Fertiliser factory built inside disused hangar at wartime RAF base

Law Fertilisers has set up a new manufacturing base in an old RAF hangar at West Raynham. Pictured is Mark Law. Picture: Ian Burt (Image: Archant 2016)

The cavernous building, covering more than an acre of the former base at West Raynham, once housed Blenheim and Mosquito bombers.

But now this relic from East Anglia's wartime heritage has been brought back into use by Law Fertilisers, to make tailor-made nutrients for the region's arable farmers.

The new factory is due to be fully operational on Monday, with 11 workers combining as many as 50 raw materials, including British potash and Russian phosphate.

Managing director Mark Law said the opportunity to breathe new life into such historic buildings was also a major motivation for his team.

Law Fertilisers has set up a new manufacturing base in an old RAF hangar at West Raynham. Picture: Ian Burt (Image: Archant 2016)

'Businesses are all about people, and running businesses is all about inspiration,' said Mr Law. 'Being located in such a historic site is very inspirational, not only for me, but for the whole staff. It is tremendous. It is a perfect resource for our requirements, and we are putting it to a massively important use that local people will benefit from.

'This was a base that contributed to protecting the independence of Britain from the terrors of the world. A lot of the crews didn't come back, and when the whole place is empty it is spooky. Bringing life back to it will make all that sacrifice seem worthwhile.'

Mr Law also took pride in another historic link – as his firm's new facility was in the same village where Charles 'Turnip' Townshend pioneered the Norfolk four-course rotation in the 18th century.

'Britain was the first country to go through the agricultural revolution and this site was the starting point for the Norfolk four-course rotation,' he said. 'The heritage of being progressive and innovative and different is something that is very much akin to our own philosophy where we try to be the most progressive fertiliser company in the country.'

Mosquito aircraft.

Mr Law said the new site would fill a 'vacuum' in central and west Norfolk, left by the impending closure of the Bunn Fertiliser factory at nearby Fakenham, whose operations are being moved to Bunn's Great Yarmouth terminal.

With such large storage and loading facilities at its disposal, he said the West Raynham site could supply as much as 70,000 tonnes of fertiliser per year.

'The aim is to provide a local resource for farmers to receive high quality tailored fertilisers to improve crop yields and quality,' he said. 'We will be doing sampling and because we are a local resource we can very easily manufacture a bundle of nutrients that relates to a particular field and a particular crop. Farmers will tell you their crops vary across the farm and across the field, so we can cater for that variability. It is not just N, P and K (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), but many other nutrients.

'There is a massive vacuum here. It is a major crop producing region without a local facility which a lot of farmers appreciate. We are providing that option now.'

West Raynham's disused airbase from the air. Picture by Mike Page. (Image: ©Coypright Mike Page, All Rights ReservedBefore any use is made of this picture, including dispaly, publication, broadcast, syn)

Among the farmers who will be using fertiliser from the new plant is 56-year-old Allen Ringer, who farms two miles away at Ponders Farm in Rougham.

He remembers watching the aircraft in his youth, and said his late uncle Tom spent a lot of time at the officers' mess where he had several friends.

Tom farmed literally up to the gate here, and there was always a very good relationship with certain members of the officers' mess and the local farming community,' said Mr Ringer. 'From what I can work out, it was always a very friendly air force base.

'In days of old for me as a little lad it was: 'Look at that!' With this and with RAF Sculthorpe, we had so many aircraft flying over here, the Vulcans, Valiants and Phantoms, but you soon get used to it. They were here all the time.

'The great thing about this is you have got the heritage and you have got four of the hangars still standing here not doing a lot. For me, to see something like this being made use of is great.

'Mark has some very interesting ideas about soils, and if you can take that and apply it to what you are doing at home, you can increase the potential of the farm with that knowledge. I think quite a lot of the local farming community will take advantage of that. The fact that it is on your doorstep means the transport costs are reduced and we can come and collect in bulk on the day of requirement. It is a win-win situation.'

Wartime memories

Olaf Brun was born in a farmhouse about half a mile away from RAF West Raynham in 1939, a month after the base opened.

The farmer and aviation enthusiast now owns the former base's satellite airfield at Great Massingham as well as other farmland at nearby Weasenham.

Recalling his early childhood, he said: 'I obviously don't remember much about it, but when I was very small my parents used to put me in the cellar of the farmhouse in case there was an air raid. Some of the first bombs to fall on Norfolk in World War Two were part of an attack on West Raynham, which was attacked several times from the air in 1940 and 41.

'In 1939 the first aircraft to come here were Blenheims, part of Number 2 Group. There were also US Venturas and Marauders, and at the end they had the Mitchell bomber here as well. In 1943 they got Mosquitos here, which would attack the German navy in the North Sea.

'The Blenheims were not terribly fast, but quite useful aeroplanes. But they had terrific losses. A lot of them went down to Malta in 1943 when they were building the runways here – and a lot of them didn't come back.

'A lot of the squadrons reformed with Mosquitos, which was an absolutely super aircraft compared to what they had before.

'I own the airfield at Great Massingham just down the road, which was a satellite of West Raynham. There is a T2 hangar there, which we found lying in the grass and erected it.

'We are using the wartime building for our farming operations and that seems to be what is happening here at West Raynham. You have got straw being stored at one of these hangars and we have Mr Law moving in with his fertiliser and that is probably the best thing that can happen to these buildings.'

History of the base

RAF West Raynham was built between 1938 and 1939, and became a major operations base for RAF missions during the Second World War and the Cold War.

During the 1940s, Bomber Command lost 86 aircraft on operations launched from the base – 56 Blenheims, 29 Mosquitos and a Beaufighter.

In the mid to late 1950s, it became a Central Fighter Establishment, and from then onwards it hosted squadrons of aircraft including Meteors, Javelins, Hunters and eventually Canberras, which remained until the end of 1975 when the base was finally closed for flying.

After that, RAF West Raynham operated as a Bloodhound surface to air missile unit until 1991.

It was closed by the Ministry of Defence in 1994, but retained as a strategic reserve. Having lain derelict for more than a decade the Ministry of Defence sold the site to developers in 2006.

Are you launching a new agricultural venture? Contact chris.hill@archant.co.uk.