N.G.T.E Pyestock.

National Gas Turbine Establishment Pyestock dates back to 1918 when the Royal Aircraft Establishment was built to develop aircraft engine technology, After WWII it became the National Gas Turbine Establishment.

Its purpose was to support the UK development of gas turbine engines, a role that it continued to fulfil until 2002 when it was slowly closed down.

The site undertook research and development activites into all aspects of gas turbine engine performance and component development, and was the UK's major altitude test facility for both military and civil aero gas turbine engines under simulated flight conditions.

The site is also the home of the Admiralty Test House (ATH) which was developed as the Royal Navy's test facility for assessing gas turbines for naval applications.

The ATH has been involved with the development and testing of all candidate gas turbine engines for service with the Royal Navy and has been operational since 1951. The facility catered specifically for the testing of marine and industrial engines.

Its thought that every gas turbine used by the Royal Navy was first put through rigorous testing in this building at Pyestock.

In the 1990s the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) took over the 108 acre site but towards the late 90`s The government was reluctant to invest further in the agency and in 2002 it was privatised, with the government creating Qinetiq.

Since 2002 Qinetiq have down graded all their operations at Pyestock and now virtually the entire site stands derelict with only a small section still in use.

Its also worth noting that Pyestock was used in the block buster movie Sahara as the main set for Massarde`s solar energy plant due to its intricate maze of pipe work and engineering.

Its a shame to see once one of the worlds leading facilities in R&D for turbines discarded and abandoned in such a way, because Pyestock is now redundant the MOD have pretty much disowned it and Tesco have now put in plans to demolish the site and build a super warehouse facility in its place.

Until you see Pyestock in person you can only imagaine what its like, it is the most amazing site any of us have ever explored, not only because of its history and impressive achievements but its sheer scale and intricacy.

A true engineering masterpiece in its own right!!!