RNSD Topsham 3 /
Account written by: Groobs
I’m still conscious that RNSD
Topsham is nothing more than a collection of empty hangars and I’m genuinely
unsure of what it is that’s keeping me interested in the damn place. The visit
this account describes pretty much answered this question though. It’s because
it’s a very big place, with still a hell of a lot of stuff to explore. I’d
seized what I saw as a flash opportunity to avoid attention from golfers on the
nearby course by going into the site during some very strong winds and heavy
rain. The weather was moody to say the least and any golfer doing their thing
on a day like today ought to seek help… Says I…
Entry was tres
easy, as per previous visits, with the weekend closure of the NHS office and
the foul weather making for a pretty carefree strut around the lower section of
the site. As described in the account for the previous visit, I’d so far been
unable to gain access to the larger hangars and was looking forward to checking
it all out. The light conditions weren’t great and I’m still honing my weak-ass
skills with the new camera, so apologies for the noise on some of the shots.
If the lack of
unwanted scrutiny from onlookers made for an easy visit, then the weather soon
balanced things up some! Heading into the first hangar, I was aware of just how
windy it was – with brainshaking crashes and bangs coming from the corrugated
steel sheeting that has come loose over the years. Taking the time to get some
steady shots was not easy whilst aware of the fact that at any given moment, I
could be discombobulated by a rogue sheet of this stuff. There wasn’t a great
deal to see in terms of the content of these hangars – but the sheer scale of
them was definitely impressive. It was also totally atmospheric wandering
through these huge empty buildings in the middle of a storm. The extensive
struts of the roof creaked and groaned under the pressure, whilst unsecured
doors banged violently to-and-fro. The wild atmosphere tempered by years of
neglect.
I’d been there
about an hour and had taken my time already, so I considered getting back home…
until I noticed yet MORE buildings, a long way down the road. I followed the
old main access road to it’s conclusion at a heavy security gate, where the
facility is completely severed by the golf course itself! I managed to breach
the security gate (It was like that when I found it...) and foolishly ignored
the sign that told me the base was patrolled by mandogsecurityguards. The site
just seemed too old for anyone to even give a damn, so I wandered in. I’d been
snapping away for a few moments, when I spotted a HUGE building that looked
REALLY interesting, with ladder access to the roof and air ducts – but I’m so
glad I resisted the urge to go straight to it because after the ten minutes
that further exploration of more immediate buildings bought me, I was able to
spot a security guard before he spotted me, through a crack in a hangar door. I
was pretty alarmed to say the least, and saw only two common options: run or
hide. Neither seeming particularly appealing, I played safe and assumed he was
prowling because someone had reported my presence, and I hightailed it. It was
pretty funny, I had to time my runs in the open ground between hangars really
carefully and eventually managed to make it back to the security gate, only to
discover that the golfers HAD in fact arrived and were busy slicing their balls
all over the place! This meant that a straight run back up the access road
wasn’t possible and so I had to make my way back to the car through the large
hangars again, but all was well in the end. I don’t know if the guard was on
routine patrol or if he was reacting to my presence.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS SITE IS NOW PRETTY MUCH TOTALLY
DEMOLISHED