RAF Carlisle
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RAF Carlisle was a Royal Air Force base for over 70 years. Latterly the home of No. 14 Maintenance Unit and occupying the various sites originally used as RAF Kingstown (Elementary Air Training School) during WWII. The site was usually known locally as 14MU. RAF Kingstown had also served as for a short while a public muncipal airport for the City of Carlisle.
The base was located on the northern edge of Carlisle, just past the present Asda supermarket, and split into several different sites. The main site, Harker was 0.7km North east, Heathlands was 0.5km North, Rockcliffe - 1.2km North west, and Cargo 1.5km West. It was used by the RAF to maintain various pieces of equipment ranging from engine parts to firearms, ammunition, clothing and small hardware.
Routine requests for items were dealt with by the (mostly civilian) warehousemen during normal working hours. At night a uniformed RAF Duty Officer dealt with urgent and essential "flash" requests. On one occasion in 1981 the Duty Officer (Flt Lt) was shaken awake at 3am to deal with a flash request from an operational flying station.....for a pair of wellington boots, size 9. On another occasion a visiting Senior RAF Officer was conducting an annual 'Command' Inspection of Harker site and spotted a huge pile of unmarked wooden crates stacked against a wall. He asked the station commander what they contained, the station commander asked the adjutant, who asked a senior store keeper who quizzed his staff. Nobody could be found who knew the contents so the visiting officer ordered them opened. Inside was a complete Auster aircraft untouched since arriving from the factory during WWII and still awaiting assembly.
The site consisted of the guard room, a helipad mainly used by the Royal Navy during aerial marine surveys of the Solway Firth, several hangars (on all sites), the officers' mess, the station HQ, the shooting range, a water tower, an MOD Fire Station and various other minor admin buildings. The original gate guardian was a F-4 Phantom II which is now on display at the Solway Aviation Museum at Carlisle Airport, later replaced by a air-photo recon Canberra that remained until the unit closed.
Associated with RAF Carlisle was the Headquarters of No 22 Group Royal Observer Corps whose administration hutting and protected, hardened Nuclear Reporting bunker (standard above-ground structure, built 1962) both stood on a separate site at Grindlesdyke just outside the main gates of RAF Carlisle. The ROC buildings were demolished in 1996 and replaced by a cellphone communications mast. The foundations of the nuclear bunker can still be seen outlined in the concreted yard, which now also contains the Air Training Corps hut.
The base was closed in the mid 1990s, and stood unused for many years. The site was bought by a local investor, who has spent a lot of money developing the site into a massive regional business park known as Kingmoor Park, a role that continues today. The main site is as much the hub of operations today as it was when it was in service. It houses the site admin blocks, many local businesses have converted hangars into workshops, many national and international businesses have depots there. The helipad has been developed and built on by Capita Business Services who has the contract to run various services for Cumbria County Council for the next 15 years. The Cargo site has been demolished and a new housing estate is being built there.
The stock of RAF Carlisle officers' and other ranks' married-quarter housing was sold originally to Carlisle City Council and is now almost completely owner-occupied.
The Royal Air Force still retains close links with the local area, through RAF Spadeadam - the only electronic warfare range still in the UK, and one of two in Europe - which holds an annual thanksgiving service in Carlisle Cathedral on Battle of Britain Sunday. Other links with the area are No. 1862 (City of Carlisle) Squadron, Air Training Corps, based near the base, the Carlisle and District Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association and the Royal Observer Corps Association (22 Group Chapter).
