I can’t find much information on this site, probably because it is still hidden under the official secrets act but I’ll relay what I’ve learned about the place. RNAD Broughton Moor is a decommissioned Royal Naval Armaments Depot located near to Cockermouth in Cumbria. Opened before 1943, it was used by the US Navy to store armaments for their North Atlantic Squadron during the Cold War. The site was decommissioned in 1992 at the end of the Gulf War and has remained untouched since, closed to the public by a 7’ high barbed wire topped fence.
Covering over 1000 acres, the site is simply huge, more than enough to keep any keen explorer busy for more than a few days. There used to be a 2’6” Narrow Gauge railway which was used to ferry the various munitions around the site, evidence of which can still be seen dotted around the site. Most of the 300+ buildings and bunkers remain, quite a lot of them in good condition too, although they are filled with asbestos, not to mention other dangers. As well as the visible bunkers and stores, there are also uncharted mines and underground stores dotted around the site, although I didn’t see any evidence of this during my brief visit.
The site was bought from the MoD in September 2008 for the princely sum of £1 by Allerdale Borough Council & Cumbria County Council in a joint venture to try and attract potential investors to develop the site. It is home now to many types of wildlife, including up to 9 species of bat, deer, foxes, badger and countless birds of prey. The start up costs to get the site anywhere near for re-development is likely to run into the tens of millions of pounds for the removal of asbestos & the re-housing of the bats, which are protected species under the Wildlife & Country Side Act.
This visit was actually only meant to be a recce, as Broughton Boy & I intend to visit as soon as BB gets his camera back, but I did spend a couple of hours there exploring. This was my first Urbex outing with my camera so apologies if the shots are a bit poor. I also tried my first HDR shot so let me know what you guys think.
My first view of the site from the way in:
First attempt at HDR:
The remains of the 2'6" Narrow Gauge Railway:
Make sure you use your horns!
The exhaust from the boilers:
And what they feed into:
Fuel gauge for the boilers:
Obligatory "Shot through broken glass":