Abandoned Villages

[Flyfisher]

Interesting article here about such places: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11765712, plus a link to a more detailed website.

I knew about the Stanford Training Area in Norfolk, as it is near to us, but I didn't realise there were so many other places scattered around the country.

Twenty-five (-ish) years ago, my father-in-law had a pass to enter the 'battle area' (as it's known locally) and I remember driving through it one day when a couple of large helicopters passed very close overhead and hovered whilst a bunch of soldiers abseiled down from them and slithered away into the scrubland. Very disconcerting. :shock:

 

[robgil]

why call them abandoned villages when most were forced evictions?

 

[Flyfisher]

That was my initial thought, especially knowing a bit about the battle area history, but it seems like a lot of these places were genuinely abandoned.

I used to shoot at a place called Culford Heath between Bury St Edmunds and Thetford, nearest village is Ingham. There are only farm tracks to the old abandoned church and there are still a few cottages nearby, but most are now derelict. I suspect it was once a small agricultural community with most occupants working on the surrounding estates and I presume that as those jobs declined the cottages were abandoned. This must have been echoed throughout the country.

The sad (or bad) thing about the Stanford battle area was that the forced evictions were initially only for the duration of the war, everyone pull together and all that, but after the war the MoD made it a permanent arrangement. I don't what, if any, compensation arrangements were made.

 

[MatthewC]

The sad (or bad) thing about the Stanford battle area was that the forced evictions were initially only for the duration of the war.

The really good thing about all such MoD training areas is that they are actively managed by specialists in conservation. Despite what one might have expected, they are fairly safe havens (apart from the few live firing bits obviously) with all sorts of rare habitats.

 

[Onetap]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11345287

Only the church, aka the Temple of Doom, is shown on this, the houses shown are recent construction for training. I don't know if there are still any of the original cottages there.
There are stories that there are some deep excavations under Imber.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Tyneham doesn't seem to get much of a mention, though it was one of the most celebrated cases
http://www.isleofpurbeck.com/tyneham.html

(Edit) But I suppose it's like it is to prevent it being like Oradour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUw1axcg4A

 

[middi]

I can see a new " brigadoon" film hovering on the horizon soon.

middi