Heavy Plant Scrapyard, RAF Folkingham, Lincs, May 2017

Derelict Places

Help Support Derelict Places:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

HughieD

Super Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Supporting Member
Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
5,528
Reaction score
11,129
Location
People's Republic of South Yorkshire.
1. The History
RAF Folkingham is a former Royal Air Force station located to the south-west of Folkingham Lincolnshire. It opened in 1940 and was used by both the RAF and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used mainly as a troop carrier airfield for airborne units. Post- war it was placed on “care and maintenance” in 1947. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the RAF Bomber Command used Folkingham as a Thor Ballistic Missile base. On the closure of the Thor site, British Racing Motors (BRM) used the site to tested it cars there, but only remained for a few years. In the late 1960s the runways and some nissen huts were used by Lincolnshire Police as a driver training and skid pan area. In the mid-1960s the testing track closed and the airfield was sold off to local farmers.

Most of the runways and the peri-track were broken up for hardcore aggregate after the sale of the airfield by BRM. Today nothing remains of the technical site located to the north-east of the airfield. Part of the southern-half of the airfield remains including the full length (and width) of north-south main runway. This is now used as a vehicle compound for Nelson M Green & Sons Ltd. The company specialises in the storage of decommissioned and scrapped agricultural vehicles, lorries and other heavy plant. The vehicles, many often rare and long out of production, are stored for the resale of their spare parts. The majority are stored down either side of the main runway but abandoned plant also lines the sides of the remaining perimeter track and several of the old dispersal loops.

2. The Explore
Been on my list to do for a while. So eventually one sunny morning I headed off, parked up and made the short walk through the woods to the site. It’s a really weird place. You can smell the diesel that has leaked from all these old machines as you walk the former runway. They are lined-up down both sides and go on for hundred of metres. However, the older more interesting wrecks (including the DUKW) can be found around the old dispersal loops closer by to the wood. At first the place is a bit overwhelming but after a while you start to pick out the small and interesting features on the vehicles.

3. The Pictures

It’s a snake..nooo, it’s a caterpillar!

34666747790_3905354a76_b.jpgimg0634 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Dozer:

34667017330_d1355d894e_b.jpgimg0655 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Serious crane action:

34954760191_c3413391e7_b.jpgimg0691 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34923138261_f6d2f784a1_b.jpgimg0637 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34275094253_88f2a3e393_b.jpgimg0692 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34244060043_a098547ddc_b.jpgimg0639 by HughieDW, on Flickr

This heavy-duty crane looks pretty serviceable still:

35054569035_84cec20ddc_b.jpgimg0644 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34923029211_ab08d7024a_b.jpgimg0650 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34692053690_8cda3974bc_b.jpgimg0656 by HughieDW, on Flickr

An old speedo:

34691973190_fe60dc5227_b.jpgimg0658 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34948570231_56234e6d95_b.jpgimg0662 by HughieDW, on Flickr

35046153466_d13b0072f5_b.jpgimg0664 by HughieDW, on Flickr

35085825035_3eb0114b4d_b.jpgimg0670 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34921680042_d6879f557f_b.jpgimg0672 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34242284684_7ab769ffbd_b.jpgimg0674 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34242258954_7b16d29775_b.jpgimg0675 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34242100834_898fdc2810_b.jpgimg0681 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34698533130_905183578f_b.jpgimg0685 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34698477920_6cabb9003e_b.jpgimg0687 by HughieDW, on Flickr
34921230222_a264352c9d_b.jpgimg0695 by HughieDW, on Flickr

On to the older stuff on the dispersal loops:

35046652446_6fe7eb1617_b.jpgimg0718 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34955918421_c86b017fa0_b.jpgimg0700 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34699455120_84b6555251_b.jpgimg0704 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34699406080_59778fcd2a_b.jpgimg0706 by HughieDW, on Flickr

35046484346_7c2439a193_b.jpgimg0708 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34955711731_cf5e0523e4_b.jpgimg0710 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34275876253_87f9b23f33_b.jpgimg0713 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34242571844_9a2efd91a7_b.jpgimg0716 by HughieDW, on Flickr

34275626733_d3a1bdc8ce_b.jpgimg0717 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And finally, on to the DUKW Amphibious vehicle, used during the D-Day landings, produced between 1942 and 1945, and used by the British Army up into the 1970s.

34955611741_cebcaae42d_b.jpgimg0712 by HughieDW, on Flickr
 
That one that looks 'pretty serviceable still' is likely to be the crane the owners use to move stuff around on site, as it's still an active business. That'd be why the windows are covered, to stop idiots breaking the glass like they have done to almost everything else on site :(
 

Latest posts

Back
Top