Hidden Halton - Old Workshops

HIDDEN HALTON - OLD WORKSHOPS

Sophie Rutledge, PA to OC Spt Wg

For over a century, RAF Halton has been the home of some extraordinary training to grow and aircraft to be built. By the end of the war there were 10,000 in training (6,000 men, 2,000 historical buildings. Vast aircraft hangars and extensive training grounds have facilitated the essential output of the station and some structures have proven particularly versatile in their uses. Perhaps most notably, the old station workshops which impressively sprawl across twelve 50 x 500foot structures and were functional from 1917-2018. When the Royal Flying Corps commenced training on station in 1917, they were urgently in need of somewhere to train mechanics to meet the needs of their rapidly growing aircraft fleet. Construction began immediately with the building foundations laid by a German Prisoner-ofWar labour force, supervised by Colonel Sadler of the Royal Engineers. Once the supporting walls were in place, the wooden lattice trusses, constructed by local contractor Francis Irvine were installed to support the roof and skylights. This was to house some £250,000 worth of instructional machinery. By 1918, urgency for the facilities grew with the rising tensions in Europe and the growing need for military aircraft, machinery and trained personnel. As each bay was completed it was immediately put into use, allowing numbers in women and 2,000 boys) with a staff of some 1,700. Following the Armistice, the Air Ministry purchased the estate and the new Chief of the Air Staff Sir Hugh Trenchard was able to develop his plans for an apprentice school to provide the infant service with a bedrock of highly trained engineers. Permanent barracks were built around Henderson Square and in 1922 the first entry of No 1 School of Technical Training moved in. Trenchard believed that the only way to recruit high quality mechanics for the Service was to train them internally. His vision was the recruitment of well-educated boys aged 15 and 16 who could absorb the technical training. The first Entry of 500 boys arrived in January 1922, they were all trained in the workshops buildings and went on to form 40% of the RAF’s ground crew and 60% of its skilled tradesmen. From then onwards, RAF Halton became (and remains) one of the largest RAF bases in the UK and the first stop for RAF recruits as they begin their career in the force. The immensity of the workshop buildings saw engineers educated, mechanics trained and pilots enrolled. Not only were the facilities used for educational purposes, but in 1924, machinery production lines were moved out and a swimming pool was installed

Station History

to aid physical training of recruits. In another of the empty bays, a Chapel of Worship was installed as part of a nationwide military initiative to provide pastoral, spiritual and moral support for recruits whist away from home. Throughout WW2 the chapel acted as a sanctuary for many station personnel hastily awaiting the return of serving friends or family. Sadly, in 1959 the chapel burnt down in a small fire that broke out on a Lincoln Aircraft. The chapel was not re-built in the workshop buildings, but in 1963 The St George’s Church was instead constructed elsewhere on Camp and remains in place today. Following WW2, the foundations of the workshops were improved to allow for the housing of several aircraft including Hawker Hunters, Jaguars, Spitfires and Hurricanes. With the turn of the century, expansion of the workshops continued as it housed even more departments. A carpentry workshop, welding bay, weapon stores, electrical equipment testing area, clothing stores and logistics training environments were just a handful of areas operating on the site. The size of the bays allowed for hundreds of metres of shelving to store inventory and uniforms and the wide corner rooms of the building

even had spray bays installed for military vehicles to drive in and out for painting. The workshops remained one of the primary training spaces for recruits, with education continuing in classrooms, physical training in the workshop’s new gym and practical training running all under the same roof. Trainees gained practice managing inventory, maintaining equipment, and learning the intricacies of several Airforce professions in real-life operational environments. Fascinatingly, there was even a life-like simulation of WW2 front-line trenches constructed within the building, with papier-mâché walls, sandbags and wooden trellises. Their design was to offer an insight into living history, depicting life in the trenches and giving personnel a taste of military past.

Unfortunately, in 2018 after 100 years of use, the Workshops were closed and all departments were relocated elsewhere on camp. Now, the old structures lie dormant, awaiting development with the closure of site. But the rich and colourful history of the old workshops remain undeniably memorable by the tens of thousands that trained and worked there. The versatility of the buildings and their multitude of uses reminds us of the sheer extent of RAF output and gives us an insight into the array of departments and practices that operate on military bases. The old workshops may no longer be in use but the people and services at the heart of them live on throughout Halton and the wider service.