The Rewilding of Kelstern Airfield.

I have long been aware of Kelstern Airfield as a WWII heavy bomber base.  As long as I have known it, though, it has been returned to the plough.  Having said that there is still evidence left of military occupation and use in the remains of runways and the occasional building.  I am interested in how quickly nature reclaims man's infrastructure when it is abandoned.  This is evident in old buildings, old lock gates on the Louth Canal, disused and abandoned farm buildings and houses, disused quarries and stone walls.  What we mainly see is the way vegetation encroaches and then seemingly consumes the structure, but we also need to remember that insects, small mammals and birds also move in.  An example of this is the pair of grey wagtails that have nested and fledged young in the walls of the old Willow Lock on the Louth Canal.  Perhaps the ultimate in this 'rewilding' is the way that nature has reclaimed Pripyat, the city that served Chernobyl, since it's abandonment.  This all reminds us that we only share this planet and we are an ephemeral species; one day we will become extinct and if we do not learn to care for our planet this may happen sooner rather than later.  Perhaps we will be the first species to orchestrate its own extinction.  Our planet has a finite life, but it will be here long after our species has become extinct.

I am also believe that the land holds memories and particularly so in a place like Kelstern Airfield.  It opened in 1943 as a substation of RAF Binbrook.  100 Squadron C flight formed the nucleus of what was to become 625 Squadron operating the Lancaster Bomber mainly carrying out night raids against Germany.  The first operational mission was on 18th/19th October 1943 when 9 Lancasters bombed Hanover.  The last was on 25th April 1945 when 11 aircraft bombed Berchtesgaden.  

During the two years that the base was operational 3385 sorties were flown and 66 aircraft were lost each carrying 7 crew.  What memories and emotions must still remain here.

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