Inside the abandoned 100-year-old RAF base that was at the centre of Britain’s WW2 efforts and has played key roles in movies starring Brad Pitt and Roger Moore
The abandoned facility was captured by Jason Kirkham who stumbled upon the place on his way home
WELCOME to the abandoned RAF base where both Roger Moore and Brad Pitt starred in movies where they single handedly saved the world.
Haunting pictures of the one-hundred-year old base show the slowly decaying facilities at RAF Upper Heyford, which is one of the oldest military air force bases on the planet and was the centre of US airpower in Europe during WW2.
Images show a rusting generator, ammunition boxes and heavy metal sheet buildings still in place and where the movie blockbusters such as Bond film, Octopussy and Zombie flick, World War Z were both filmed.
Other shots show what appear to be military files strewn across an empty office with a filing cabinet discarded in the haste to move out.
The images were taken by British sales advisor and urban explorer Jason Kirkham, 44, from Staffordshire.
“I came upon this site on the way home from another explore that took place at an old school that was still full of dangerous chemicals,” he said.
“I wouldn't profess myself to be an urban explorer, but I do like taking photographs of derelict buildings - especially those of historical importance.
“I believe the base was closed on December 15th 1993 but there are still plenty of buildings remaining.
“They are boarded up but it’s unclear what the future of this will be at the moment.”
RAF Upper Heyford has appeared in several film and television productions, portraying various fictional military sites.
It was the setting of an US Air Force base in West Germany in the James Bond film Octopussy.
In the movie Bond, played by Roger Moore, manages to stop a nuclear warhead from exploding at the base during a circus show.
RAF Upper Heyford has also appeared on screen as recently as 2013 when it was used in zombie flick World War Z, with scenes featuring a supermarket and a large number of American cars.
Upper Heyford does have some real military history as well. It was first used by the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and brought into use for flying in July 1918.
After the first world war it mainly used as a training facility and continued with this function until 1950.
America enjoyed use of the site during the Cold War where the site served as a base for US Air Force Strategic Command and later the US Air Forces in Europe.
The base has slowly been taken over by mother nature as evidenced by a large bird’s nest resting at the top of one of the former watch towers.