Noise Test Facility’s Anechoic Chamber-National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE Pyestock)
A little history…
This unique industrial site, part of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), once sat nestled within the secluded woodlands of the Hampshire countryside. Its development and construction began in 1949, and was the home of one of the world’s leading facilities into the research and design of the gas turbine/jet engines. Amongst its many significant contributions towards British engineering includes the design and testing of the engines for the “V” bomber, Harrier and Tornado aircraft. Pyestock’s air plant and custom cells facilities allowed a Concord engine to fly at Mach 2 from the safety of the ground.
Before demolition this was a truly fascinating place to explore, with its mazes of colossal sky blue pipes that snaked around the then silent site, which were once alive with the roar of gushing air. Sadly the buildings no longer stand, and the Pye playground is but a distant memory (last week is a distant memory for me), now the only surviving slice of Pye is the glorious Anechoic Chamber.
I have often explored sites under demolition, just to see how the remaining buildings earmarked for redevelopment have survived, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to witness the dismantling of these bizarre structures, once I had heard demolition was under way I just felt I couldn’t go back again…until now. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, this little box of treasures appeared on the scene last year. Through the grapevine I had heard it had been sealed up, until a recent pic from MR revealed it maybe possible once more, so I just had to give it a try. To be honest I didn’t hold much luck in getting inside, so I left my kit in the car as it was pouring down with rain and headed off into the woods. I had told myself that this was to be one of my “recces”, that way I had kind of prepared myself that I wasn’t going to get inside but was merely gathering info for a “real visit”…it’s my way of dealing with disappointment hahaha. However, to my total surprise after a little wander around the site I soon found myself inside this most surreal space. It took a couple of minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once they did I was amazed by its almost alien structures. I had to share my good fortunes lol, as I have no social media presence or social skills I sent out a few texts to give some folks the heads up, as I knew peeps would love to see this place
Here are a few pics from 2012 that show my favorite part of the site, its extensive and extremely arousing pipe network…so get off xhamster and have a look at some real porn…
2012 408 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 354 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 267 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 256 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 217 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 213 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 124 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 033 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 093 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 075 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
hmmmmm…I'm in the naughty chair again
After that little trip down memory lane, now for some more recent pics…
pyestock 090 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Wet wedges left out in the rain…purely functional apparatus, I am rather fascinated by these peculiar spikes! They are mounted onto a base frame in groups of 3 and cover the entire floor, walls and ceiling of the chamber
pyestock 072 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Sheltering from the rain
pyestock 153 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 174 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 146 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 129 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 099 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 108 copy by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 096 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 075 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 051 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 076 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 023 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 042 copy by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
The bases of 3 acoustic wedges form a single unit 610mm square. The wedges are made from bonded glass fibre and covered with a steel mesh
pyestock 035 (3) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Central upstream airflow intake pipe. The yellow metal poles on the right are moveable microphone booms.
pyestock 035 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
The acoustic wedges are arranged so that each wedge peak edges are at 90 right angles to each other for the best sound absorption
pyestock 015 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 040 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 046 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
To give an example of the scale of the place, you can see jsp in the downstream exhaust collector inlet. I’m not really too sure how tall jsp is in reality, as I only tend to see him climbing on top of things, I've never seen him standing on the floor.
pyestock 175 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Crumpled spikes
pyestock 075 (3) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 064 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Getting down low with the spikes…
pyestock 095 copy by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Wedges take on a different appearance when lit with LED lights, they look much colder and take on a stone-like appearance, hmmmmm….
pyestock 097 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Some soft spikes
pyestock 111 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Straps and spikes, I’m getting out of my depth…
pyestock 181 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Looks like one of them is goin on its hols
pyestock 196 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Hope you’re not fed up with them yet…I have them from many different angles and under different lighting, bear with me please, I’m not obsessed…
pyestock 198 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 183 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
They are with you in spirit in this shot
pyestock 124 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Oh look loads more of them
pyestock 046 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Acoustically lined exhaust duct…yooou want some?
pyestock 031 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 035 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Everywhere deserves a lonely chair
pyestock 145 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Low frequency exhaust splitters…ooOoh yeah give it to me
pyestock 028 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Brewtal and Gromr performing the opening sequences of their artistically complex contemporary dance performance that will be delivered to secca upon their arrival.
pyestock 109 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Fan silencers/exhaust extractor fans
pyestock 125 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Movable microphone surrounded by the high frequency splitters on the right and the low frequency on the left.
pyestock 133 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 138 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 184 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
So thanks for taking a look folks, I hope you all look at triangles differently from now on
A little history…
This unique industrial site, part of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), once sat nestled within the secluded woodlands of the Hampshire countryside. Its development and construction began in 1949, and was the home of one of the world’s leading facilities into the research and design of the gas turbine/jet engines. Amongst its many significant contributions towards British engineering includes the design and testing of the engines for the “V” bomber, Harrier and Tornado aircraft. Pyestock’s air plant and custom cells facilities allowed a Concord engine to fly at Mach 2 from the safety of the ground.
Before demolition this was a truly fascinating place to explore, with its mazes of colossal sky blue pipes that snaked around the then silent site, which were once alive with the roar of gushing air. Sadly the buildings no longer stand, and the Pye playground is but a distant memory (last week is a distant memory for me), now the only surviving slice of Pye is the glorious Anechoic Chamber.
I have often explored sites under demolition, just to see how the remaining buildings earmarked for redevelopment have survived, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to witness the dismantling of these bizarre structures, once I had heard demolition was under way I just felt I couldn’t go back again…until now. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, this little box of treasures appeared on the scene last year. Through the grapevine I had heard it had been sealed up, until a recent pic from MR revealed it maybe possible once more, so I just had to give it a try. To be honest I didn’t hold much luck in getting inside, so I left my kit in the car as it was pouring down with rain and headed off into the woods. I had told myself that this was to be one of my “recces”, that way I had kind of prepared myself that I wasn’t going to get inside but was merely gathering info for a “real visit”…it’s my way of dealing with disappointment hahaha. However, to my total surprise after a little wander around the site I soon found myself inside this most surreal space. It took a couple of minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once they did I was amazed by its almost alien structures. I had to share my good fortunes lol, as I have no social media presence or social skills I sent out a few texts to give some folks the heads up, as I knew peeps would love to see this place
Here are a few pics from 2012 that show my favorite part of the site, its extensive and extremely arousing pipe network…so get off xhamster and have a look at some real porn…
2012 408 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 354 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 267 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 256 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 217 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 213 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 124 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 033 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 093 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
2012 075 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
hmmmmm…I'm in the naughty chair again
After that little trip down memory lane, now for some more recent pics…
pyestock 090 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Wet wedges left out in the rain…purely functional apparatus, I am rather fascinated by these peculiar spikes! They are mounted onto a base frame in groups of 3 and cover the entire floor, walls and ceiling of the chamber
pyestock 072 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Sheltering from the rain
pyestock 153 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 174 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 146 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 129 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 099 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 108 copy by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 096 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 075 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 051 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 076 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 023 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 042 copy by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
The bases of 3 acoustic wedges form a single unit 610mm square. The wedges are made from bonded glass fibre and covered with a steel mesh
pyestock 035 (3) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Central upstream airflow intake pipe. The yellow metal poles on the right are moveable microphone booms.
pyestock 035 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
The acoustic wedges are arranged so that each wedge peak edges are at 90 right angles to each other for the best sound absorption
pyestock 015 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 040 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 046 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
To give an example of the scale of the place, you can see jsp in the downstream exhaust collector inlet. I’m not really too sure how tall jsp is in reality, as I only tend to see him climbing on top of things, I've never seen him standing on the floor.
pyestock 175 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Crumpled spikes
pyestock 075 (3) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 064 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Getting down low with the spikes…
pyestock 095 copy by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Wedges take on a different appearance when lit with LED lights, they look much colder and take on a stone-like appearance, hmmmmm….
pyestock 097 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Some soft spikes
pyestock 111 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Straps and spikes, I’m getting out of my depth…
pyestock 181 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Looks like one of them is goin on its hols
pyestock 196 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Hope you’re not fed up with them yet…I have them from many different angles and under different lighting, bear with me please, I’m not obsessed…
pyestock 198 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 183 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
They are with you in spirit in this shot
pyestock 124 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Oh look loads more of them
pyestock 046 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Acoustically lined exhaust duct…yooou want some?
pyestock 031 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 035 (2) by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Everywhere deserves a lonely chair
pyestock 145 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Low frequency exhaust splitters…ooOoh yeah give it to me
pyestock 028 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Brewtal and Gromr performing the opening sequences of their artistically complex contemporary dance performance that will be delivered to secca upon their arrival.
pyestock 109 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Fan silencers/exhaust extractor fans
pyestock 125 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
Movable microphone surrounded by the high frequency splitters on the right and the low frequency on the left.
pyestock 133 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 138 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
pyestock 184 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
So thanks for taking a look folks, I hope you all look at triangles differently from now on