SHOCKED volunteers say they are being 'evicted' from a museum once used as a mortuary for dead airmen so the National Trust can create a new 'fast food' cafe.
The controversial plans come as part of a wider redevelopment at Croome in High Green, near Worcester, designed to improve car parking and introduce a new welcome hub.
The National Trust wants to turn the Ambulance Garage into a 'grab and go’, offering 'high-quality refreshments with minimal waiting time' as part of a more 'seamless visitor experience'.
However, one volunteer says the National Trust's plans for the Ambulance Garage/Mortuary will 'disfigure' the building and undermine the World War II and Cold War heritage conserved there. The Ambulance Garage forms part of RAF Defford Museum on the Croome site, but has been identified as a good site for a new 'cafe'.
RAF Defford Museum at Croome
The Ambulance Garage forms part of the RAF Defford Museum at Croome, which opened in September 2014.
The garage was transformed by The Defford Airfield Heritage Group (DAHG) and is used to interpret RAF Defford’s role in the Cold War.
The Museum tells the story of RAF Defford during World War II and the Cold War years, and its vital role in the flight testing of secret radar systems devised by scientists at the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Malvern.
Anger of volunteers over Croome 'fast food' plan
Mike Mullins, 78, is one of 50 volunteers, some aged in their 80s and 90s, including ex-servicemen who have been left 'distressed' by the potential move, estimating that work to restore the garage was completed following £20,000 to £30,000 of donations.
He said: "The Heritage group spent thousands of pounds, faithfully restoring the Ambulance Garage/Mortuary from a dilapidated ruin, into its former wartime state, and making it a popular museum, whilst still showing due reverence to the dead airmen who passed through the building.
"Now the National Trust are evicting the volunteers and their exhibits and plan to turn the building into a fast food outlet. The Heritage Group, members and volunteers are vehemently opposed to the planned changes.
"The National Trust is a charity, which I think has lost sight of its founding principles and is behaving more like a hard money- making corporation. Their actions are unpatriotic and show disrespect to the dead airmen and their families."
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The National Trust has outlined plans to refresh the RAF Visitor Centre at Croome, which includes changing the entrance route, expanding parking, and repurposing parts of the site to better support visitor services.
National Trust's visitor improvements at Croome
General manager Michelle Fullard from the National Trust wrote in a letter to the DAHG in May this year: "Our colleagues in Food and Beverage are working on significant plans to improve the internal kitchen spaces and layout of the main cafe. However, they are also looking for secondary outlets and the Ambulance Garage has been identified as a potential suitable space."
In the letter she wrote: "With more people coming through the gates, we are also looking to extend our food and beverage offer. This will help us to meet visitors’ needs and expectations as well as generate much needed income to support the ongoing care of Croome."
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The work is part of a larger project to improve the car parking at Croome and build a new visitor welcome building that will change the route of visitors who enter Croome.
Under the proposals, visitors will go through the welcome building and be able to go straight ahead on via a new path cut through the embankment, where the RAF-style play is or turn left to RAF Defford Museum, shop, cafe and the new play area which is planned for the orchard.
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The proposed change mean the Canberra nose cone display has been returned to RAF Cosford. Ms Fullard writes 'returning the Canberra nose cone back to RAF Cosford, does not come lightly'.
Visitors will be able to walk down the corridor into the museum area, which will be updated with a 1940s-themed second-hand bookshop and interactive features.
The letter also refers to aspirations for more interactive elements in the main museum, to encourage young people to engage in the history.
Michelle Fullard has now given further details of the plans, adding: "The Sick Quarters buildings, which the National Trust has renovated to use as visitor facilities, include the RAF Defford Museum. The National Trust worked in partnership with the Defford Airfield Heritage Group for many years to develop the Museum. Funds from National Trust supporters, external grants and donations to the National Trust as well as funds raised by the Defford Airfield Heritage Group have all contributed to the work here over the years.
"In particular we have reviewed how we use the Ambulance Garage (including the mortuary), in consultation with the Defford Airfield Heritage Group Committee, as this building currently holds some of the museum displays about the Cold War.
"The garage will be in a more prominent position on arrival as part of the visitor route, when visitors are entering via the new welcome building. The building will continue to tell the story of the RAF Defford base and interpret its use as an ambulance garage and mortuary.
"In addition, we plan to introduce a small cafe outlet in the garage, as this is a practical point for visitors to stop for refreshment. The mortuary space itself will remain closed to visitors and will be used as storage, as it is at the moment. We are currently in the feasibility stage of this project.
"We value the importance of RAF Defford in the history of Croome, and indeed the nation, and we’re fully committed to continuing to share the story of RAF Defford and those of the Royal Air Force air crew, scientists, engineers and civilian personnel who worked here during WWII and the Cold War.
"In the future, working together with the expertise of the DAHG, we also aim to introduce more interactive elements in the main RAF Defford Museum which will encourage visitors to engage with the story and scientific discoveries made at RAF Defford during WWII and the Cold War."
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