York's Forgotten World War Two RAF Base TO BE DESTROYED | RAF Clifton

This is York, England. A busy city with a well-used ring road that sees traffic all year round. The York outer ring road dualling scheme with planning permission submitted by City of York Council will see most of the remaining parts of Royal Air Force Clifton removed.
The Clifton Airfield was originally built in 1936 as a civilian venture, until the outbreak of war in September 1939 where it was taken over by the Royal Air Force.
Accommodation for 500 personnel and three large concrete runways suitable for heavy bombers were built enabling the Handley Page Halifax to operate here from 1941.
A Luftwaffe airstrike in 1942 badly damaged the airfield in 1942 which will be covered further in another video.
The purpose of this video is to show you what remains are under threat due to the road widening works due imminently, where some or all the remains North of the York Ring Road will be removed.
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[@robmurphy165]

Hi Guys, great video of an airfield I've watched disappear over the years. One slight correction is that RAF Clifton was never an operation bomber base. It was used by Army co-operation command from 1939 to 1941 flying Lysander's ( Hence the pub in Clifton moors name 'Lysander Arms') 1941 48 Maintenance Unit took it over and it became a major repair and maintenance airfield for the surrounding squadrons Halifax's. It was quite heavily damaged during the Baedeker Raid on York. The Luftwaffe attacks on cities with historical relevance. It was also used at the end of the war to break down or convert Halifax's to scrap or transport use. I feel the airfield never gets the attention that the surrounding operational bomber base get. You've done an awesome job of preserving it on film.

[@stephengiles2873]

The building next to the 25m range would be used to harmonize the guns on fighter aircraft . They would lift the tail to get the correct flight attitude and then the weapons could be fired in safety.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Stephen, thats great information, so the extra walls were for the increased amount of barrels, makes sense now, thank You :)

[@daviddavies2072]

Thank you for this video, I used to play o this airfield as a young boy , many happy memories , and have watched it disappear as time as gone on, , good video thank you x👍🇬🇧

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there, we are glad it gives you good memories :) I remember it as a temporary caravan touring site in the mid 1980's before the retail park. Have you seen part 2? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXfcf5-lrsqGq7csi=cppRU8ZWOMaB0GC1

[@daviddavies2072]

@ALWResearchTeam thank you , il have a look at part 2 👍🇬🇧

[@ianbache8776]

Another great video, the structure next to the Firing range is the Aircraft shooting in Butts to synchronize the guns on the aircraft, the tail of the aircraft would of been lifted onto stilts so the aircraft was level.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there Ian. That is very interesting information indeed! The concrete apron in front of that area makes a lot of sense now too. Thank you so much for watching and commenting :)

[@RHR-221b]

Thank you, Andy & Co., for keeping this precious site in some sort of *in perpetuity* ... Hopefully those responsible for any type/thought of dual-carriageway carnage will realise their responsibility in 'doing the right thing', before y/our appreciated historical remembrances are ethereal entities. Thank you again, Andy, Paul, Dave and Thomas. Stay free. All the best. Rab 🎲 🌠

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Our pleasure Rab! It sure was a nice place to visit again after all these years :)

[@ExploringwithCarl]

I really enjoyed watching and listening to this one of where the layouts of the buildings were. Its good to see still on google earth where you can still make out old RAF runways. Great video ALW & Dave.

[@anthonydefreitas6006]

Agreed , once you know the layout of an air base you can still make them out , even when the runways have been lifted and returned to farm land.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Glad you enjoyed it Carl, Thanks very much :)

[@RHR-221b]

Never forgetting Paul, and the Bold Thomas, who laid the seeds for his *Auld Faither* to begin his and our journeys. Stay free, EwC. All the best. Rab 🍻 😎 🌠

[@28YorkshireRose12]

Only a few miles from where I was born! - I was born in Haxby, in 1957! From there, up to Wigginton, turn left and continue to what was then "The Bumper Castle" and Clifton Aerodrome [as it was known] was on your right. I remember seeing the place when it was well nigh complete, with what to me were 'huge' great big hangars. For some reason back then, it always looked like a dark and sinister place - But I was only a tiny wee bairn at the time! My dad was just 12 years old when war broke out, and also being born in Haxby, saw the aerodrome being built, used, and ultimately lost to commercial enterprise. He was called up in '44 and just missed active service. As a young lad, he used to watch the comings and goings at Clifton. From what he told me, Clifton was in fact a repair base, not an active bomber base. I don't know how it fits in with the bigger picture, but he flew in a Bristol Blenheim after the cessation of hostility in Europe - Now, he was based in Scotland, just outside Edinburgh at the time, and came home on that Blenheim, and that's about as much as I know about that. Those trees aren't very old at all, and were planted as a noise screen against traffic noise. I was working at Askham Bryan when the "Northern Relief" project was built, but by then Clifton was already heavily populated with commercial units. Granted, the aerodrome was substantially more complete. Now then, that big porcelain 'ES' lamp fitting - I'd take a punt at that being out of the lighting from inside one of the aircraft hangars, and I base that on the lamp fittings which still [as far as I am aware] are in the hangar which still stands at the airfield where I live. It's been a long time since I last visited it, but those lights were still working, well into the 1980s. They were very large mercury vapour lamps - the ones that gave off an eerie green light, and were original artefacts from WW2. In modern parlance, we now have "High Bay" lighting, which is much the same thing, and though the technology has moved on a little, mercury, and sodium, high bay lights still exist in industrial applications. A thought on the "hole" in front of the butts. It certainly has nothing to do with the farmers! The firing range here had the same hole in the same place, and the only thing that comes to mind just now is that it might have been the trench from which targets could be raised and lowered in safety, allowing operatives to remain in front of the sand bank, protected in the trench? Is that plausible? Other than that, if drainage is the answer, then I'd surmise it was there to take the water from the butts to prevent the sand from becoming saturated, and consequently slumping down from the retaining wall. All it would need then would be a couple of Coventry Godivas to pump out the trench. Possibility?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there :) yes the water fitting could well be from a discharge lamp, we used to have them on warships. We have made A couple of more episodes of RAF Clifton and Clifton town too. They will be out over the next few months :)

[@colvinator1611]

Thanks a lot. Very interesting and essential archive work. The stop butt I would suggest is for aircraft gun calibration. Small arms ranges were many hundreds of yards to the stop butt and the overshoot land behind at least 3 miles ( Bren .303, etc ). Thanks again, Colin ( Wakefield )

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there Colin. The stop butt idea makes a lot of sense :)

[@dennisscarborough4413]

Thank you, for preserving history , you and Dave, And the crew always do an excellent job

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Glad you enjoyed it Dennis :) This was a good place to visit although a bit sad knowing that it is going to be demolished.

[@columbo7927]

Interesting Andy Thank you

[@alanoliver]

Another super video

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Glad you enjoyed it Alan, thanks very much :)

[@jonathanchalk2507]

Most injoyable, more please.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

There is more to come on RAF Bases :) 11am on Sunday. Thanks for watching and commenting :)

[@4june9140]

My cousins lived near Clifton Airfield and used to take my brother and me to all these places. My brother and I also used to go over to Rufforth airfield, I remember playing in WW11 German Aircraft which had been dumped near the old Shooting range. This would have been in the early 50s.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Bob, interesting to hear they are old playgrounds of yours :)

[@ianthomson9165]

Hi Great video can i suggest that you go to the other side of the moor on to Clifton Backies nature reserve where you will still find the accommodation blocks for the people who serviced the planes most of the bases for the buildings are still there although they are covered by trees the blast shelters are mostly complete i think it would complete your video Ian T..

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Ian, thanks for watching, we will be going back to clifton soon to continue documenting there :)

[@emilierodgers4511]

And Bootham Stray has foundations and red brick structures that were part of it too

[@yorkie2789]

Interesting stuff as usual. It's amazing the number of air force bases that there were around York, guess its because it's so flat. My local one is Elvington airfield, that's a runway and a half! Only last weekend I was walking down the nearby road and discovered what appeared to be old air raid shelters. Had driven past them daily over the years and had never noticed them.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hey Yorkie, i have yet to research Elvington as project, the control tower has recently been renovated to its WW2 condition I believe. Interesting to read the air raid shelters are extant, is that on the B1228?

[@yorkie2789]

@@ALWResearchTeam No it's on the east side of Wheldrake Lane.

[@paulwilliams8725]

Great stuff 👍

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thanks Paul :)

[@anthonydefreitas6006]

Interesting video. It's surprising how many of the RAF bases are still sitting dormant out there.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

It sure is surprising Anthony :) I like visiting them and imagine what they would have been like back then.

[@RHR-221b]

@@ALWResearchTeam *Atmosphere, Andy et al.* Second Sight? I also endeavour to try and understand what feelings (to put it mildly) those never-to-be-forgotten brave men and women experienced. Thank you all. Stay free, A L-W. Rab 🌠 🕊 🎲

[@harriergr7728]

The building to the left of the firing range is in front of an aircraft hard standing, which suggests that it could have been used for the gun alignment for fighter aircraft, these were called “ Shooting-in-butts” and could also have had sand inside each of the 5 sections. This can be seen on the Google earth image of the area.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there, thanks very much for watching and for the information. we found the hard standing and were not sure of its purpose :)

[@aysekucukkoylu490]

Thanks often wondered what was behind those trees

[@medisrag]

I’ve some photographs of the airfield taken in the 70’s before the construction of the ring road. I can send them to you if you’re interested ?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello David, yes please 🙏 [e-mail]

[@ColinH1973]

Great video and thanks for all of your hard work. East Moor, or Melbourne (N. Yorks.) next, please?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Colin, we have not been to East Moor yet. Melbourne we visited a couple of years ago but never made a video out of it. Might do that soon :)

[@ColinH1973]

@@ALWResearchTeam Hello and thanks for the reply. I will look forward to seeing more of your work! Best regards, Colin

[@antheather5864]

Great video, been here a few times and love this place, do you know what the structure on the left as you go over the gate is, dont think you showed it in the video but thaught you might know?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Ant, we have another couple of videos to come from RAF Clifton so I can add it in there :)

[@StephenGlencross-yg4nt]

Very interesting doing a good job you guys there are a lot of 2 Nd w w air bases hear in Cumbria gt Orton kirkbride Anthorn Kingstown Carlisle silloth lots of interesting buildings still standing

[@davidneesam2626]

Great video Guys. North Yorkshire is full of disused air bases. Where next?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Germany on Sunday 11am :)

[@phannaby2623]

Have you seen the entrance to the air raid bunker behind DM Keith autos on the eastern end of the Clifton runway?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hi 👋 no I would like to check that out sometime

[@DanielGlover]

So one layby to another, see the car on the drone footage, way in through hedge on 2nd car place, I found on the google map. Nice video.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Daniel. Top marks sir :)

[@lonewolfhamradio]

Must have driven that road a thousand times and not noticed the butts. Not sure what the building to the left is. Many thanks for documenting this .

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Its hidden in plain sight as they say :)

[@asc.445]

Worked on the industrial site back in the 80s. Must admit there wasn't much left then.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Some things are hidden in plain sight :)

[@chrisb8756]

Great video and very interesting to me as I live on the housing estate just to the right of your initial drone shot. Our house is built on the old runway. We did our garden out about 2 years ago and had a right job digging down due to the concrete from the runway buried under the soil! One thing you didn't show and when I've been there I've wondered this. When you first climb over the gate to enter the bit at the beginning of your video, there's a load of red bricks lying around. There was obviously a structure here. Do you have any idea what this might have been? Thank you.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Chris, sounds like some challenging digging work!! The red bricks look like they have been dumped there to stop drive ons and not part of the airfield. I have looked at the plan of the 1941 upgrade and there isn’t a building there. We have recently finished filming a episode 2 of RAF Clifton and that’ll be out in a couple of weeks. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@chrisb8756]

@@ALWResearchTeam Thanks for your reply. That's interesting, thank you for letting me know. I keep wanting to go to the other bit up the road, but it looks challenging getting in there, especially with the busy road. I've spotted the gate so I may try it soon. Thanks again and i look forward to episode 2.

[@user-sp6kf5dm7o]

its a shame really the airfield is a part of our history

[@KingstonHomeMaintenance]

Hello! So the range. To me it only looked like a 25m range, normally fig 11 targets used then would walk down to paste up. If it was 100m or greater then there would be a lower level in front of the sand bank where the galleries would have been operated by the soldiers in the butt's, lifting them up and down plus there would have been a raised bank in front of the butt's too. There would also be a comms point from the butts to the firing point for the rco so he could ask for flag up or flag down or any other safety issues. I was an RCO and worked many a range.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello mike, we have a massive range to put up in the future from Germany, it was over a kilometer. I used to go to Strensall ranges in the 1990's and remember the butts on the lover level. I believe they originated from the Boer war. HMS Raleigh had a similar setup too, also the ranges in portsmouth, you have got me thinking now lol. Thanks for watching and commenting :)

[@KingstonHomeMaintenance]

@@ALWResearchTeam i remember pushing the trolly around Strensall lol they were the days, didn't often get on E range, The electric one, had to go out and enter from other side. I remember also shooting from 600m when in the shooting days. Fun times.

[@Traveling425]

I remember working in the buts and hearing the crack as the round hit the target followed by the thump sound from the weapon it was fired from, very strange.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Aren't these a/c gun levellers ¿?

[@shirleydrury5565]

Lads have a look at r.a.f shepherds grove Stanton Suffolk . First place in u.k to have F86 in 1950s 😊😊

[@nervousnellyterencemorton]

The enclosed firing range looks like the type used at RAF Anthorn in Cumbria to zero fighter guns. The Cumbria ones are in pristine condition given the local weather and salt air.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Ah nice. I’ll have to check them out at some point :-)

[@Peter.w]

If the gun butt is still standing go back and walk up to the top on the bank and you will find the rounds in the sand

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Im sure there will be thousands in there Peter :)

[@danielwalker2613]

Blimey !! .... There's Catweazle at 11:10 - I ain't seen him since 1970. ... So he is still alive and kicking ?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

It certainly is 🤣

[@tracya4087]

is nt funny how it turn s into woods , as a railway explorerer , i find it strange to find railway structures in the middle of a wood .smashin film fellas , my local disused airfield is rnas burscough , all the best from nick in wigan lancahire ,ps check raf marston moor

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Tracey, they sure do grow well. The Hull & Barnsley Railway is almost completely trees now

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Old railway cobbled area in the fields of Carrington (Moss), S of the vanished works, (area full of olde bottles, try dry the moss) . Not even sleepers left but tis def a point of rail interest.

[@hedgecat4310]

Hi I don't know if you have dug into the earth bank in front of the firing range wall, but i got loads of .303 (i think) bullets out about 6" in!

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Hedgecat, they’ll certainly be there! Usually the bank gets dug out for metal recycling but that has survived

[@hedgecat4310]

@@ALWResearchTeam Yeah theres 303 and pistol rounds in the bank, also did you spot the old bottle dump not far from the pyrotechnic store? I put the old sauce bottle on the wall at 10.56 cos I couldnt carry any more lolz! Theres a guy goes metal detecting round there he's found some cracking bits!

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Hedgecat :) yes we found the old bottles and had a good look at some of them :) very interesting old ones and they were intact too.

[@theyorkbiker.8214]

Explored that site as a kid in the 1970s, as a local, we've always called it the clifton backies.

[@angelsone-five7912]

Nice explore lads. Why oh why do they have to keep wiping out our history? Just a tiny bit of this place left now and even that is going to go.😡

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there, it sure is a shame, retail parks will be assigned to history before long too - the reason the dual carriageway is encroaching on the RAF remains.