N.G.T.E Pyestock - June 2009

Visited with Randomnut, Wifebeater, Concentration F, Darkzac and non members Jim and Duff man.

Was such a hot day i was dead after about 5 hours everyone ran out of water. Site is massive and so much stuff to look at, so glad i finally got to see most of Pyestock.

History

In 1918 the Royal Aircraft Establishment was built at Pyestock (nr Farnborough) to develop aircraft engine technology. Sir Frank Whittle established Power Jets Ltd nearby to test and develop gas turbines / jet engines. In 1944 (or 1946 - it changes depending on where you read) it was nationalised and became the National Gas Turbine Establishment. The NGTE was one of the leading centres in the world and played a major role in developing jet engines for many years, including the one used in Concorde.

In the 1990s it became the Defence Research Agency and then the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. The government was reluctant to invest further in the agency and in 2002 it was privatised, with the government creating the company known as Qinetiq. Since privatisation the site has gradually closed down, with only a small portion of the site still being used by Qinetiq and Sigma.

Covering around 108 acres, the site is huge. Tesco want to knock it all down and build a distribution centre. A fantastic piece of Britain's industrial heritage will be lost.

My Pictures















































Matt

Some nice shots there Matt, have you got some HDR going on with the externals or just some wierd processing.

Shame I could not make it as Randomnut had asked me to join you........

cheers mate and yeah there are afew HDR shots

They look really good mate. Bravo. Gutted I couldnt make it. We have to do a retrip in September.

Mate,those shots of the bus exhausts are awesome..love the 4th one lots...I just love this place sooo much!

ukmayhem said:

Covering around 108 acres, the site is huge. Tesco want to knock it all down and build a distribution centre. A fantastic piece of Britain's industrial heritage will be lost.

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I dont really see Pyestock as a fantastic piece of history, I see it more as a derelict industrial playground that unfortunetly serves no real purpose anymore


As much as every explorer would love to save every derelict building in the country, this place really is well and truly unuseable isnt it?!


Maybe a distrubution centre would be a good idea, more jobs etc, and thats what this country really needs lets face it.

mcspringzy said:

I dont really see Pyestock as a fantastic piece of history, I see it more as a derelict industrial playground that unfortunetly serves no real purpose anymore


As much as every explorer would love to save every derelict building in the country, this place really is well and truly unuseable isnt it?!


Maybe a distrubution centre would be a good idea, more jobs etc, and thats what this country really needs lets face it.

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Yes you are probably right in saying it has no history, I mean the first jet engines EVER to be built came from here so it is pretty irrelevant ??? (Sir Frank Whittle irrelevant? Concorde irrelevant?)

A distribution centre is a good idea but not on my doorstep do you want to live with that 2 miles from yours? you will see a small increase of lorries going past your house but you may not notice as there will only be 16800 per week so it is not a great deal really is it ??

Yes the place is useless now as we test such engines with software and what is known as 'fluid dynamics' but that doesn't mean we should knock it all down without keeping a small area of it preserved as recognition to what this great place did for aviation as a whole.

Please open your eyes and ears before posting such comments as you have, if it was not for this place the plane that you sat in to go for your summer breaks abroad may never have existed...

Now tell me if this place has 'no history'......

Goodjob mate, Did you walk the gangway over blue pipes?

the harvester said:

Please open your eyes and ears before posting such comments as you have, if it was not for this place the plane that you sat in to go for your summer breaks abroad may never have existed...

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mcspringzy raised a valid point though. Despite the history; preserving every single building for the sake of it's history just isn't possible; no matter how good an explore they are. It just means we are left with empty buildings that were once important.

I see a lot of "outrage" on here about buildings and people unwilling to open their eyes and ears. But the truth is that some just can't be kept no matter how much we like them. Just be thankful that we got to see them while they were still there.

Good job they didnt have views like Mcspringsy`s regarding history when they decided to renovate Crofton Beam Engine near Marlborough or Levant Engine house in Cornwall or these gems would be lost forever..no-ones saying Pyestock should be made into a giant museum,only that at least a part of it should be preserved, as it IS part of our aviation history ok...end of.

klempner69 said:

r..no-ones saying Pyestock should be made into a giant museum.

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Fair point; a balance between heritage and progression I can understand.

And I forgot to mention; nice report. (not sure about the HDR though)

The_Revolution said:

mcspringzy raised a valid point though. Despite the history; preserving every single building for the sake of it's history just isn't possible; no matter how good an explore they are. It just means we are left with empty buildings that were once important.

I see a lot of "outrage" on here about buildings and people unwilling to open their eyes and ears. But the truth is that some just can't be kept no matter how much we like them. Just be thankful that we got to see them while they were still there.

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Thankyou for adding this, I didnt mean it had no history whatsoever for the ones that decided to get all defensive. What I meant now is it clearly doesnt serve a purpose anymore, I also didnt mean distroy all evidence of it as im a great believer in conservation. Just for the comments saying its catastrofic that they're considering building a depo here, need to look at the wider picture, other that their playground is being pulled down.

whoa whoa whoa the history is taken from wikipedia and not the views of me


Matt

Great stuff, and some nicely composed shots. I would say that some of the post processing is a bit overcooked though.

Great pics pal somewhere i need to go - well done.

I just love seeing the photos of this place. Being a housemouse I don't get to venture far from home and I've only viewed this place from outside the fence. Nice to see what lies beyond the boundary without risking my neck. (It isn't necessary to be an active member is it to belong - can I just look at the pictures and dream?)

Oh yeah and this is my first post..... be gentle with me!

that place looks huge!
loving your HDR pics

housemouse said:

I just love seeing the photos of this place. Being a housemouse I don't get to venture far from home and I've only viewed this place from outside the fence. Nice to see what lies beyond the boundary without risking my neck. (It isn't necessary to be an active member is it to belong - can I just look at the pictures and dream?)

Oh yeah and this is my first post..... be gentle with me!

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Welcome Housemouse,beyond that fence lies my utopia..trust me its heaven!

pyestock

klempner69 said:

Welcome Housemouse,beyond that fence lies my utopia..trust me its heaven!

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Not my idea of heaven Stu..............but living with u i get used to it