BUXTON _ Aviation Fuel Reserve Depot WW2

[PETERTHEEATER]

From my notes:

There was an aviation fuel reserve depot in the Buxton (Dove Holes) area during WW2.

Located in a worked out limestone quarry the depot was one of two in the country (the other was Much Wenlock) which was designed and built artificially underground as protection from enemy air attack.

Horseshoe section tanks 100 feet long were assembled on the hard quarry floor and covered with concrete arches to support overburden of waste quarry stone.

The depot was built in two stages:

Stage 1 - D2 tanks total capacity 20,000 tons.

Stage 2 - Eight horizontal D2 tanks 30'-6" diameter by 179' long. Total capacity 20,000 tons.

A good rail connection ran nearby and there would have been a siding to enable transfer by rail tanker train.

The exact location has not been determined. Needs more research.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.29313 ... =0&src=msa

Can anyone be specific as to the location. The FlashEarth link marks a 'maybe/ site.

Note: The NGR given in the AiX Audit record is suspect.

[PNK]

This is the site of the first NGR in the audits and looks a possibility (Buxton: 20,000 tons type D2 TG 247222)



The map below seems to indicate something there. Could be wrong.



I can't find anything for the second NGR though (Buxton: 20,000 tons type D2 TG 224223)

[Engineer]

Ahh, Buxton, my NGR on the list is obviously wrong, searched all the "Buxtons"
and it looked the best option.
Peters extra info explains the error, I was looking for normal buried tanks!

I will re-investigate.

[Engineer]

OK, looked back on some research on Harpur Hill ammo store and found a pin on the map for the FlashEarth location, I probably marked it for further research as it looked interesting.
Not sure if this is the site as the concrete work is outside the old quarry.

[PNK]

Engineer it looks a bit like a sewerage farm with the rectangular settling tanks. Sewerage farms are a problem as they too show as circular structures on maps.

I have been looking as well and come up with this. The location is near Dove Holes railway station. Now this could be a completely different site. Anyway see what you think. (NGR: SK0730178130)

Map :



Photo :



Old Map from 1955 :



As it is a bit far from Buxton itself it could be a red herring.

[Engineer]

Bit of a nightmare area to search!

The red cicled site east of the railway appears well built over.


The site west of the railway looks interesting, also has the rail tunnel airshaft.


Map with both locations.


As it's such a compex area I think I'll wander up some time and talk to some locals.

[PNK]

Yes I noticed the tunnel when I looked on Elgin. I wasn't sure if the built over site was the whole of it or whether the bit north of the tunnel was buried tanks. Easy to be fooled though.

In case anyone hasn't come across it Elgin is a "Electronic Local Government Information Network" and it is primarily used for reporting roadworks and potential traffic disruption. My use however is the detailed maps when you zoom in as it gives you house numbers and names and detailed building layout of sites including airfields.

[Engineer]

That sounds a handy site, thanks.

[PETERTHEEATER]

I had a look at ELGIN. Very slow and needed plug-ins but it looks useful; thanks.

EDIT:
Buxton; I fell into this trap before. The NGR in the audit relates to a location just east of Buxton in Norfolk whereas the Buxton listed in the AP, due to amplifying detail in the text, relates to 'Worked out limestone quarries near Dove Holes near Buxton' i.e Derbyshire.

The site that you show in Dove Holes is not, I feel, the Buxton Aviation Fuel Reserve Depot. They key point is that, to provide the required aerial cover and avoid massive excavation, use was made of an existing worked out quarries. The floor would have been levelled and the steel D2 tanks put into position, protected with reinforced concrete arches and then the whole lot backfilled with quarry waste.

The site would need to have been near to a railway and almost certailnly had dedicated sidings for issues and receipts.
The capacity is recorded as Stage 1, 20k and Stage 2, 20k all in D2 tanks. Stage 2 may have been adjacent, i.e. part of the original site, or may have been farther away. There would have been surface buildings (transfer station, pump houses, admin etc) and road access.

Assuming the site is now derelict it is possible that the tanks were recovered for scrap but they may still be in-situ but hidden in which case the potential hazard should be recorded in local authority records.

The site that engineer has imaged has potential if only I can find it!

The names of fuel depot sites listed in AP 3236 can be misleading since they imply a closeness to the village/town/city named when that may not be the case. Just like WW2 Airfields.

[PETERTHEEATER]

I just found mention on this NA site:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/ ... 8-06-18#-1

which records a plan now held by Derbyshire CC

Plans Relating to Dove Holes [no ref. or date]


[no title] D4107/6/1 1951


Contents:
Aviation Fuel depot near Dove Holes station
Scale: 41.66' to 1"
Size: 33" x 17"
4 Jul

Now to find if there was a quarry there. (with a rail tunnel underneath?!!)