EXPLOSIONS were so common in the early production of gunpowder that workers in the Royal Gunpowder Mills in Waltham Abbey were advised to remove their boots and trim off any facial hair before entering the premises, less a stray spark should set the whole place ablaze. Such caution may seem extreme, but several exhibits give testament to ‘incidents’ as the on-site volunteers call them, in which some workers lost their lives and entire buildings were razed to the ground.
Visiting on a Sunday with my eight-year-old son, we began with a tour of the exhibitions in the main building, which features innovative interactive exhibits and includes a highly informative 20-minute film about the history and processes of gunpowder production.
Armed with quiz sheets of things to spot en route, we boarded the landtrain for a 40-minute guided tour of the 175-acre site.
According to documentary evidence, gunpowder was produced in the Waltham Abbey area from at least the 17th Century, and by the 19th Century, the mills was the leading English producer of explosives.
In the lead up to World War One, the site began producing cordite (a mixture of nitroglycerine and gun cotton), which continued until 1943 when the site was deemed to be at risk of bombing, given its proximity to London, but not before it was famously employed by Barnes Wallis for tests on propellants for the Dam Busters bouncing bomb.
The mills had a second lease of life from 1945 to 1991 as a scientific research centre for rocket propellants and high explosive. After that, the site fell into disrepair until it was lovingly restored in 2001. Volunteers have been adding exhibits ever since including the new railway exhibit and highly informative and entertaining rocket exhibition. This is manned by former scientists, who are happy to give tours and answer questions about the strategic weapons they worked on at the site.
There are period reenactments most weekends – we watched the Romans battle the Britons.
l Details: Royal Gunpowder Mills, Beaulieu Drive, Waltham Abbey, 01992 707370. Open 11am to 5pm (Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday).
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