RAF Burtonwood, near Warrington is now sadly completely demolished. Until fairly recently some of its huge hangars could be seen from the M62 motorway.

However, if you look carefully there are a few things still visible and there is an excellent museum that documents its history.

RAF Burtonwood was built specifically for the Second World War, opening in time for the Battle of Britain before being handed over to the United States when they entered the war. It was: "open the longest and was the last to close. It had the most US personnel, the highest production, the most aircraft, the longest runway and even the most marriages." (Lancashire Airfields in the Second World War by Aldon P.Ferguson).

During World War Two, thousands of aircraft were repaired or built at Burtonwood. Anything from an entire plane (11,575 built in just 32 months)  to its engine to individual parts were stripped and re-built, completely overhauled, modified or built from scratch. It was the biggest airbase in Europe during WW2 and therefore played a crucial role in how the war progressed. Surprisingly, it largely escaped German bombing raids, despite nearby Liverpool and Manchester both being Blitzed.

So with the hangers gone, huge distribution centres being built, whole housing estates springing up and a major motorway over the main runway - what still exists?

So far we have found three remaining blast shelters, a very rare Pickett Hamilton Fort, a possible pillbox or bunker (no photos on this page yet), some lumps and bumps and a fantastic Museum.