The Royal Gunpowder Mills @ Waltham Abbey

Yesterday I visited the Royal Gunpowder Mills just outside Waltham Abbey in Essex. This huge site (half the size of Hyde Park in central London) had an important role in the production of gunpowder, and later cordite, from the early 1800s until 1991.
The various exhibitions on the site are located in the complex of buildings near the entrance. In the main hall you'll find a large series of displays dedicated to the site's history, alongside an impressive new section, the Armoury, which is dedicated to small arms. Here the fruit of a single collector's efforts are on show which, for people with an interest in World War II small arms, will be very exciting indeed as there is at least one example of every rifle and machine gun used by both allied and axis forces throughout the conflict. You can even handle some of them - in fact I had an opportunity to feel the weight of a Bren gun and lift a Mark II Lee Enfield rifle to my shoulder on my visit. Located nearby there's also an exhibition space where you can discover the story of women at war, a building dedicated to rocketry and a small gallery where you'll find dioramas of how local people lived during the war, which includes a grocery shop and a mock up of an Andersen shelter.




Leaving the occupied buildings behind you can then go on a circuitous nature walk which takes in some remarkable industrial archeology - here the remaining workshops and 'magazines' are being allowed to decay gracefully back into the surrounding woodland, strung out along the route of a canal which was used to move materials around the site. It's remarkably picturesque given the dangerous nature of the activities that took place here, and there are lots of odd features - take for example the huge concrete berms constructed between buildings to guard against the effect of explosive accidents and the semi-circular bridges spanning the canal which were designed to allow the oddly-shaped transport barges to pass underneath. Not withstanding the beautiful woodlands there are other signs of nature returning to the Royal Gunpowder Mills - it's become home to various sorts of wildlife since its closure as a working site, including some impressive herds of deer who now roam freely...




Tickets for entry to the Royal Gunpowder Mills are £8.50 for adults and £6 for children, but travel could pose a problem depending on how you're planning to get there. For people coming by car there is ample parking, but it becomes more problematic if you're using public transport as I did, with Sundays being particularly awkward. The nearest railway station is at Waltham Cross, which only has an hourly service on Sundays, as does the local bus service which runs close to the Royal Gunpowder Mills. If you miss the bus the site is about half an hour's walk along the busy main road from the station... Anyway, difficulties aside, it's certainly a rather different day out - there are lots of dedicated activities for the kids too!