"Tube Alloys" Valley works - Sep 2015 (permission visit pt2)

Hi All

Second part of my visit to "Valley works", This is the part called "Tube Alloys" and was the home of the UK`s research project in to building an Atomic bomb in WW2, it ran along side the work carried out in the US and Canada called the Manhattan Project. Tube Alloys looked in to ways to separate heavy Uranium isotopes U235 and U238 using Gaseous diffusion.

The building used (Building P6) was a redundant building from the chemical weapons plant, P6 was built to produce Pyro another form of Mustard gas. As it was spare and out of the way, the Tube Alloy project was set up here.

It`s a shame that bats nest in this building so it off limits 27/7 and sealed, but.....

Just remember if you are in to cold war structures etc it all started here.

Road leading to P6 building





Concrete tank bases outside R3 RUNCOL building



Looking at the outside of the main P6 Tube alloys building.



Inside building P6 where the experimental gaseous diffusion research was carried out.





Well there you go, one of the most important (in my view) building in our history in the last 70 years.

Thanks for looking all comments are most welcome.

Cheers Newage

Funny how such a monumentally important building of the C20th can look so normal and unassuming.

Excellent report and good history as well. Its amazing that you see an ordinary building and you think "Wonder what was there? But that building is certainly significant.

The site can't have better protection than it's getting from the Batty folk, without them chances are it would be buggered, fantastic report Newage and good pics, I enjoyed it immensely, Many Thanks