Bikes and bases

I discovered my first RAF base in April 2006. I was riding home after a long run out on minor, twisting roads to Tintern Abbey in South Wales.

I’d taken the turn for Gloucester and swung the bike over the downs near Chedworth. Cutting off the A361, I was puzzled by the road I found myself on. It was dead straight, with a concrete edge. It looked and felt like a runway. I stopped and saw an old control tower set in the middle of the field next to the road. It didn’t make sense. What was it doing there?

I got off the bike, and, in front of me, I saw a long, straight, wide strip of rippled and rutted concrete. I climbed a bank on the other side of the road and saw the same thing, stretching as far as I could see.

What was an abandoned airbase - complete with runways and a control tower - doing in the middle of West Oxfordshire? How had I ridden past it twice a week for two years and not even spotted it? I didn’t know the half of it. I had no idea I lived in the middle of one of the most densely airfielded areas in the UK.

So, as Pip, my partner, was studying at the time and often away, I got on my bike and rode. I used the internet, OS maps and my nose to find others. Stanton Harcourt. Kingston Bagpuize. Chedworth. Out of the way bases like Southrop and Akeman Street.

My Russian-made Ural combination has been the perfect exploring companion.

It goes places a solo (ridden by me, at least) simply won’t. It tackles the usual tracks, ruts and pits without even pausing. It was built in Siberia, so snow and ice don’t even slow it down. It’s simple and robust enough to take being bounced around. I can sling my camera in the sidecar and there’s space for anything else I fancy too.

I take my BMW sometimes, but it doesn’t feel quite right. You’ll see what I mean in the section on RAF Broadwell.

I started exploring on the Ural and haven’t stopped since.

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RAF Chimney Not all bases saw action - or were intended to. Tucked down a tiny lane near Tadpole Bridge is a partly sunken brick building. Today, it is full of rubbish, rubble and weeds. The walls are covered in graffiti and, in the room’s corners are discarded bottles, burned-out barbecues and spray-cans.

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Chimney decoy entrance