The Old Watch Tower RAF Tholthorpe

A couple of miles from where we live is the old airfield RAF Tholthorpe, which was home to several Canadian squadrons in the war. Although it is now largely just farmland and industrial units, some of the WW2 buildings survive, with some still being used as businesses, and others allowed to fall into ruin. I have started taking Seth there for his first driving lessons, and in doing so I looked again at the remaining buildings with a view to painting some of them. This painting is the old watch tower, which also served as the operations/control room. It was later replaced when the airfield was upgraded by bomber command from a satellite airfield for RAF Linton. Halifax and Lancaster bombers flew sorties from Tholthorpe, obviously not all of them returned. One fully loaded Halifax crashed close to our house on the train lines.
My friend Paul and his family renovated the 'new' watch tower and converted it into a great house. Paul is an artist and you can see the influence of the clear views and huge skies around his home in his work.
The airfield is reputedly haunted, and has been the subject of numerous 'paranormal investigations' (cranks), however, there are a few stories relayed by some of the people who work in the businesses based in the remaining WW2 buildings.

A couple of links about the history of the airfield:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Tholthorpe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhwVkkh9ad4

This painting is a small oil on canvas, painted on location.

The Old Watch Tower

RAF Tholthorpe

Oil on Canvas