Asfordby Range
Yes this is very out of character me posting something soon after doing it but I started researching this one & I dont believe its been covered for over a decade.
This was also one of them "better than expected" places.
So roll back many years I did a nearby railway tunnel & bumped into a local guy, we got talking & the conversation moved over to this place & he stated "yeah they used to test bombs underground there boy, they used to shake my bloody house".
taking this with a pinch of salt I neglected to have a look for many years. the observant will know this is now used for airsoft & they keep it surprisingly secure which is prob another reason it hasnt been covered much!
The Asfordby gun range started its life in 1918, being known as "Holwell Proof Butts" The range later became known as Asfordby Gun Range, servicing heavy-calibre guns. The noise became a major source of annoyance to Asfordby residents, some even claimed cracks were appearing in their houses from the vibrations! When it closed in March 1971, some 70 employees were made redundant. During the 1980s and 1990s, the site was occasionally used for training exercises, and also featured in an episode of the 1990s Central TV programme Boon starring Michael Elphick.
The guns / cannons were fired from one end of the range into the tunnels pictured. They are actually only about 20-30 metres deep and were lined with railway sleepers to try to deaden the noise.
Since its closure it has been used for riot police training, dog training and is now used as an airsoft site.
Thats about all i can find out about this one but there are many buildings remaining, unfortunately they have all had the airsoft treatment.
All the buildings in the woods were connected with raised concrete walkways which I thought was rather neat!
there were a few original features remaining though.
& Plenty of unoriginal ones!
Finally through this link tunnel (or over the bank in my case) leads to the business end of things!
these chambers were obviously where they shot the charges into, they are bigger than my pics interpret. a bank of 4 one side then a bank of 2 the other side of a dividing mound.
So in a unusual twist the crazy man from the tunnel was absolutely correct with his memories.
At this point I heard voices & spotted 2 guys in here presumably looking for me (schoolboy error or just laziness parking in the entrance again) so I made a even more difficult exit out the far side of the site.
thanks for looking
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