Imber (on the Salisbury Plains)

Pretty certain very few people will have been. This one's about my visit to Imber, an abandoned village.

In short, the War Office bought up lots of land around WW2 period, and eventually bought up all the land that the village of Imber was on, making the villagers tenants of the War Office effectively. They evicted the villagers although told them that they could come back after the war. They did leave, and they believed that it was part of the war effort. The village is not normally open to the public except a few times each year at most. I visited on April 10th 2009 on my way to London. Imber lies in the middle of the Salisbury Plains, far away from most other settlements. I got there taking the A36 down to Warminster and asking some locals (it's not signposted...) Unfortunately it was cold, wet and dull so that really didn't help. My bike was covered in mud by the time I left. (and was 2 hours late to London - although it was cleaner by then!)

Imber Road
The road leading up to Imber from Warminster. Everything looks normal here.

Military signs are red.

The sign saying when it's open this year.

Passed by a tank...

Military Firing Range - Keep Out.
Almost there...

Almost at the checkpoint, I mean.
This is the checkpoint - I imagine it would be manned normally. Imber is still a few (2?) miles from here.

Danger Unexploded Military Debris - Do Not Leave The Carriageway
These signs were everywhere I went.

My bike!
First long journey within a week of hopping onto it and I'm off to London! (mastered it by the time I got there, haha.)

The loooooong road.... 3 dead tanks in this picture, there was a 4th on the far left.

The Village of Imber

Imber Court (19th century building I think)

Some army guys having a chat.

Plenty of these UGLY fake-houses around.
Target practice or something I'm guessing...? I hate the fact they're in the middle of the village.

The church
This is something the army didn't take over. Thankfully.

One of the derelict houses (building 21)

Seagram's Farm to the left. Not sure what the one on the right is.
19th century buildings.

Inside building 21

Building 21 again.

I enjoyed my visit to Imber, it was quite an eye-opener. I'll be back here in the future, but I hope they do something nice with the village in the future. It's very sad the way it is at the moment.

More info: ForeverImber.org.uk

That's it for now!