- Joined
- Jan 6, 2013
- Messages
- 5,572
- Reaction score
- 11,208
1. The History
Searched high and low for info on this place but found absolutely nothing. Not a single shred of info anywhere on the internet. It's located over the Tamar from Plymouth and is actually in Cornwall rather than Devon. The only other thing I know about the site is that it dates back to World War II and has been abandoned for some time.
2. The Explore
Previously I had explored a fuel storage site closer to Cremyll. It’s above ground and easy to reach, if nothing spectacular. However, subsequently saw a very old report on 28DL on some underground tanks in the vicinity. What followed was a bit of research and thanks to good old OS maps, I managed to locate the four tanks. Hence on my next visit to Plymouth I took the ferry from Plymouth over the Tamar to Cremyll and then made the mile or so hike to where the path veered off the main road into the woods. It was easy enough to find the mound of tank no.1, although the entrance was a bit concealed. Having gone through the door it’s a left turn into a small valve room. There’s then a circular portal that you can climb through into the tank, presumably where a pipe would have been. Inside the vast tank was flooded with 7-8” of water. Hence it was a wellies jobbie which I’d thankfully packed in my back.
Inside it was pitch black and very, very echoey. The concrete ceiling was held up by a series of metal pillars while the sides were constructed of iron sheets. In the centre was what appeared to be a spiral heating element – probably to keep the oil pumpable. After a bit of light painting it was time to squeeze back through the portal and move on to tanks 2 and 3. These were relatively close together. The layout was pretty much identical to tank 1 although these two still had some of the hatches, pullies, valves and other bits of ironwork on the top of the tanks. There was also a nice winch outside tank 2. Both were again flooded and looked identical to tank 1 so didn’t go into these. Then it was back on the track and up the hill to tank no.4, the highest tank of the four. Again, a similar lay-out. However, this one was much dryer plus didn’t have the circular heating element. So, after more light painting it was time to pack up and walk up the hill, back to the main road and off to the next site.
Overall this was a really different place. Pretty much off the radar due to its rural location in woods. It’s the sort of place that you need good location intel on, but all-in-all, worth the effort.
Finally - thanks to Newage who got there just before me and confirmed that they were indeed where I thought they were!
3. The Pictures
The valve room here is the most complete:
img1866 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Into the tank we go:
img1858 by HughieDW, on Flickr
That spiral heating element:
img1856 by HughieDW, on Flickr
No scope for putting stuff down or knocking tripods over:
img1860 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Either the ‘out’ pipe or ‘in’ pipe:
img1862 by HughieDW, on Flickr
On to tank No.2:
Cremyll 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Complete with winch:
img1881 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1882 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The rusted entrance door:
img1875 by HughieDW, on Flickr
In addition to the valve room there was another empty storage space:
img1883 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The valve room was more far gone than the first and the worst condition of the four tanks:
Cremyll 02 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The entrance to tank no.3 was the cleanest:
img1884 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Cremyll 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr
But the valve system is in a poor way:
Cremyll 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Cremyll 06 by HughieDW, on Flickr
But it had the most metalwork on the top:
img1885 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1887 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1888 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1889 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Cremyll 09 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The value system is far less in-tact and very rust on this one. To the right is the hole you have to climb through:
img1900 by HughieDW, on Flickr
You can see the water is much shallower here. As I walked across the tank floor in one place the floor did a very disconcerting wobble!
img1893 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1898 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Back out again and here’s another hand winch:
img1906 by HughieDW, on Flickr
This is also the only tank to retain its metal service staircase:
img1907 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And finally, some more hatches, valves and pipes:
img1908 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1910 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1911 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Searched high and low for info on this place but found absolutely nothing. Not a single shred of info anywhere on the internet. It's located over the Tamar from Plymouth and is actually in Cornwall rather than Devon. The only other thing I know about the site is that it dates back to World War II and has been abandoned for some time.
2. The Explore
Previously I had explored a fuel storage site closer to Cremyll. It’s above ground and easy to reach, if nothing spectacular. However, subsequently saw a very old report on 28DL on some underground tanks in the vicinity. What followed was a bit of research and thanks to good old OS maps, I managed to locate the four tanks. Hence on my next visit to Plymouth I took the ferry from Plymouth over the Tamar to Cremyll and then made the mile or so hike to where the path veered off the main road into the woods. It was easy enough to find the mound of tank no.1, although the entrance was a bit concealed. Having gone through the door it’s a left turn into a small valve room. There’s then a circular portal that you can climb through into the tank, presumably where a pipe would have been. Inside the vast tank was flooded with 7-8” of water. Hence it was a wellies jobbie which I’d thankfully packed in my back.
Inside it was pitch black and very, very echoey. The concrete ceiling was held up by a series of metal pillars while the sides were constructed of iron sheets. In the centre was what appeared to be a spiral heating element – probably to keep the oil pumpable. After a bit of light painting it was time to squeeze back through the portal and move on to tanks 2 and 3. These were relatively close together. The layout was pretty much identical to tank 1 although these two still had some of the hatches, pullies, valves and other bits of ironwork on the top of the tanks. There was also a nice winch outside tank 2. Both were again flooded and looked identical to tank 1 so didn’t go into these. Then it was back on the track and up the hill to tank no.4, the highest tank of the four. Again, a similar lay-out. However, this one was much dryer plus didn’t have the circular heating element. So, after more light painting it was time to pack up and walk up the hill, back to the main road and off to the next site.
Overall this was a really different place. Pretty much off the radar due to its rural location in woods. It’s the sort of place that you need good location intel on, but all-in-all, worth the effort.
Finally - thanks to Newage who got there just before me and confirmed that they were indeed where I thought they were!
3. The Pictures
The valve room here is the most complete:
![48302394956_eace903923_b.jpg 48302394956_eace903923_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255020-48302394956-eace903923-b.jpg)
Into the tank we go:
![48302515872_693ebf9c4c_b.jpg 48302515872_693ebf9c4c_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255021-48302515872-693ebf9c4c-b.jpg)
That spiral heating element:
![48302518872_87ea2d64cf_b.jpg 48302518872_87ea2d64cf_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255022-48302518872-87ea2d64cf-b.jpg)
No scope for putting stuff down or knocking tripods over:
![48302399136_241876a2a6_b.jpg 48302399136_241876a2a6_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255023-48302399136-241876a2a6-b.jpg)
Either the ‘out’ pipe or ‘in’ pipe:
![48302397016_9e26930973_b.jpg 48302397016_9e26930973_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255024-48302397016-9e26930973-b.jpg)
On to tank No.2:
![48302579137_f28e4eba01_b.jpg 48302579137_f28e4eba01_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255025-48302579137-f28e4eba01-b.jpg)
Complete with winch:
![48302501402_6d67c053d5_b.jpg 48302501402_6d67c053d5_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255026-48302501402-6d67c053d5-b.jpg)
![48302499117_fb1236f6b6_b.jpg 48302499117_fb1236f6b6_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255027-48302499117-fb1236f6b6-b.jpg)
The rusted entrance door:
![48302505212_fa3f784435_b.jpg 48302505212_fa3f784435_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255028-48302505212-fa3f784435-b.jpg)
In addition to the valve room there was another empty storage space:
![48302382006_287a5f3a18_b.jpg 48302382006_287a5f3a18_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255029-48302382006-287a5f3a18-b.jpg)
The valve room was more far gone than the first and the worst condition of the four tanks:
![48302462111_874b82ca07_b.jpg 48302462111_874b82ca07_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255030-48302462111-874b82ca07-b.jpg)
The entrance to tank no.3 was the cleanest:
![48302494312_d2e99e32a4_b.jpg 48302494312_d2e99e32a4_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255031-48302494312-d2e99e32a4-b.jpg)
![48302572687_274fc4b699_b.jpg 48302572687_274fc4b699_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255032-48302572687-274fc4b699-b.jpg)
But the valve system is in a poor way:
![48302458816_317ea6e87b_b.jpg 48302458816_317ea6e87b_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255033-48302458816-317ea6e87b-b.jpg)
![48302573422_0925c957b8_b.jpg 48302573422_0925c957b8_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255034-48302573422-0925c957b8-b.jpg)
But it had the most metalwork on the top:
![48302375651_07005385f9_b.jpg 48302375651_07005385f9_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255035-48302375651-07005385f9-b.jpg)
![48302373576_79c2e78538_b.jpg 48302373576_79c2e78538_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255036-48302373576-79c2e78538-b.jpg)
![48302371621_b5e938039e_b.jpg 48302371621_b5e938039e_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255037-48302371621-b5e938039e-b.jpg)
![48302369231_6ef43f23c4_b.jpg 48302369231_6ef43f23c4_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255038-48302369231-6ef43f23c4-b.jpg)
![48302455026_9f624454bb_b.jpg 48302455026_9f624454bb_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255039-48302455026-9f624454bb-b.jpg)
The value system is far less in-tact and very rust on this one. To the right is the hole you have to climb through:
![48302358976_1594a84f41_b.jpg 48302358976_1594a84f41_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255040-48302358976-1594a84f41-b.jpg)
You can see the water is much shallower here. As I walked across the tank floor in one place the floor did a very disconcerting wobble!
![48302479907_b64871fe0c_b.jpg 48302479907_b64871fe0c_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255041-48302479907-b64871fe0c-b.jpg)
![48302475377_7c3021a573_b.jpg 48302475377_7c3021a573_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255042-48302475377-7c3021a573-b.jpg)
Back out again and here’s another hand winch:
![48302469432_556712bdeb_b.jpg 48302469432_556712bdeb_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255043-48302469432-556712bdeb-b.jpg)
This is also the only tank to retain its metal service staircase:
![48302351276_89df6cb623_b.jpg 48302351276_89df6cb623_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255044-48302351276-89df6cb623-b.jpg)
And finally, some more hatches, valves and pipes:
![48302348991_7263dfd843_b.jpg 48302348991_7263dfd843_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255045-48302348991-7263dfd843-b.jpg)
![48302462282_848c185d32_b.jpg 48302462282_848c185d32_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255046-48302462282-848c185d32-b.jpg)
![48302342091_3b90fb8fe1_b.jpg 48302342091_3b90fb8fe1_b.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/derelictplaces/data/attach/255/255047-48302342091-3b90fb8fe1-b.jpg)
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