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  1. #1
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    Default Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    This Anti-Aircraft camp was a complimentary camp to the site at Weybourne, now occupied by the Muckleburgh Collection. The camp also had connections with RAF Langham airfield.
    Today, the site is part campsite, part farm, and part boatyard.



    After a friendly chat with a "proper local boy" and a member of the campsite staff, I was allowed to have a look around to take some photos...



    A number of lovely 1940s-style asbestos buildings still stand.





    Some in very good condition, especially the Guardhouse, which has been restored, as it is used as the HQ for the camp site.



    Unfortunately, some buildings have been demolished within the last few months, and some are to be knocked down VERY SOON, as I was informed...

    This particular building, I believe, is to be flattened next:


    The activities at Stiffkey Camp included target-towing exercises, where a line of bofor guns would fire at a target pulled by a DeHaviland Queen Bee aircraft (probably flown by some mad Polish bloke) but later in the Cold War, smaller radio-controlled target-drone aircraft were developed and launched from a metal pole surrounded by a circular track.

    This unique launching site still remains on the nearby marshes and the metal pole is locally known as "The Whirligig":


  2. #2
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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    Cracking stuff there fella! There is something else down the road I need to show you, it looks like a gun emplacement.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    looks like a cool place and some nice flicks

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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    them mad polish blokes get al the best jobs!

    looked like a goodun chris, loved the second shot
    Just cos I lick electrical outlets it doesnt mean I'm stupid.......................I just like the tingle!

    forgive us our trespasses

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    Nice shots
    Did you manage to get an internals?
    “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    No internals as of yet.

    3 of the sheds are used as boat-building workshops and are surrounded by boats and related junk, inside pretty much mirrors the outside!

    the rest of them are used in the farm- one of them is even labelled "site office".

    As for the camps old guardroom, it has been fully kitted out internally as it's now the HQ for the campsite.

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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    That's a very nice thread mate, excellent.
    Under the radar, over the top

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    Default Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    Some more asbestos-clad gems for you all:

    Rear of H-Block used for boat storage:


    Front of H-Block used for boat storage:


    Nissen Hut near the farmhouse:


    This is the original guard building which has been renovated and used by the camp site:
    (in the background is the large Gun Shed)


    A lovely ROUND pillbox (unsure of age or type) overlooking the acres of mudflats:


    Inside the said pillbox:



    Just up the hill from the Bofor firing range is what appears to be some workshops:


    And along the original firing range, I found THIS unusual relic- it's NOT a spigot mortar pedestal, so what is it exactly?? I'm told it's the base for an American Machine-gun cockpit simulator...


    Any help on the above appreciated!
    cheers.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    There are some photographs of the gunnery range at Snettisham on this AIx thread, including some detail shots of USAAF pintle mounts and a shot of RAF turret simulators. Nothing quite matches the block you've found. The length of the bolts is interesting, and their diameter in relation to the diameter of the sleeves inserted into the block. Just the one?
    flickr
    To get your bolt out, press "6"

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Camp, Stiffkey, Norfolk, March 2011

    Yes, SaltGeorge. Just the one.
    It is in situ alongside 2 6ft tall mounds of rubble, which contains bits of brick but are both heavily overgrown.
    It is to the west of the firing range, just as the original track heads south up the hill towards them workshops in the 2nd-from-last pic in my last post.

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