Reports - Fleet
NGTE - National Gas Turbine Establishment
Where? Pyestock, Hampshire. Photos 83. Comments 24. Posted 16 January 2007.
In 1918 the Royal Aircraft Establishment was built at Pyestock (nr Farnborough) to develop aircraft engine technology. Sir Frank Whittle established Power Jets Ltd nearby to test and develop gas turbines / jet engines. In 1944 (or 1946 - it changes depending on where you read) it was nationalised and became the National Gas Turbine Establishment. The NGTE was one of the leading centres in the world and played a major role in developing jet engines for many years, including the one used in Concorde.
In the 1990s it became the Defence Research Agency and then the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. The government was reluctant to invest further in the agency and in 2002 it was privatised, with the government creating the company known as Qinetiq. Since privatisation the site has gradually closed down, with only a small portion of the site still being used by Qinetiq and Sigma.
Covering around 108 acres, the site is huge. Tesco want to knock it all down and build a distribution centre. A fantastic piece of Britain's industrial heritage will be lost.
Read full NGTE - National Gas Turbine Establishment article here
