200 yard Moving Target Ranges

Rerun57 - The feature I think you are referring looks to be too large and as this was an AFV training area (or was it arty?) it is unlikely a 200 yd MTR would have been contemplated here. From memory I don't think there was the associated RAF B&GS or AOS nearby.

Mawganmad - That is a Fleet Air Arm ORS target which was originally designed for photographic dive and R/P practice and I think we have discussed this before. The idea was that the camera took a shot at time of release of the imaginary bomb and the assessors, usually WRNS in the early post war era, and the shape of the circles would tell you the dive angle and the size, with the relevant lens data could tell you the range. Early intention was to include practice bombing but this was dropped post war. It is my belief that Treligga had the first example, being the air warfare school's range, but others appeared around FAA stations and this include some airfields such as Talbenny, Banff, Dallachy and Predannack (which is still visible). They were still in use in the fifties and probably into the sixties. The Americans used a similar design on their bombing range targets and even added circles to existing ranges when they took them over during the war but in their case they were purely to make the target more visible from high altitude.

Chesil Bank was for the ATC/APC at Warmwell and Chickerell was the ELG/Drogue dropping field (originally). I don't think the MTRs were built for the armament camps, although a few were certainly on their ranges, as they were for AGS & AOS originally. I can't think of any in Dorset let alone neighbouring counties so was probably set up in 1939/40 prior to training moving North and West as the air threat increased. Training aircraft with no IFF would have been a major hassle for the radar operators at that time.

PETERTHEEATER;145290 wrote:

....Old Maps has a good 1957 2500 scale map cover of the MTR but I can't see any remains at all apart from a 'kinked' hedgeline.

Useful map - comparing it with current OS and Bing's Birds Eye view shows part of the original brick workshop building still there, just to the right of the modern grey/green farm building. Looks to me like the modern building was built on the base of the original central workshop area plus the apron. What's left looks just like the office areas at Theddlethorpe, see also my earlier post about Margam.

There's also a photo on Geograph , but it's not so easy to see. No idea what the small building is by the electricity poles, but it looks to be from the same era.

Any thoughts?
JohnG

Just looking back on this thread and noticed Ivor Jones' reply to ColinBa here /community/showthread.php?2733-200-yard-Moving-Target-Ranges&p=104619&viewfull=1#post104619
Could this be the one of the Turret Ranges that we failed to identify and locate at places like Devils Punchbowl and Roman Hole?