RAF Bentwaters RAF Woodbridge - Reunion Plans and Reports

Planning your return trip to Bentwaters and Woodbridge

Quick links to the sections on this page, about coming over here:

Lodgings - Ask first - RAF Woodbridge - RAF Bentwaters

Trains - Hire Car - Driving Directions -

Accommodation - Lodgings

Now you can't resist coming over here, where are you gonna stay?

If you really want to "live" in the Woodbridge/Bentwaters area when you visit, you should seriously consider enjoying the freedom of a self catering holiday.

One of my clients runs an agency for such properties, most of which are in the Woodbridge area. There are cottages, houses, converted barns, converted stables, sited in towns, villages, coastal, and rural areas.

Arrange your accommodation and lodging in "Self Catering" properties with
Mrs Jane Good (Holidays) Ltd

For ALL types of lodgings, see MY accommodation web site, JustSuffolk.com

Two thoughts that will help:

1. Don't just turn up - do make contact BEFORE making your journey. The more notice you can give, the better your chances of a helpful reply.

2. There is NO RIGHT OF ACCESS to RAF Bentwaters. However, a polite request will often be rewarded with a polite response, if at all possible.

RAF Woodbridge

RAF Woodbridge base is now an active British Army base. There is, therefore, no access at all to the Technical Site. However, much of the Domestic Site is open, public roads. This may change as the base becomes more active in the future (see RAF Woodbridge News). The entrance guardshack is no longer there. The BX was closed but, due to the Army planning to increase its presence, may well open again.

Bentwaters Domestic Site

To get onto most of the Domestic Site, you can just drive or walk around. But, by October 2003, almost all the USAF buildings in the Brown Plaza area were demolished. Most of the non-residential buildings are gone.
To help you gauge more accurately, these have gone:
Bowling Center, Burger King, (Movie) Theater, Hospital/Clinic, Barracks, Anglia Inn, Old Gym, all of Brown Plaza including the Auto Workshops, Gas Station, Bank, Open Mess, BOQ, Hi-Fi, Taxi company in the long Nissen Hut, the two Water Towers, Laundromat, Donut Shop, Commissary and BX.
Specific buildings that remain are:
New Sports Center, Chapel, Library, new Community Centre just behind the Theatre, the new Mission Support Building and almost, if not all, residential housing, e.g. Suffolk Drive.

Bentwaters Technical Site - Control Tower and beyond

To visit what remains of RAF Bentwaters technical site (and much of it does), please do the courteous thing and ask first, it will make your visit easier. The Technical Site is a privately owned commercial operation and there is no right of access.

Most of the tech. site is owned by Bentwaters Parks Limited. Although the owners are usually very happy to have ex-USAF visitors, there is no right of access within the new secondary fence line, because there are sometimes activities incompatible with visitors "wandering free."

Prior arrangement will help avoid disappointment - but access is not guaranteed, because they do not have the staff to accompany visitors. Start by making contact, from the information below:

Bentwaters Parks Ltd

Control Tower, Rendlesham, WOODBRIDGE, Suffolk IP12 3PG

Email Kathy Mayes - kathy@bentwatersparks.com

Telephone +44 (0)1394 450588 - Facsimile +44 (0)1394 460355

Bentwaters Cold War Museum

The opening times for the Museum are published on
www.bcwm.org.uk/html/visitor_information.html

Contact the museum through their contact form
www.bcwm.org.uk/html/contact_us.html

Getting there by train

Let the Train take the Strain

To get from London to Woodbridge, the quickest method by far is to go most of the way by train, and probably take a hire car for the last section.

From your "local" London Underground railway station, get yourselves to Liverpool Street station. Liverpool Street can be reached on any one of four different underground lines; Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan.

Take the surface railway from Liverpool Street station to Ipswich station. Even the trains that stop at Colchester and Manningtree don't take much longer than about 75 minutes. They are quite frequent and there should be no need to book ahead, even if you travel in the commuter rush-hour, because you will be going in the opposite direction to the masses.

The next piece is more difficult. A small train runs between Ipswich and Lowestoft, stopping at Woodbridge, but it is NOT very frequent. It may be quicker to get a taxi, but much more expensive but you still don't get to the base(s). So, it's probably better to arrange a car hire from Ipswich, or do take the train and take a taxi from Woodbridge to either of the bases.

If you need more information, you just have to ask.

Getting there by car

Maybe, first Hire your car

15% Discount
If you book your Ford hire car
with John Grose of Ipswich,
through Mrs Jane Good (Holidays) Ltd.

Other options:

http://www.celticlegend.co.uk/car/cars.htm is not appropriate because it's in Scotland, but they have (rather meagre) details and pictures of some of the larger vehicles you might consider, e.g. Volvo S70, Land Rover Discovery (very English): and an idea on prices.

The most popular MPV (minivan) in Europe is the Ford Galaxy (the same vehicle is also badged as VW Sharan and Seat Alhambra).

Very popular Ford Mondeo is the same car as the not-so-popular US Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique - but in late 2000 had a multiple award-winning replacement.

http://www.value-autorentals.co.uk is not an excellent web site (IMHO) but offers the larger type of vehicle, and they mention the airports - but they expect you to make your own way from your arrival airport to Cambridge. Hmmm...

http://www.autoguide.net/rentals/carsr3.shtml is probably TOO broad and daunting but it does have a good long listing!

As a Ford pensioner, I should point you at Hertz. Take a look at http://www.hertz.co.uk/fleet/guide/select.cfm and select your car type. Again, useful pictures and vehicle data. Their 'premium' size car is probably small by US standards. For Luxury, they show a Mercedes E230. To make it a very special holiday, choose their Special - a Mercedes S-class, the largest, gadget-ridden, "best car in the world." Expensive? Very probably!
For Mini Bus (minivan to you) they have the Ford Galaxy.

The obvious place to start might be Gatwick. http://www.gatwickcarrental.co.uk/ has as Mercedes Traveliner which is basically a large (for Europe) minivan. This one is diesel (lower running costs) and automatic. £80/day £420/week. More than your air fair?

http://www.cityinterrent.com/ is a Mercedes specialist rental company. Again, this won't be cheap but could convert you to being a Mercedes buyer! But for £105 per day on 7+ days, for an E-class, it isn't cheap.

http://www.arp.mcmail.com/prices.htm is a small family firm. Ford Galaxy minivan for £300 per week. They mention Heathrow pickup, not Gatwick. Although there is quick travel between the two, you probably don't want to visit TWO London airports each time!

http://www.directcarrental.co.uk/ has Ford Galaxy and Toyota Previa, which might be very good, and familiar to you?

http://www.peter-waugh.co.uk/ deliver to Gatwick. Includes Ford Galaxy.

There are few other Gatwick-specific sites but they don't have the larger cars.

Or, just put "hire car gatwick" into www.google.com and you should find enough to keep you busy for a while. Or change "gatwick" for "heathrow" or "stansted" as appropriate. NOTE the correct spelling of Stansted (Even one of these UK web sites mis-spelt it Stanstead!)

For Car Rental pickup in Ipswich, here are a few links you might want to try, in no particular order:

http://www.bcvr.co.uk/rental-information/stations/east/ipswich.htm

http://www.argusrentals.com/Europe-Car-Rental/England/car-rental-car-hire-Ipswich.html

http://www.rental-car.us/Ipswich.php

http://www.expedia.co.uk/daily/cars/UnitedKingdom/Ipswich.asp?CCheck=1

http://www.productdatabase.net/shop/car_rental_ipswich_83.html

http://www.carjet.co.uk/rentacar/uk/ipswich/index.shtml

Take control on the wrong side of the road!

Alternatively, you could drive all the way. It would take about 2.5-3.0 hours, if there are no hold-ups, from central London.
If you drive directly from Heathrow or Gatwick airport, using the M25 London Orbital motorway, rather than through the centre of London, the mileage is longer but the usually clearer roads make it faster. But if there ARE accidents (an almost daily occurrence somewhere on the M25) it can be the "road to hell."

If you do go THROUGH London, get out of London towards the M11 Motorway.

Join the M11 and go north, towards Harlow.

At Junction 6 of the M11, leave M11 and join the M25 orbital motorway going south-east (turning right, going clockwise) towards Dartford Crossing.

After about 8 miles, at Junction 28 of the M25, leave M25 and join the A12 going north-east towards Chelmsford.

After more than 50 miles, you reach the Copdock Interchange - a roundabout with Toys 'R' Us in view across the other side. Take the 3rd exit off the roundabout, onto the A14 towards Felixstowe.

After about 7 miles, take the exit signposted Lowestoft and Woodbridge, re-joining the A12.

Through 5 roundabouts, past BT Adastral Park on the A12.

Follow signs into Woodbridge. For a preview of Woodbridge town, and maps of the area, visit woodbridgesuffolk.info.