ARCHIVE: Criggion VLF Station
 

Visited with DCG after a fairly unproductive day in Shropshire.

Quite comprehensive histories here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/cont..._feature.shtml

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/s...riggion_radio/

and some pictures of the masts here:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2068


Built during the war for the Navy to provide backup to the VLF (Very Low Frequency) transmitters at Rugby. Three masts were built and the aerial was slung between these and an anchorage on the side of an adjacent hill, in fact it was this hill that was why this location was chosen for the station. There was a building visible on the hillside, probably the anchorage point, but it was a big bastard of a hill, with the small matter of a quarry in the way, so we gave it a miss.

After the war, the site was run by the GPO, and then BT on behalf of the MoD. The site was a transmitting station, so the staff had no knowledge of what was being transmitted, the signals coming down lines from MoD bases, and then being broadcast over the transmitter to the Navy's Nuclear submarines.

At it's peak, the site empoyed 160 people, but at the time of it's closure in 2003, employed just 11 people. The site originally covers 300 acres, but most of that is farmland, with the three buildings spread out along about half a mile.

There isn't a great deal to see, it has to be said, as what was there has been removed and the pikies have inevitably paid a visit. The location is somewhat remote so we were quite surprised at how trashed it was.

Nice location:)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/...610cf400_o.jpg

One of the cables was anchored to the hillisde behind. The anchorage building is still there but not visible on this shot.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/...591eee34_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/...97eae71c_o.jpg

Transmitter room - very large, very dark
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/...d10f239b_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/...a659671d_o.jpg

Base for one of the masts
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/...39aa220e_o.jpg

Admin building, just down the road
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/...f80f27bf_o.jpg

Another room packed full of nowt
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/...e6850f2d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3283/...63e780c3_o.jpg

A random find by DCG, especially as there was only one, and it was in a shower room :confused:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/...c0d1d674_o.jpg

Thanks to DCG for driving :)

Great pics mate. Nice easy explore this, once we found it! Sadly not much to see, though it was a beautiful location. As Andy has basically shown it all, I'll add a few detail shots...

Nice day for it! Whole facility is split into four smaller sites. This was the smallest and probably a substation for the transmitter itself.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...ggion/crg7.jpg

Fluid drains on the vehicle workshop floor.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...ggion/crg6.jpg

This button was pressed five years ago when the facility closed.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...ggion/crg2.jpg

Wheels of steel! Another random find by a random headless Andy.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...ggion/crg4.jpg

Aside from pikey damage, there's little other than natural decay.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...ggion/crg1.jpg

The wiring had gone but the glass roof remained intact.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...ggion/crg5.jpg