MOD weapons store deep in Scottish glen faces demolition

For more than 60 years, ammunition, weapons and explosives have been stashed in a isolated hillside in Argyll.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has applied to demolish part of its huge armaments store – considered to be the largest in Western Europe – that is hidden deep in a Scottish glen.

Plans have been lodged to tear down 16 buildings at the Glen Douglas depot near Alexandria, with parts of the site earmarked for destruction considered “beyond their life expectancy”.

Scaling back of site comes 60 years after the depot was created for NATO and used to store ammunition for vessels at HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane and surface ships via jetty at Glenmallan. The RAF and British Army have also used the stores, which are made up of 56 bunkers built into the hillside.

Part of the munitions depot at Glen Douglas in Argyll , which was built in the 1960s was was considered the largest in western Europe, is to be demolished. PIC: Geograph.org/Patrick Mackie.

A number of engineering workshops and weapons processing buildings also dot the 650-acre site, which lies to the east of Loch Long.

There are 16 buildings at DM Glen Douglas which are being demolished as they have exceeded their life expectancy and are no longer in use. “There are currently no plans to develop the land,” a MoD statement said.

Now used solely by the Ministry of Defence, the proposed demolition at Glen Douglas comes as the Royal Navy retires a number of “sunset” warships, moves towards autonomous mine warfare and prepares a mass expansion at Faslane to make way for four Dreadnought-class submarines and a new submarine training school, which is due to open next year.

Weapons are dispatched from the site via road, sea and rail, with a spur from the West Highland Line connecting the depot to the national network.

In 2003, it was reported that rail drivers refused to move a freight train carrying ammunition believed to be destined for British forces being deployed in the Gulf.

The two Motherwell-based drivers, who were part of a small group trained to operate on the spur route declined to operate the train between the Glasgow area and the Glen Douglas base.

Newspaper cuttings from 1960 show that, for many years, people living in Glen Douglas were being prepped for militarisation of the landscape with several surveys being carried out in the area.

One sheep farmer, Mr George Cooper, had his 1500 sheep bought by the Admiralty. His 3,000-acre farm, owned by Luss Estates, was also taken over.

The depot was originally used by the UK, Netherlands and USA, who pulled out in 1993 as part of widespread American military withdrawals from the UK, with Machrihanish in Argyll also affected.

In 1997, a major security blunder unfolded when a lorry driver picked up what he thought was rubbish from the Glen Douglas base and drove it almost 100 miles, before he was intercepted on the M74 with a cargo of live explosives.

An application for planning permission to demolish part of the Glen Douglas site is now being considered by Argyll and Bute Council’s planning department.

The MoD said it will carry out ecology surveys ahead of demolition with any asbestos discovered to be handled appropriately. Power and water will be disconnected and all buildings will be demolished to ground slab with land top-soiled and seeded where required.