disused airfield fixture and fittings

This mite have been covered else where but here goes. What happened to all the fixtures and fittings ie

runway lights
taxi way lights
boards
distance togo boards etc

when the airfields closed after the war and they became surplus to requirment

I'd imagine alot would be scrapped, burnt, or buried.

Or stolen by (have to be careful here these days) unscrupulous people.

You mean some of the people on this forum?

WJT;65642 wrote:

Or stolen by (have to be careful here these days) unscrupulous people.

Or if permission has been given, removed and preserved?

I've often wondered where things end up. I would imagine many, once a site was closed, would have removed by the locals or landowners just clearing up after the site had been vacated. Shame really. And yes, I'm sure theft does still occur by persons unknown which equally a shame. Like any archaeology or historical artefact, once stolen it looses its historical context and value. Legitamtely acquired, at least you can say for definite where it came from and if something is removed, photograph it in situ first, so it is properly recorded, making note of where and when it was acquired. This at least should give give it some provenance.

Chris

Dont forget that after wwii there was a great shortage of many things, such as building materials. Can you blame people for "liberating" things? And lests face it even today MOD wastes things.

A couple of years ago I was working in a small copse about a mile or so down the road from RAF Chedworth, the trees surrounded a small quarry,about 50/60 yards across.
while speaking to the landowner he revealed that the quarry had been used as a tip for the airfield, and during its last days of being operational "stuff" was being tipped in it by the lorry load!
Obviously I had a mooch around and did find no end of RAF crockery, bottles,and lots of lumps of metal,this was revealed just kicking the leaves around, I also found the remains of a military hobnail boot!
quite what lays deeper down is anyone's guess, could be worth going bck with a pick and shovel
in one corner of the quarry is an old limekiln,this was quite deep (like a well) and was full of some sort of sheets of metal and old metal containers, unfortunately I couldnt reach anything or identify the items because it was so dark.

When fixtures and fittings or an airfield with them on closes they generally go back to a central store, for either onward use on another site or if after long storage and decided as obsolete later disposed/sold as scrap.
As an example ATC and lighting equipment goes back to Henlow, though some lighting is sometimes held on the for a while.
I'm guessing the end of war base closures examples would be slightly different, but would think that a similar storage and reuse system was in place. It would be rarely that the kit was left out in situ for the locals to scavange, and as someone else mentioned, scrap values were high and reuse still a nescesity.

would that include the miles or electrical cable that runs under the ground and other municipel stuff.
You think there would have been alot of stuff to clear and store.
I know that when the replaced the lights on main runway at linton they disposed of them in bomb store. also the light of the disused and all the equipment to. junction boxes transformers etc