Report - Health and Safety Testing Facility, Harpur Hill - April 2016

[WildBoyz]

That's a great report WildBoyz and something completely different.

Thanks

 

[Scoobysrt]

I know this is an old thread but I've only just joined.
I found this thread particularly funny because I worked there for 15 years.
I was involved with the firework container experiment, we got the fireworks by shutting down a warehouse just before bonfire night.
I also was part of making the various train tests.
The site is littered with tunnels, some go for sometime and end in a nice big heated room.
The university of Sheffield site just above has even more tunnel networks.
I left before the new hsl building went up but other than that I know the entire site like the back of my hand, still have the master keys and still have my pass lol.

 

[paulpowers]

still have the master keys and still have my pass lol.

Are you sure that you want to announce this on a public site?

The tunnels are the old RAF Harpur hill site, aren't some of them used for food storage now

 

[Scoobysrt]

I don't see that it would matter to be honest but I can't do anything about it now anyway.
The place is covered in cameras so they won't be looking for me lol.

I remember I was doing the testing on the rail points from the Paddington rail crash and some Korean guy walked in with a camera, he was a spy and had come in off the foot path, he spent the night in jail lol.


The hse / hsl site was the barracks, the officers admin blocks. Most of the tunnels that were ammunition storage are outside of the hsl site opposite where the gokart track is now. On that corner incidentally there used to be a pill box made from brick, It wasn't in the best state when I was there and the camera hse had hidden in there stopped working a long time ago but I've not been there for coming on 15 years now so it may or not be there at all anymore.

No food storage in the tunnels while I was there as far as i know but a section of the tunnels were used as a mushroom factory for a long time.
There is a truck depot running from the tunnels and they do store certain things but I don't know about food.

There is a lot of the tunnel network never explored since the war ended and the munitions destroyed. There have just been left, a mate from the time i was up there went down some disused ones and found an old corporals hat but other than that the truck company pretty much have the entrance to the network locked tight with lots of cameras.

The whole area up there and around Harper hill has some amazing history, the old collage buildings were a good look around further up but now all demolished.
The fun we used to have during lunch time from collage at the blue lagoon, where all the girls used to go and sunbathe, those were the days lol.

 

[Scoobysrt]

I guess officially I'm still under the official secrets act but my feelings are stuff em.

I've some amazing stories from my times up there like the scientist who drove a site land rover across site to the stores then realised the banging underneath was the detonators and detonator cable wrapped around the axle hitting the floor pan because he drove over them to get out lol.

The time we did an explosion that came out 4-5 x more powerful than expected because a scientist didn't have his glasses on, we were paying for smashed windows a few miles away in burbage lol.

The contractors who knowing they were going to be working on the health and safety site still turned up with no personal protective equipment and had bits of nails instead of fuses in all their power tools which should have been 110v anyway lol.

Good times until a ton of steel fell off a crane on to me and ended my carrea.

 

[Truffle6]

We went up today. Couldn't be arsed to walk round etc so went to look at the blue lagoon which was disappointingly dyed black to deter swimmers from swimming in the 11.3ph water. Shame because it was beautiful.

What material did they used to quarry?