RAF Oxenhope

Originally posted by JUD6E
Better still meet up at the pub just befre the winfarms cant think of its name right now, might be "the withens" (something like that)

It's on Withens Road or Lane, so I think you're right with the name.
When do you want to meet? I'm on hols all next week, so could prolly make it most days.
Cheers,
Grey Pilgrim

Ok the place is set, Any day apart from thursday is good here.....forgot
Heres a link to the Withens pub

Regards

JUD6E


[Edited on 8-4-2004 by JUD6E]

...and then it all went quiet...

Interesting. I live in Keighley, which isn't too far from Oxenhope. This is the first time I have heard of this base. Just goes to show how little we really know, even about our own backyard

I'll see what I can dig out, too.

If you find anything James give me a shout - really interested in this one - been a long standing joke between my mates - im sure there must be some history!

cheers
Rob

Kaishaku

follow up from the the other running thread now closed:
____________________________________________________
so whats under the lids on the concrete things then if you've had a look? not any real answers in that post just the opinion that nothings there currently (which I know - my interests are what it was used for prior to bradford uni).

what do you think to the clearly man made marks around the back of the base? drainage? building work? natural?

can your friend at uni tell you what the base was used for before bradford uni took it over? which was the point of the original post...


[edit on 1-5-2006 by commirob]

Bradford Robotic Telescope Observatory on Oxenhope moor- Robotic and Remote; Baruch, 1993; Cox and Baruch, 1994;46; O; the telescope uses a WWW gateway to provide access forschools, amateurs and professionals. Anyone on the Internet can regis-teStudents are encouraged to submit class projects. Also Bradford Univ. has a 30-cm RT in Canary Islands, Tenerifer and ask the telescope to look at anything in the northern night sky

www.awe.com...

www.telescope.org...

I've heard about RAF Oxenhope before. As far as i know its not secret.

I have found RAF Oxenhope. It belongs to Bradford University.

Found this link showing a picture.

RAF Oxenhope

According to the University it was used during WW2 to confuse German bombers.
No info was given on how this was done.

The University has a telescope at the facility.

So where the rumours of a secret base just an urban myth?

hi , RAF Oxenhope does not appear in the " military airfeilds in the British isles 1939 -1945 " by Willis and Hollis which is prety much the definitive guide

this only means that it had no operationa aircraft or training establishments / logistics facilities there .

as previously stated -- ocenhope was origionally a WWI establisment first used by the RFC then RAF

as for its use for deception -- in order to lure german bombers to drop thier bombs on fake targets -- grids of lights fake buildings , roofs and smoke stacks etc were constructed on dessolate moorland so that nazi bombideers would target the decoy " town " not the vital war factories nearby

serveral sites near major towns were used for this purpose , and IIRC they came under the command of the ROC

I wonder if anyone can help me....I am looking for a person who lived at Queensbury near halifax, we visited him around 5-6 years ago as he claimed he had ufo footage and had regular encounters. On the way home, we witnessed a group of ufos. He claimed his name was John although later claimed this was a false name. I would like to get back in contact with this person.

I think the myth of the secret base is probably down to the 2 different sites - the airfield & the building used later by bradford uni. Seems like there've been 2 different raf oxenhope sites. This forum was the first mention i'd ever heard of there being an oxenhope airstrip, can't be too near the weather station. That building, i know it's only small & not very pretty but i just love it up there, so atmospheric

the place is now being demolished - make of that what you will

If any one reads this thread the old buildings and equipment have now bee demolished and the area Landscaped. I would have loved to have had a look inside I have traveled past many times I Live not far from there Near Haworth. and it was always a talking point among us

hi there,

if you look on the urbex site or the 28dayslater site , there are reports with photos from members who have visited it before it was demolished.

thanks

snoopyuk

Hello, i have just joined because i found a thread relating to RAF oxenhope on your site and was interested to read all the posts. My interest stems mainly from the fact that i live in Oxenhope, less than a mile from the site of the airstrip. The airstrip definately exists and is not a secret as amateur pilots use it for training sessions, i know nothing about the buildings recently pulled down and rumour is that there are underground tunnels up there, and that is all it is, rumour, until proved otherwise. However i have been aware of some rather unusual activities in the area over the years, two of which are worthy of a mention. Late one evening after a family get together one of my sons and i went for a stroll to burn off the large meal we had eaten and after a mile or so of deep conversation and fairly aimless walking over the fields near the resevoir came to a stop at a farmer's gate on a narrow tarmac road. It was about eleven at night and fully moonlit so we could see very clearly over the tops and were leaning against the gate chatting when a black Range Rover sport drove slowly up the road without any lights on and stopped next to us. Our first thought was 'drug dealers' and even though im well built and my son is over six foot and well built we both felt concerned for our immediate safety ( remember that oxenhope is a very quiet, small village far enough away from the city for drug dealing to be unheard of, but i work in the city of Bradford and recognise drug dealers when i see them) in this case however when the window descended we could clearly see two men in black military style jumpers (ribbed wool with shoulder and elbow patches) and black or dark blue body armour vests . Both had short hair and had a definate look of trained men. the driver asked why we were up there and i said 'we live in the village and just came out for a walk' he then asked me to name the church and the pub on Hebden Bridge road. I obviously gave the correct answer. During the conversation the passenger stared straight forward and didnt speak. The driver asked that we make our way home now as we were on private land. I apologised having not realised that we had wandered onto private land and we set off back across the fields. When we climbed over the stone wall back onto the road near our house the range rover was sat further up the road , lights off and engine running. As soon as we entered the house my son ran up the front bedroom and without switching a light on looked up the road to see what they did, but the range rover had driven away. The second incident was when myself and my wife were ruturning from a friends house in Harden which is a village about four miles away from Oxenhope at about 1 a.m. The quickest way to my house from Harden is over the tops (uninhabited moorland) we were slowed down when we became stuck behind three black Range Rovers travelling in convoy at a steady forty odd miles an hour which is the speed you would expect visitors unfamiliar with the area to drive at as it is an unlit, winding, bumpy road with dry stone walls on either side, but as a local i can do the road at a steady sixty so was frustrated by these vehicles ahead of me. They did however turn off left down the resevoir road and as i passed them remember thinking that it was a tad strange. I realise i may well have witnessed an early morning Range Rover owners club get together and the local farmer may well have a very efficient security company protecting his grass but i cant be sure.

Originally posted by wobblyspoonless than a mile from the site of the airstrip. The airstrip definately exists and is not a secret as amateur pilots use it for training sessions,

hi - and welcome to ATS.com

may i ask which airstrip ?

because according to all records - and personal investigation where was never a runway at RAF oxenhope

there may be another runway in the area - could you give me a OS ngr OR ge lat / long for the runway who reffer to - thanks

PS - as for the rumours of tunnels if you actually investigate the rumour is revealed to be absurd - there are / were cable runs connecting the buildings and instalations

but people who investagated found zero evidence of any tunnel - not even a air raid shelter

and the elevation and terrain surrounding the site makes any tunnel connecting it to ` somewhere else ` is revealed to be absurd

The runway i speak of is situated next to the hoilday park , if you google earth Oxenhope and find the resevoir at leeming and look across to its right you will see a holiday home complex, the runway is next to it, i am led to believe it is called X40X and is avaialable on microsoft flight simulator. As for RAF Oxenhope i was always under the impression it was a hoax airfield to make German bombers drop their bombs there instead of Halifax, but as with many of these things fact and fiction become entangled over the years. The Radar station up the hill from me was run by the RAF during the war to guide aeroplanes but changed its usage later on, if i have my facts right. As for the rumours of the tunnels, i did actually say that these are just rumours until proved otherwise, no one i know has actually seen them, it seems to be one of those things that hangs on in peoples minds.
if you find anything more out id like to hear about your findings.
cheers

ok ive done a bit more digging around. The radar station up the hill from me was indeed the 585 Signals Unit RAF Oxenhope Moor and was part of the GEE chain ( stations linked together to aid aircraft navigation) and was closed in 1970. As for an airstrip up there i dont know but the one im talking about is a couple of miles away.
cheers