Ardrossan (Montfode)

[tigger]

Website with some photos of one of the Ardrossan sites -

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/mbriscoe/ ... ntfode.htm

[Engineer]

Thanks, more good info.

[PNK]

All I have on the site ...... so far





Looking for period aerials to complete the picture.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Ardossan:

I fixed this location already but;

The depot was built in three stages:

Stage 1 - C1 tanks total capacity 16,000 tons.

Stage 2 - C2 tanks taotal capacity 20,000 tons

Stage 3 - C2 tanks total capacity 20,000 tons.

This would appear to be the Stage 1 (?) site with only 5 tanks bases visible in maps.

I shall be looking for the others when time permits but, of course, I will happily let you get there first.

PS; I see three small tanks (lube oil?) just to the south with road structure. The empty site opposite on the coast, and the empty field to the east is very likely too.

[PNK]

Oooh a challenge! I really must have a ready reckoner on my office wall to convert capacity of sites into number of tanks. Mind you there is only room for the AiX calendar at present so...........

[PNK]

Challenge accepted and partially completed.

The second site I found was not obvious but the picture here shows the locations.



On a 1958 map they are shewn thus -



I couldn't find a third site in the area but it it was built over before 1958 it might be hidden. The harbour does have a few interesting tanks but I am not sure if they are aviation related in part or whole or at all.

The map from 1958 shews them thus



Incidentally the harbour area where the tanks are (were) is built on land that must have been reclaimed since 1938. So was this wartime or postwar?

[tigger]

Martin's website references both of those and also mentions some smaller tanks immediately adjacent to the rail siding. Perhaps the smaller tanks were the 'stage 1' site, the stage 2 being the one with removed tanks and stage 3 the more remote site? Might be worth e-mailing him to see if he has any further info (I suspect he will be subscribed on here anyway?)

[PNK]

The three small tanks look too small to be C1 types, though I could be wrong. PTE thinks they might be Lubricant Oil.

The rough strip of land to the west of the railway does look a possibility but there is nothing to confirn either way. Certainly nothing on the maps.

If those three smaller tanks are the first phase then this one is fully located!

[PETERTHEEATER]

Although the records indicate the main storage, bulk fuel, they seldom mention the support fluids such as engine Lubricating Oil and the octate improver tetraethyl lead which was blended into fuels. These required storage in much smaller quantities and the evidence suggests that tanks smaller than C2 were used.

Of course, just like airfield building Drawings it is possible than a C2 tank Drawing showed A, B & C tanks essentially the same but different sizes?

Thanks for the pointer to the adjacent site. I had it marked as a possibility. One more Stage to find?

[PETERTHEEATER]

Ardrossan - Courtesy of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical monuments of Scotland

The second image is the Stage 2 site now obliterated.