I've wanted to get into urban exploring for a while now and this seemed like a good place to whet my appetite. I popped by a couple of weeks ago for a nosey but inadequate footwear and a group of teenagers playing hide and seek meant another trip was in store. This time, I brought proper boots and a couple of friends along for a (socially distanced) look around.
RAF Manby has been well documented on here so we'll briefly summarise the history. Construction started in 1936 and the complex opened in 1938 as an Armament Training School. Officers were trained on a variety of aircraft from Hawker Hinds to Wellingtons, and the nearby Donna Nook bombing range was put to good use, hopefully not harming any seals in the process. The RAF Flying College was formed in 1949, and eventually the base was closed in 1974. Most of the complex has been taken over by the local council and the hangars are now part of an industrial estate. It's difficult to find any concrete record of what happened to the officer's mess after the closure, but from the late 80s to the mid 00s it was used as a care home. In 2006, planning permission was granted to redevelop the site into apartments, but sadly that never happened.
Nowadays the place is a right shithole. At least 3 fires have ravaged the building in the last 2 years, leaving it without a roof and exposing it to the elements. The top floor of the central building is entirely inaccessible as staircases and floors have been either ripped out or destroyed. The floor of the east wing is full of holes which makes for unnerving viewing while upstairs when you can see how far the drop would be if the wooden beams gave way. The basement has been flooded for god knows how long, and our very scientific method of chucking broken toilet bits down to see how deep the water is told us that it'd never dry out. The west wing is even worse as some parts of the floor have disappeared and others are giving way to a similar fate, and as with any abandoned building, not a single wall is without graffiti and not one glass pane remains. Nevertheless, it's a cracking way to spend an afternoon and was a solid start to a new hobby.
After walking along the entrance road, it's easy to imagine how imposing and impressive this view would've been 40 years ago. Nowadays it's a bit grim.
Having made our way in we found ourselves in a wide, open ballroom sort of place.. To the right, what remains of the kitchens...
... and to the left, the bar.
We scoured the building to find the bar, and weren't helped by the fact that it's not there anymore. After studying the angles of old pictures we realised that this is it. No chance of a pint here.
The ground floor corridor remains mostly carpeted, except parts where there are no floorboards for the carpet to cover.
Bit of a blurry photo but this room was quite nice, one of the few left in the building with a carpet. The carpet was also sopping wet thanks to overnight rainfall and we soon moved on.
Upper floor of the west wing. I imagine this is where the care home used to be, since it's quite nicely furnished and the floor above has rooms with ensuites. There were also bannisters on the walls to help the old folk, and they also gave us something to hold onto when the floor started to give way.
The west wing had something the east wing didn't - a lift. Didn't fancy a ride in this one.
Looking back onto the central block, it's easy to see how much damage the fires have done.
A couple of old tumble dryers? I'm too young to know what these are for certain.
A dark, eerie corridor with a very sketchy floor.
A big fancy oven in a trashed kitchen, while some old TV guides and newspapers caught slenderman's attention.
Cars were cheap in 2002.
Once home to flyers, always home to flyers. Like the last occupants, these birds had moved out long ago.
The ground floor was full of fire safety leaflets. Quite ironic really.
Nobody's escaping any fires from down there. There was a ladder, but I didn't fancy my chances against the murky depths of the basement.
Would've been nice to check out the top floor but there's not much left to see.
We were contemplating having a wander over to the old control tower on the airfield, but the sun was setting so we decided to go home, bringing an end to our maiden voyage.
RAF Manby has been well documented on here so we'll briefly summarise the history. Construction started in 1936 and the complex opened in 1938 as an Armament Training School. Officers were trained on a variety of aircraft from Hawker Hinds to Wellingtons, and the nearby Donna Nook bombing range was put to good use, hopefully not harming any seals in the process. The RAF Flying College was formed in 1949, and eventually the base was closed in 1974. Most of the complex has been taken over by the local council and the hangars are now part of an industrial estate. It's difficult to find any concrete record of what happened to the officer's mess after the closure, but from the late 80s to the mid 00s it was used as a care home. In 2006, planning permission was granted to redevelop the site into apartments, but sadly that never happened.
Nowadays the place is a right shithole. At least 3 fires have ravaged the building in the last 2 years, leaving it without a roof and exposing it to the elements. The top floor of the central building is entirely inaccessible as staircases and floors have been either ripped out or destroyed. The floor of the east wing is full of holes which makes for unnerving viewing while upstairs when you can see how far the drop would be if the wooden beams gave way. The basement has been flooded for god knows how long, and our very scientific method of chucking broken toilet bits down to see how deep the water is told us that it'd never dry out. The west wing is even worse as some parts of the floor have disappeared and others are giving way to a similar fate, and as with any abandoned building, not a single wall is without graffiti and not one glass pane remains. Nevertheless, it's a cracking way to spend an afternoon and was a solid start to a new hobby.
After walking along the entrance road, it's easy to imagine how imposing and impressive this view would've been 40 years ago. Nowadays it's a bit grim.
Having made our way in we found ourselves in a wide, open ballroom sort of place.. To the right, what remains of the kitchens...
... and to the left, the bar.
We scoured the building to find the bar, and weren't helped by the fact that it's not there anymore. After studying the angles of old pictures we realised that this is it. No chance of a pint here.
The ground floor corridor remains mostly carpeted, except parts where there are no floorboards for the carpet to cover.
Bit of a blurry photo but this room was quite nice, one of the few left in the building with a carpet. The carpet was also sopping wet thanks to overnight rainfall and we soon moved on.
Upper floor of the west wing. I imagine this is where the care home used to be, since it's quite nicely furnished and the floor above has rooms with ensuites. There were also bannisters on the walls to help the old folk, and they also gave us something to hold onto when the floor started to give way.
The west wing had something the east wing didn't - a lift. Didn't fancy a ride in this one.
Looking back onto the central block, it's easy to see how much damage the fires have done.
A couple of old tumble dryers? I'm too young to know what these are for certain.
A dark, eerie corridor with a very sketchy floor.
A big fancy oven in a trashed kitchen, while some old TV guides and newspapers caught slenderman's attention.
Cars were cheap in 2002.
Once home to flyers, always home to flyers. Like the last occupants, these birds had moved out long ago.
The ground floor was full of fire safety leaflets. Quite ironic really.
Nobody's escaping any fires from down there. There was a ladder, but I didn't fancy my chances against the murky depths of the basement.
Would've been nice to check out the top floor but there's not much left to see.
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