crawlspaces and tunnelled areas that make up the basement. I’m surprised we
bothered, we were already quite freaked by some of the noises we’d heard and
this section of the structure is quite literally at the heart of the place and
consequently, very dark, very claustrophobic and probably not the safest place
to be. We emerged safely at the ops-room floor, the largest open space in the
building, and made our way to the back offices where dripping water upped the
scare value. Inevitably, CookFromFrozen
decided to try and crack UncleEggMan’s tough shell by scaring the anus off of
him. It kind of worked. But time’s up, best we head home.
Well, we’d had a fairly
uneventful but ultimately, successful trip to RAF Poltimore and after taking a
few goofball pics with the camera, we headed back home. Our next trip promises
to be much more in depth and with even more photo’s.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS SITE IS NOW IN USE AS A PAINTBALL PARK.
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