Ridgewell Weather - Ridgewell Airfield (Operations sites)

The Airfield operational sites include the runways, perimeter tracks, hardstandings and numerous dispersed sites like the Bomb store and hangar areas. A number of site plans and photographs can be found below.

The frame above shows a plan view of the Bomb Dump looking southwest. Note the camouflage structures (128 & 129). The inside of one of these structures is shown below.

Plan of Airfield bomb store

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Eastern track to Bomb dump today

The plan (left) of the Airfield's Eastern dispersals was the base of the 533rd Bomb Squadron. Note the gray Airfield entrance track which now joins with the top left perimeter track to form the Ashen - Ovington Road. The frame (right) is looking North along the old perimeter track.

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The Southern dispersals (left), home to the 534th Bomb Squadron, have been completely returned to farmland and no longer exist. Looking down on the Airfield at certain times of the year their outline is still clearly visible in the ground.

Building 103 at the Airfield entrance on the Tilbury-Juxta-Clare to Ovington road (below left) is a Maycrete hut (similar to the one below). This building on the site of a private house still exists today.

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North hangar prior to it's demolition in 1989

The site plan (left) shows the North Hangar complex. Once home to the 532nd Bomb Squadron, the Northern perimeter track and North hangar hardstanding (2 frames below) now belong to the Essex Gliding Club. The service track by the hangar entrance still houses several structures but they are all in a rather dilapidated state as building 78 testifies (below left).

Building 78

This frame (left) shows where runway 10 joins the Northern perimeter track. This runway up to it's intersection with runway 16 was only partially broken-up and just recently the Gilding Club have reinstated it to allow aerotowing operations.

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