New Member from South Norfolk, UK

To introduce myself - I am a volunteer at the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum at Thorpe Abbotts.
We are carrying out a survey of the operations block at Flixton airfield.
Although we have plenty of 'today' photographs, can anyone advise where we obtain actual war time internal photographs of this particular kind of ops block.
Also, I am a member of the Waveney Valley Study Group (U3A) and we have put together a presentation of airfields in the Waveney Valley area.
We visited Hardwick and the eastern fuel depot which has a elevated ramp around the centre of the pump house. The ramp is built on the usual flat surface of the fuel stores. I have looked at a lot of pictures and visited local fuel stores that are left, but cannot find any with a ramp. Can anyone advise as to why Hardwick has this particular ramp.
Thanks in advance.

I often used to cycle to Hardwick as a lad in the sixties and I remember this particular 'oddity' and my pals and I would ponder its purpose to no avail. Like you, we never found its like at any other airfield we went to, so after fifty years, an answer would be handy - ! We did find a number of empty 2" mortar rounds at the site though; needless to say, they went straight into our saddlebags to show off at school the next day - !

........We visited Hardwick and the eastern fuel depot which has a elevated ramp around the centre of the pump house........

Would you clarify please. Do you mean that there was an angled ramp from the ground into the pump house or that there was an elevated platform around the structure?

PETERTHEEATER;163899 wrote:

........We visited Hardwick and the eastern fuel depot which has a elevated ramp around the centre of the pump house........

Would you clarify please. Do you mean that there was an angled ramp from the ground into the pump house or that there was an elevated platform around the structure?

Thank you for getting in touch.
The ramp went from the pump house all the way round and down back to the other side of the pump house.
The structure definitely looks like a wartime build as the bricks are all crumbling with age.
A mystery!

SimonGee;163893 wrote:

I often used to cycle to Hardwick as a lad in the sixties and I remember this particular 'oddity' and my pals and I would ponder its purpose to no avail. Like you, we never found its like at any other airfield we went to, so after fifty years, an answer would be handy - ! We did find a number of empty 2" mortar rounds at the site though; needless to say, they went straight into our saddlebags to show off at school the next day - !

Thanks for getting in touch.
It is an oddity.

Welcome Candyapplered! I'm very local to TO and will probably know you from my many visits there

When are you doing the Flexion survey? I am happy to help if I am about and if I'm needed.

Interested to hear of the Hardwick fuel conundrum, would like to have a look at that myself so will take a ride out there soon to have a look.

Cheers for now

Rich

Is this the Bulk Fuel Installation to which you are referring?

wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=5...grat=None&rgrat=None

Yes, it's the one I'm referring to. However, I don't recall any buildings in the immediate vicinity, but there were a lot of trees close by even fifty years ago so we may well have simply not noticed them. But it was the odd shape of the ramp that puzzled us; just like a slice taken out of a huge Edam cheese. Maybe some of us can meet up there some weekend and ponder the site ourselves - ?

SimonGee;164092 wrote:

Yes, it's the one I'm referring to. However, I don't recall any buildings in the immediate vicinity, but there were a lot of trees close by even fifty years ago so we may well have simply not noticed them. But it was the odd shape of the ramp that puzzled us; just like a slice taken out of a huge Edam cheese. Maybe some of us can meet up there some weekend and ponder the site ourselves - ?

I'm up for that Simon, been a while since we had a day out

Richard wrote:

Welcome Candyapplered! I'm very local to TO and will probably know you from my many visits there

When are you doing the Flexion survey? I am happy to help if I am about and if I'm needed.

Interested to hear of the Hardwick fuel conundrum, would like to have a look at that myself so will take a ride out there soon to have a look.

Cheers for now

Rich

Thank you Rich, but the survey has been completed.
Re Hardwick - it seems a mystery to everybody. The fuel store is on private property. I believe it belongs to the farm just to the north.