ROF Aycliffe

The former WW2 Royal Ordnance Factory building at Aycliffe

ROF Aycliffe, was a Royal Ordnance Factory built on an 867-acre (3.51 km2) site off Heighington Lane, Aycliffe, County Durham, England during the early 1940s.

"Aycliffe Angels"[edit]

A munitions worker at a ROF Aycliffe, c1942

The factory's workers included around 17,000 women from the surrounding towns and villages, who worked filling shells and bullets and assembling detonators and fuzes for the war effort. They became known as the "Aycliffe Angels" after a Nazi propaganda broadcast from Lord Haw-Haw threatened that "The little angels of Aycliffe won't get away with it" and promised that the Luftwaffe would bomb them into submission.[1]

By its nature the work was very dangerous and many workers were killed and injured during the manufacturing process; however due to the secrecy surrounding the factory and its workers, many incidents went unrecorded and unreported in the news and their efforts went unrecognised.

In 2000 local newspaper The Northern Echo launched a campaign to have their work officially recognised, and this led to a memorial service which was attended by Prime Minister and local MP Tony Blair and the Queen.[2] A permanent memorial was also placed in Newton Aycliffe town centre commemorating their efforts.[3]

A blue plaque commemorating the women who worked there was unveiled in October 2021 by Durham County Council after a nomination by the Durham Women's Banner Group.[4]

Railway stations[edit]

Demons Bridge[edit]

Demons Bridge
General information
LocationNewton Aycliffe, County Durham
England
Coordinates54°36′30″N 1°33′42″W / 54.60837°N 1.56179°W / 54.60837; -1.56179
Platforms?
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyClarence Railway
Pre-groupingClarence Railway
Key dates
1941 (1941)Station Opened
1954 (1954)Station Closed
1963 (1963)Line Closed
Location
Demons Bridge is located in County Durham
Demons Bridge
Demons Bridge
Location in County Durham, England

Demons Bridge railway station served the former ROF Aycliffe[5][6] in County Durham, England from 1941 to 1953.[7] It was used for workers going to and from the factory as well as for freight traffic.[8] The line closed in 1963 and the site is now partly occupied by an industrial estate.[9]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Stillington
Line closed, station open 		  North Eastern Railway
Clarence Railway (Demon's Bridge Branch) 		  Terminus

Simpasture[edit]

Simpasture
General information
LocationNewton Aycliffe, County Durham
England
Coordinates54°36′43″N 1°34′40″W / 54.61202°N 1.57786°W / 54.61202; -1.57786
Platforms?
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyClarence Railway
Pre-groupingClarence Railway
Key dates
1941 (1941)Station Opened
1954 (1954)Station Closed
1963 (1963)Line Closed
Location
Simpasture is located in County Durham
Simpasture
Simpasture
Location in County Durham, England

Simpasture railway station served ROF Aycliffe[10][11] in County Durham, England from 1941 to 1953.[12] It was used for workers going to and from the factory as well as for freight traffic.[13] The line closed in 1963 and the site is now occupied by Northfield Way Industrial Estate.[14][15][16]

The station was opened in 1941[17] along with nearby Demons Bridge on the Clarence Railway although the station was on the Shildon branch. The station was closed sometime in the 1950s and the line in the early 1960s.[18][19][20]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Shildon
Line closed, station open 		  North Eastern Railway
Clarence Railway (Simpasture Branch) 		  Terminus

Operations[edit]

The marshy location was chosen as it was an ideal site, shrouded in fog and mist for much of the year, which provided cover against bombing by the Luftwaffe.[21] It opened as ROF 59 (Filling factory early in 1941, resulting in the construction and opening of two new stations on the former Clarence Railway at Simpasture and Demons Bridge.[22]

As a munitions factory, ROF Aycliffe operated 24 hours a day, employing over 17,000 workers in three shift groups. Most of the workers were women. They were transported from surrounding areas onto the site by bus and train, with the most local workers arriving on foot or by bicycle.

During its existence, the factory produced finished munitions including bullets, shells and mines. Operational for just over four years until the end of World War II in 1945, by which point it had produced some 700 million bullets and countless other munitions.[23] The factory was designated as a 'Top Secret' installation and surrounded by high fences with barbed wire. The factory was visited during the war years by Winston Churchill and members of the British Royal Family. Many well-known entertainers of the day also performed at the factory for the workers.

Post-war[edit]

After the war, the factory closed and the site was turned into the Newton Aycliffe Industrial Estate in the late 1940s.[24] Many of the original buildings are still standing today.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Aycliffe Angels". Communigate. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  2. ^ "Never forget the Angels". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  3. ^ Yeadon, Hazel (29 December 2005). "My time as an 'Aycliffe Angel'". WW2 People's War. BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  4. ^ "Plaque to Aycliffe Angels WWII factory women unveiled". BBC News. 24 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Life in wartime at Aycliffe". The Northern Echo. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  6. ^ "eaw043324 ENGLAND (1952). The town, Newton Aycliffe, from the south-east, 1952 | Britain From Above". britainfromabove.org.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Life in wartime at Aycliffe". The Northern Echo. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Disused Stations: Royal Ordnance Factory 8 - Thorp Arch". www.disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  9. ^ "The Blue Bridge of Newton Aycliffe: Gallons of blue paint, memories of steam and a German boss". The Northern Echo. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Life in wartime at Aycliffe". The Northern Echo. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  11. ^ "eaw043324 ENGLAND (1952). The town, Newton Aycliffe, from the south-east, 1952 | Britain From Above". britainfromabove.org.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  12. ^ Pottgießer, Hans (1985), "Brücken der 'stockton and Darlington Railway'", Eisenbahnbrücken, Basel: Birkhäuser Basel, pp. 13–17, ISBN 978-3-0348-6663-7, retrieved 18 July 2024
  13. ^ "Railways and the Stations", When We Build Again, Routledge, pp. 279–284, 24 July 2013, ISBN 978-1-315-88858-3, retrieved 18 July 2024
  14. ^ "The Blue Bridge of Newton Aycliffe: Gallons of blue paint, memories of steam and a German boss". The Northern Echo. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Clarence Railway | Co-Curate". co-curate.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  16. ^ Reed, M. C.; Priestley, Joseph (April 1968). "Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways Throughout Great Britain". The Economic History Review. 21 (1): 173. doi:10.2307/2592220. ISSN 0013-0117.
  17. ^ Kirby, Maurice W.; Kirby, M. W. (4 July 2002). The Origins of Railway Enterprise: The Stockton and Darlington Railway 1821-1863. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-89280-3.
  18. ^ "Newton Aycliffe Railway Station (NAY) - The ABC Railway Guide". abcrailwayguide.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  19. ^ Johnstone, Lisa (25 March 2021). "Accidents Along The Line". Friends Of The Stockton & Darlington Railway. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  20. ^ Priestley, Joseph (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways of Great Britain: As a Reference to Nichols, Priestley & Walker's New Map of Inland Navigation, Derived from Original and Parliamentary Do Cuments. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green.
  21. ^ "Never forget the Angels". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  22. ^ "Clarence Railway". Durham History. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Aycliffe ROF". Communigate. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  24. ^ "Plans and photos". Communigate. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.

Photographs and brief history of the Aycliffe Angels

54°36′05″N 1°34′38″W / 54.6015°N 1.5772°W / 54.6015; -1.5772

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