"Everyone needs a good slice of Pyestock"... And I couldn't agree more!
For a good few weeks, @Olkka and I had been planning something on a miniature road trip to Pyestock, and with a somewhat considerable amount of chopping and changing to our provisional dates, we finally followed through with it.
Having bitten the bullet with the relentless traffic from Croydon to Farnborough, and sticking out the stop-start journey, we had at long last arrived, and it was full speed ahead to the night's target.
Unfortunately, we had no other option but to leave the car parked up in an uncomfortably desolate layby seemingly miles from nowhere, and so we crossed our fingers that it'll still be there upon our return.
We began the eerie walk through the forest that surrounds the former site, using the dimmest of lights to evade detection, and after a short while of trecking through a woodland that resembled something out of The Blair Witch Project, we were met by the first fence.
Once successfully having scaled that, we cracked on with the second one, which was swiftly followed up by the third and final fence that secured the site. Now in, we slowly began to edge down a mudbank in the direction of the Anechoic Chamber, and before we knew it, it's mighty concrete walls were looming over us...
Thankfully, @Olkka had a stroke of luck with one of the doors, and we were soon inside the belly of this cold war giant.
The chamber became operational in early 1974 when work on the quietening of jet engines first kicked off. It was also utilised for military purposes during the cold war, where it would scrutinise the components of captured soviet engines.
The main chamber is 46ft in height, 88ft in length and 85ft wide, and was quite possibly one of the most daunting structures I've ever had the privilege to explore.
However, it was a little strange to see what once played a key role in the development of engines for jets such as the concord, to be now standing alone in the middle of a construction site, surrounded by heaps of rubble and earth, empty, derelict, disused, and for the most part, forgotten.
After a good 2 hours of exploring this abandoned beast, and being satisfied with the shots @Olkka so kindly backlighted for me, we decided to call it a day and begin the journey back to the car...
Sometimes it's appreciated when things pan out the way you'd like them to, and with that being said, it made for something of a cracking night out.
For a good few weeks, @Olkka and I had been planning something on a miniature road trip to Pyestock, and with a somewhat considerable amount of chopping and changing to our provisional dates, we finally followed through with it.
Having bitten the bullet with the relentless traffic from Croydon to Farnborough, and sticking out the stop-start journey, we had at long last arrived, and it was full speed ahead to the night's target.
Unfortunately, we had no other option but to leave the car parked up in an uncomfortably desolate layby seemingly miles from nowhere, and so we crossed our fingers that it'll still be there upon our return.
We began the eerie walk through the forest that surrounds the former site, using the dimmest of lights to evade detection, and after a short while of trecking through a woodland that resembled something out of The Blair Witch Project, we were met by the first fence.
Once successfully having scaled that, we cracked on with the second one, which was swiftly followed up by the third and final fence that secured the site. Now in, we slowly began to edge down a mudbank in the direction of the Anechoic Chamber, and before we knew it, it's mighty concrete walls were looming over us...
Thankfully, @Olkka had a stroke of luck with one of the doors, and we were soon inside the belly of this cold war giant.
The chamber became operational in early 1974 when work on the quietening of jet engines first kicked off. It was also utilised for military purposes during the cold war, where it would scrutinise the components of captured soviet engines.
The main chamber is 46ft in height, 88ft in length and 85ft wide, and was quite possibly one of the most daunting structures I've ever had the privilege to explore.
However, it was a little strange to see what once played a key role in the development of engines for jets such as the concord, to be now standing alone in the middle of a construction site, surrounded by heaps of rubble and earth, empty, derelict, disused, and for the most part, forgotten.
After a good 2 hours of exploring this abandoned beast, and being satisfied with the shots @Olkka so kindly backlighted for me, we decided to call it a day and begin the journey back to the car...
Sometimes it's appreciated when things pan out the way you'd like them to, and with that being said, it made for something of a cracking night out.
