Visited with Wife of Bertie Bollockbrains and Son of Bertie Bollockbrains
Revisit with Oort, TallRich and Huey.
Disclaimer (for visiting journalists):
These are not derelict sites but actual live military sites used most days of the year for training, including live fire training. We visited on a day that we knew in advance that there would be no training on the Plain. Such days are few and far between. It would not be wise to follow us as you could be shot (errr accidentally I mean, I don’t think there's an official policy of execution by firing squad for explorers just yet).
All of the sites below are near to public rights of way and none of them involved climbing fences or crawling through holes in fences for entry. At no time did we purposely pass any sort of “Go Away” sign. Although we did eventually find a “Go Away” sign after exploring Copehill Down for some time. It was facing the wrong direction and was on the complete opposite side of Copehill Down from the public right of way. Memo to any reading member of the MOD: the keep out sign need to be positioned next to the public right of way where it can be seen.
Hundreds of photos of the following sites can be found on the internet using Google. They also show on OS maps and the grid references are shown on Wikipedia, Copehill Down actually appears in an episode of “Top Gear” with Jeremy Twatson. So we are not revealing state secrets.
History:
Salisbury Plain Army Training Estate (ATE SP) is one of the most well known areas of all the MOD land. The Army has been connected with Salisbury Plain since 1897 and the total area of the current estate is just over 38000 hectares. It is 25 miles by 10 miles and occupies about one ninth of the area of Wiltshire.
20,000 hectares are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation, and the entire estate is a Special Protection Area for birds. There are some 2300 ancient monuments including features dating back to 4000 BC, with more recent Roman settlements.
It is the largest military training area in the United Kingdom. Around 39 square miles are permanently closed to the public, and access is greatly restricted in other areas. Since 1897 and as military use of the plain increased, new camps and barracks were constructed; including those at Larkhill, Bulford, Tidworth and Warminster. Several installations have been built and since removed, including a railway line and an aerodrome that was constructed next to Stonehenge. In 1943 the village of Imber and the hamlet of Hinton Parva were evacuated to allow training for Operation Overlord to be conducted. The village has remained closed, except for the annual church service and some bank holidays ever since.
Live firing is conducted on the plain for approximately 340 days of each year. Military personnel from the UK and around the world spend some 600,000 man days on the plain every year.
Accidents do happen, and in March 2014 a stray round landed at Patney, near Devizes, leaving a crater 6ft in diameter and 2ft deep. Wife of Bertie Bollockbrains was scared out of her wits that day and hasn’t been the same since!
There are limited public rights of way on the Plain, but these are seldom used by anyone and it’s very easy to find solitude on the Plain - which is why in the summer Wife of Bertie Bollockbrains often goes up there for a bit of naked sunbathing. Don’t worry she doesn’t read this I think.
Copehill Down FIBUA Village
(FIBUA = Fighting in Built Up Areas)
The village was built in 1988 to resemble a German village in Bavaria, to provide troops with a simulated backdrop when training for operations in European theatres including the Cold War, the Balkans and Northern Ireland.
In recent years the facility has been expanded to include a shanty town made up of cargo containers stacked and laid out in rows of tightly packed streets, to provide an additional training area that more closely resembles the Army's more recent operational theatres in Operation Herrick (Afghanistan) and Operation Telic (Iraq).
Photographs stop here, because we did spot the “Keep Out” sign and
we also spotted the uniformed retaining guard force. A quick retreat was necessary.
Train and Helicopter Graveyard
To be fully fully reported from one of the others soon.
Imber Village
To be fully reported from one of the others soon.
Thanks for looking
Revisit with Oort, TallRich and Huey.
Disclaimer (for visiting journalists):
These are not derelict sites but actual live military sites used most days of the year for training, including live fire training. We visited on a day that we knew in advance that there would be no training on the Plain. Such days are few and far between. It would not be wise to follow us as you could be shot (errr accidentally I mean, I don’t think there's an official policy of execution by firing squad for explorers just yet).
All of the sites below are near to public rights of way and none of them involved climbing fences or crawling through holes in fences for entry. At no time did we purposely pass any sort of “Go Away” sign. Although we did eventually find a “Go Away” sign after exploring Copehill Down for some time. It was facing the wrong direction and was on the complete opposite side of Copehill Down from the public right of way. Memo to any reading member of the MOD: the keep out sign need to be positioned next to the public right of way where it can be seen.
Hundreds of photos of the following sites can be found on the internet using Google. They also show on OS maps and the grid references are shown on Wikipedia, Copehill Down actually appears in an episode of “Top Gear” with Jeremy Twatson. So we are not revealing state secrets.
History:
Salisbury Plain Army Training Estate (ATE SP) is one of the most well known areas of all the MOD land. The Army has been connected with Salisbury Plain since 1897 and the total area of the current estate is just over 38000 hectares. It is 25 miles by 10 miles and occupies about one ninth of the area of Wiltshire.
20,000 hectares are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation, and the entire estate is a Special Protection Area for birds. There are some 2300 ancient monuments including features dating back to 4000 BC, with more recent Roman settlements.
It is the largest military training area in the United Kingdom. Around 39 square miles are permanently closed to the public, and access is greatly restricted in other areas. Since 1897 and as military use of the plain increased, new camps and barracks were constructed; including those at Larkhill, Bulford, Tidworth and Warminster. Several installations have been built and since removed, including a railway line and an aerodrome that was constructed next to Stonehenge. In 1943 the village of Imber and the hamlet of Hinton Parva were evacuated to allow training for Operation Overlord to be conducted. The village has remained closed, except for the annual church service and some bank holidays ever since.
Live firing is conducted on the plain for approximately 340 days of each year. Military personnel from the UK and around the world spend some 600,000 man days on the plain every year.
Accidents do happen, and in March 2014 a stray round landed at Patney, near Devizes, leaving a crater 6ft in diameter and 2ft deep. Wife of Bertie Bollockbrains was scared out of her wits that day and hasn’t been the same since!
There are limited public rights of way on the Plain, but these are seldom used by anyone and it’s very easy to find solitude on the Plain - which is why in the summer Wife of Bertie Bollockbrains often goes up there for a bit of naked sunbathing. Don’t worry she doesn’t read this I think.
Copehill Down FIBUA Village
(FIBUA = Fighting in Built Up Areas)
The village was built in 1988 to resemble a German village in Bavaria, to provide troops with a simulated backdrop when training for operations in European theatres including the Cold War, the Balkans and Northern Ireland.
In recent years the facility has been expanded to include a shanty town made up of cargo containers stacked and laid out in rows of tightly packed streets, to provide an additional training area that more closely resembles the Army's more recent operational theatres in Operation Herrick (Afghanistan) and Operation Telic (Iraq).
Photographs stop here, because we did spot the “Keep Out” sign and
we also spotted the uniformed retaining guard force. A quick retreat was necessary.Train and Helicopter Graveyard
To be fully fully reported from one of the others soon.
Imber Village
To be fully reported from one of the others soon.
Thanks for looking
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