PHOTO GALLERY – How the Aycliffe ROF site looked in December 1945

Photographs on this page courtesy of Hydro Polymers, Newton Aycliffe. Please do not reproduce without permission. All of the photos on this page were taken in December 1945 and show the areas occupied by the Bakelite company from this time. The ROF buildings can be seen exactly as they would have been during WWII.

Buildings and shelters...

Aycliffe ROF area 7a pictured in December 1945.

Heating pipes fed all of the buildings...

Large heating pipes supplied all of the buildings, many supported on tall concrete pillars. The heating system was fed from a central Boiler House, which I beleive still exists to this day and is situated behind the Learning & Skills Council building, near the 'Blue Bridge'.

The Shifting House Photo courtesy of The Northern Echo archive This is a photo of a small boy on the Aycliffe Royal Ordnance Factory site, presumably after the end of WWII. The factory appears to be deserted at this point. It clearly shows the IN and OUT doors to the Shifting House. This is where workers discarded ordinary clothes and put on safety gear. Any items that might have caused a spark were left behind. Items such as cigarrettes, matches, metal zips, hair grips, buckles etc. were strictly prohibited. Special shoes with no metal were worn and overalls which had no buttons, tied in the middle, were put on. Wedding rings were covered with sticky tape.

Inside the Shifting House (1945) Photo from Hydro Polymers archive. This is a photo of the inside of a Shifting House at Aycliffe. This photograph was taken in late 1945, just after the closure of the factory. It clearly shows the Clean and Dirty sides with a barrier in the middle. The word CLEAN is painted on the barrier.    Many buildings surrounded by blast mounds...

Many of the more vulnerable ROF buildings were surrounded by blast mounds, known as 'Bunds'. Air Raid shelters were situated near to the buildings.

Out of doors, elevated 'clearways' of hard smooth tar were constructed to reduce friction when moving trolleys and vehicles.