Concrete Blocks Found Near Hunsdons ILS Beacon....Any idea what they where??

I too posted another response, this too is not showing..ho hum.

netcompsys wrote:

The base of a bootscraper?

Quite possible Kevin. The difference in my experience is that 'tie-down pickets' are usually solid concrete blocks with regular sides having been cast in a shuttering box whereas the boot scrapers were embedded in a laid concrete building surround adjacent to entry doors and, when dug out during demolition have a much thinner section of concrete on top and a base of aggregate and soil.

Every tiedown I have seen or found at Hunsdon have been regular truncated pyramid types with a steel ring set in the top. These blocks are smooth sided, almost like construction blocks . The steel plate has two handles for want of a better word, these are made of round bar steel, threaded, and secured to the plate with nuts. Many of Hunsdons tie downs have been removed and are found around the village as driveway bollards, many more lurk in odd piles of rubble bulldozed into corners of fields. I really do not think these are tiedown or 'bootscrapers'
Eight of these blocks are all together right at the surviving ILS beacon pad that is itself lies some 250 yards or so from the end of the secondary runway. No other airfield rubble is anywhere near this location.

So the metal plate overlaps the block at the ends with the threaded portion of the 'handle' protruding through the plate and secured with a nut? How then is the plate attached to the block?

Tie-down were simply constructed, some as you describe, so as to be easy to manufacture. The mystery blocks then look to serve another function.Thinking caps back on....

Thank you Peter. I think The plates are themselves bolted to the blocks,having said that I may take another look at them this weekend and rephotograph them for better clarification.. I will also measure them too.. Many times in the past have I found strange and unusual items of concrete manufacture at Hunsdon wondering what part they played. It's these things that are not documented or appear on any plans that interest me greatly...you can't beat a bit of concrete to stir the soul !

Denis wrote:

...you can't beat a bit of concrete to stir the soul !

Couldn't agree more

If you ever feel the need for a walk around to see what still remains, then give me a shout.
A lot more than meets the eye !

Next time you visit an outdoor market you may notice various extempore methods of securing the sheeting used for a roof on the stalls, which in high wind acts as a sail .One favorite method is concrete cast in a bucket. Perhaps the blocks were for tents or tarpaulins spread over outdoor stores which could be placed over the edges of the tarpaulin where it reached the ground.

The ILS beacon would have had wire stays to hold it upright, usually connected half way up the pole or higher. Are these the weights on the other end of the cables that supported the aerial?

Its just a guess. If I was taking one down for scrap, I would pile anything like this at the base of the aerial and clear off with anything of value.

Anecdote OFF TOPIC

Scrappers take short cuts. On the Alton to Basingstoke railway the scrap train retrieving the track cut off the rails either side of the level crossings leaving the track in place under the road. I investigated with a metal detector and marked the metal "finds" with water based white paint and connected the blobs. Two perfect parallel lines, 4ft 81/2 inches apart. Aroused a LOT of curiosity with the locals, resulting in some mischief from us!!.