Talk:ROF Chorley

I've read conflicting reports - Chorley WAS the biggest RO wasnt it?! (nice work Pyro by the way!) --PopUpPirate 00:39, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments. I plan to at least double the current copy, but am short of time for the next few weeks (exams!!!). Depends on how you measure "biggest". ROF Bishopton, a WW II three-unit explosive ROF, had the largest amount of land inside the security fence, approx 2,500 acres compaired with ROF Chorley's 1000 acres. ROF Chorley and ROF Bridgend, both WW II Filling Factories, were fairly comparable in size and were much larger than the other WW II Filling Factories (and possibly ROF Swynnerton). They had roughly the same amount of employees and I think comparable numbers of buildings. ROF Chorley, possibly was the largest by employees and number of buildings, plus it survived thru to privatisation; and it claims to be so (but so does Bridgend, which also had "satellite sites"). The Royal Arsenal, in WW I, which also has claims as the first Royal Ordnance Factory was larger by both size and no of employees.Pyrotec 11:51, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

I've seen peak employment figures of 30,000 to 40,000 and 35,000 mentioned, rather than your 28,000, which would tend to substantiate the claim of "biggest", by number of employees - this would have been on a three-shift system. Pyrotec 16:02, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Heapey

The factory has a storage depot built deep into the Pennine hills over Chorley in the village of Heapey the facility is still used today although its except usage details are kept top secret

"Top secret" sounds a bit melodramatic. I presume there are signs outside the site identifying the ownership by BAE. It has been use for probably sixty years. It is fairly obvious what it is used for though you would not expect an inventory to be published. --jmb 11:29, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

It is believed that this area has been de-commisioned for munitions storage and now houses steam locomotives encase of a nationwide power outage. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.41.239.94 (talk) 17:00, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

It seems that the site is now owned by Recliffe International Shipping and still used as storage for explosives and munitions. See https://www.redcliffeshipping.com/redcliffe-explosives-storage-facility-north-west-england/index.html [via the Wayback Machine]. The strategic steam reserve, if it ever existed as such, is no longer. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_steam_reserve, https://coldwar.uk/quite-interesting/strategic-steam-reserve-fact-or-fiction/ and https://www.willys-mb.co.uk/strategic-reserve.htm. In any case Heapey would be a silly location for it as it's miles from a railway line, as a glance at the aerial photographs will confirm, PhilUK (talk) 18:14, 24 September 2023 (UTC)

Very, very strange omissions

One of my interests is in nuclear history, and in the course of my rummaging through the National Archives at Kew have stumbled upon very many references to ROF Chorley's involvement in the UK nuclear bomb programme, from the earliest days until probably the plant's closure. An example might help illustrate. The first UK bomb, Blue Danube delivered to the RAF in '53 was actually delivered as major sub-assemblies to RAF Wittering, rather than as a complete whole bomb. Convoy records at Kew show Aldermaston, Woolwich, Leeds and CHORLEY as convoy start points. The whole centre section incorporating the HE implosion sphere originated at Chorley as the convoy records show. (TNA AIR 17/69)

Another example. Records (TNA AVIA 65/1433) and (TNA PREM 11/5172) show that there was a plant (Project M) constructed at Chorley for production of Lithium 6 on an industrial scale. Lithium 6 being an essential ingredient of thermonuclear weapons. Records show that the plant was quickly mothballed because the US later agreed to supply Lithium cheaper than the Chorley production. Records show a monumental inter-departmental bust-up over who should pay for the unused plant at Chorley, owned by the War Office and MoS, funded by the Treasury hopeful of paying customers, but whose only potential customers were the RAF and later the Royal Navy. Neither of these two wanted to pay up from their budgets in addition to purchasing supplies of lithium from the US.

Implosion systems for nuclear weapons require the most stringent control of the manufacturing process, and require high-end design expertise not usually required for more mundane weapons. Records suggest that with the run-down of Woolwich, Chorley was where AWRE turned to for expertise in that area, and for expertise with detonators for thermonuclear weapons (TNA AVIA 65/1792).

These examples suggest that there is a large chunk of Chorley's history not even hinted at in this article. Why is that? 86.145.69.177 13:57, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

You are very welcome to add a section on Chorley M. As you rightly point out the article only covers Chorley C; but it is still incomplete even in that area. The nuclear side of the ROF's that were still running tends not to be written down in the standard ROF histories. Certainly ROF Cardiff, Burghfield and Chorley had a greater or lesser involvement; although I suspect the Chorley M moved to Burghfield in the early 1980s. Many of the other nuclear plants were built on former ROF sites: e.g. Risley, Burghfield, etc, although Aldermasterton was apparently a former RAF site.Pyrotec 07:54, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Interesting stuff, wonder if some can be added to the wiki? Ta for the PM. --PopUpPirate 22:42, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

At the moment this is Original research and is covered by Wikipedia:No original research. I am half way though Arnold, Lorna (2001). Britain and the H-bomb. Basingstoke:Palgrove, which is Ministry of Defence Copyright and therefore has official sanction. There is no mention of any ROF involvement in lithium; and there are another two books by Gowing on Atomic energy, which I have not yet read. The problem is lack of information. Pyrotec 07:31, 3 July 2007 (UTC)