Buffer Depots

Re Hemswell I lived in MQ there 1969-70 and I am sure one hanger was grain then, re the 2001 F & M , from Leuchars we sent a couple of dozen control teams into Northumberland , Durham & Yorks, each was 2 x Jnco they had been on a 2 day course with the army prior to going on standby. This was after MAFF cock-up and an Army brigadier was put in charge of Ops. As soon as there was a suspicion on a farm it was cut off from the outside world by the police. on confirmation a military control team went in and acted as a link to Brigade HQ. They were the eyes, ears & mouthpieces on the ground, they told the police who could come on site or leave. eg they would tell HQ ready for X number vehicles; Contractor would then move in with plant load and by a clearly defined route take carcasses to disposal site; if there was a delay carcasses could be sprayed or powdered with lime- or slaughter could be delayed. It wasn't normal to take to a holding site. The whole thing was ill conceived but no doubt some MAFF desk wallah got an OBE for the plan to cart all this disease around the country. You are possibly aware in the 67 crisis HMF did the physical tasks contracters did in 2001, I spent 3 months working out of Oswestry RA training camp. No animals left the farm it resided on , the pits or fires were as near as possible to the central slaughter point on each farm but far enough to be safe, At cease work we disenfected our wellies PVC leggings & coats and into the back of a truck , at Oswestry the trucks were sprayed inside. everything we had worn that day was incinerated and we scrubbed down and then into a clean area to rerobe into clean gear.

I think we could be led astray about dates : Although CD etc went to mothballs in 1968 it was mainly ex WW2 stock that was sold off first, Some Goddesses and other vehicles went 70/71 but the bulk was retained , in 75 Scotland even did a lot of work to upgrade the remaining CD/AFS vehicles - by then known as Civil Emergency Columns and for fire- RED & Green Companies. Late in 75 the decision was taken to get rid of everything, So Strubby could have been a Buffer store as opposed to an Intervention store around 73-75. In 75 the plan to get rid of everything was thwarted by the trade unions as they saw all this mass of kit , most in mint condition flooding the market. It appears to have put a brake on the whole wind down, By the time the HO & scottish Office started to get to grips with it we had the 76 drought and lots of the vehicles and kit was issued out , again it was all put on hold, then came the 77-78 fire strike, and the rest is history. I think there is a definate overlap between Buffer and Intervention stores for grain , butter and tined meat. ?? Re Strubby I have never seen it mention in relation to CD assetts m other than grain.
TED

Here are 3 more depots I am following the order in Jenna's list :

TED

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Ted would Hemswell have had a grain store in the late sixties? Reason I ask is AFAIK grain stores only started with the good old EEC mountains, but I could be wrong!

We were told at the time it was part of HMG's strategic reserve ??

TED

Jenna;81350 wrote:

Go
Thanks for the photos Ted, lol I recognised the Ely (Chettisham) grain store straight away (its now called Chettisham Business Park)...

I recognised Chettisham straight away, for several years I worked for the company that owns the grain store and I was there on an almost weekly basis. About ten years ago a large amount of resurfacing was done to the yard, when the old surface was lifted pretty much all the old rail was still in-situ. There is a great view from the top.

The large silo contained eighteen grain bins in three rows of six (about 250 tonnes per bin if my memory is correct - but that's a bit of a guess as we weren't using them for grain so the density would be different). Much or the original equipment was removed when it was converted for its current use, but the silos are still used (although not for cereals). There were originally facilities for cleaning incoming grain, but these had been removed. In addition to the silos there is also a large flatstore on the railway side. The coldstore buildings were converted to offices and local distribution businesses and owned by a seperate landlord. From what I can remember, the silo was bought from MAFF who had been using it as an intervention store - probably up until the '80s.

As far as I am aware there was never a milling operation associated with the stores at Chettisham.

Ah that answers that Ted.

Not really buffer depot related but I have a vague memory (1980s?) of the hangars on the opposite side of Ermine Street from the airfield at Barkston Heath being used for grain storage, think its now in the hands of a haulage firm. The technical site at North Witham was used by Conder Seeds for grain storage etc before North Witham Specialist Vehicles moved in (mid 80s?)

This document lists buffer depots closed in the period under report see p 512. and lists 8 grain stores at pages 528/9- 4 of which were brought under Interventin board control during the report period.
Indications are intervention began in 1985, I suspect Buffer stock and intervention ran side by side for a few years. With the Buffer grain stores still operational becoming intervention facilities. They are all Hangers in this report. Report is dated 2001 .
TED
archive.treasury.gov.uk/docs/2001/nation...etreg/section_11.pdf

Id forgotten about the hangars at Barkston.

KEBECKER---Great news once more RCAF !! sorry to be off topic
TED a Goose Bay survivor !!