Have you lived somewhere with a secret / dark past?
Discussion
Musing on the recent thread about secure places, I wondered about places with secret or 'dark' pasts.
Back in the '60s I was briefly at what was called in those days a 'college of education' - not a corrective institution but a place where teachers were trained. It was not far from Milton Keynes, in a largely brick built building in the grounds of a mansion now open to the public.
Any guesses yet?
Decades later I revisited it, it's better known as 'Station X' or Bletchley Park. In the '60s its wartime history was not known, at least not by us.
Anyone else lived, stayed, or worked in a similar 'secret' place?
Back in the '60s I was briefly at what was called in those days a 'college of education' - not a corrective institution but a place where teachers were trained. It was not far from Milton Keynes, in a largely brick built building in the grounds of a mansion now open to the public.
Any guesses yet?
Decades later I revisited it, it's better known as 'Station X' or Bletchley Park. In the '60s its wartime history was not known, at least not by us.
Anyone else lived, stayed, or worked in a similar 'secret' place?
I used to live in a house on the former site of Cardiff AWE, they removed about 80 tonnes of depleted uranium just before they built it. Which was nice.
'Interestingly' the whole estate was built on the original (very, very deep) concrete base of the AWE with top soil added to create the gardens, so in heavy rain (Wales init) they'd all flood.
I was glad to leave.
'Interestingly' the whole estate was built on the original (very, very deep) concrete base of the AWE with top soil added to create the gardens, so in heavy rain (Wales init) they'd all flood.
I was glad to leave.
SpunkyGlory said:
Saleen836 said:
Growing up I lived in Westbury (Wiltshire) and during my early teens with a population of approx 8k people, the town had a higher murder rate than New York City!
There was 3 or 4 murders within a 6 month period
I'm pretty sure NY has more than 4 murders in 6 months.There was 3 or 4 murders within a 6 month period
t.The Bletchley comment reminded me of Hughenden House near High Wycombe. As well as being the home of Lord Gladstone, during WW2 it housed a
specialist team of draughtsmen and artists to create detailed maps of strategic sites & cities (like the dambuster dams) from aerial photos for bombers which was totally top secret. They would rush the maps over to bomber command up the road
It was so secret (or maybe as it was one of so many similar operations required for the war), that after VE day it was all packed up and everyone went back to their own lives and it was never talked about again. It was only until the early 2000s that the Wycombe local history society was interviewing people's role in the war and the story of Hughenden started to get pieced together.
specialist team of draughtsmen and artists to create detailed maps of strategic sites & cities (like the dambuster dams) from aerial photos for bombers which was totally top secret. They would rush the maps over to bomber command up the road
It was so secret (or maybe as it was one of so many similar operations required for the war), that after VE day it was all packed up and everyone went back to their own lives and it was never talked about again. It was only until the early 2000s that the Wycombe local history society was interviewing people's role in the war and the story of Hughenden started to get pieced together.
P-Jay said:
I used to live in a house on the former site of Cardiff AWE, they removed about 80 tonnes of depleted uranium just before they built it. Which was nice.
'Interestingly' the whole estate was built on the original (very, very deep) concrete base of the AWE with top soil added to create the gardens, so in heavy rain (Wales init) they'd all flood.
I was glad to leave.
A friend of a friend lives in one of those houses, you're not allowed to grow any vegetables in your garden!!!'Interestingly' the whole estate was built on the original (very, very deep) concrete base of the AWE with top soil added to create the gardens, so in heavy rain (Wales init) they'd all flood.
I was glad to leave.
In the Army back in Germany first base was Munster Ortze. There was an autopsy table in the cellar of the Officers’ Mess and the rumour/tale was that Mengele has operated there. As well as that Hitler had stayed there at some point in one of the officer’s married quarters.
The Regiment later moved down to Bergen-Horne and we got the old SS officers’mess to live in. They were the guards for the camp further down the road, Belsen.
The Regiment later moved down to Bergen-Horne and we got the old SS officers’mess to live in. They were the guards for the camp further down the road, Belsen.
The woman who lives here -
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
- is having a hard time selling it.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
- is having a hard time selling it.
Since moving to my present des res I have been studying local history.
About half a mile away is a fine old house that once was the home of a member of a prominent local family. This was mid nineteenth century. During a four year period this chap lost three of his children in infancy, and his wife died soon after the birth of a son.
Needless to say he moved elsewhere after all this and tried (I suspect unsuccessfully) to get his life going again. The house is now shared between a bed & breakfast and a nursery school. My grand daughter attended this school for three years.
Oh, and parts of the annexes used by the nursery used to be an abattoir and butchery.
About half a mile away is a fine old house that once was the home of a member of a prominent local family. This was mid nineteenth century. During a four year period this chap lost three of his children in infancy, and his wife died soon after the birth of a son.
Needless to say he moved elsewhere after all this and tried (I suspect unsuccessfully) to get his life going again. The house is now shared between a bed & breakfast and a nursery school. My grand daughter attended this school for three years.
Oh, and parts of the annexes used by the nursery used to be an abattoir and butchery.
Roofless Toothless said:
The woman who lives here -
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
- is having a hard time selling it.
I'm not surprised, state of those curtains!https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
- is having a hard time selling it.
Roofless Toothless said:
The woman who lives here -
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
- is having a hard time selling it.
If she was worried the history you'd think she'd remove the sign and the broomstick over the windowhttps://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
- is having a hard time selling it.
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