Rhydymwyn Valley History Society

Rhydymwyn Valley History Society The Rhydymwyn Valley History Society's core interest is the operation of the former Valley Works at Rhydymwyn in Flintshire, Wales.

This page, together with our website, is dedicated to telling a number of stories about the Valley Works at Rhydymwyn from various sources, including oral histories, government records, press reports, TV and radio sources and many other inputs. It is a story of wartime directed labour and billeting, the enfranchisement of female labour, the involvement of common people in a worthy, but distasteful

, duty and in many ways a wonderful story where life was consistently difficult. It is not, in any way, an attempt to glorify war or to condone militarism.

03/09/2026

Tunnel Tours Update
We have had a number of issues with our communications during the long period before and during the recent remediation which has changed the site and our access to it subsequently we used Facebook which although excellent was not a vehicle to display proprietory or personal information.
To rectify this we have succeded in re-activating part of our member database and emailed over 1,500 them to re-establish contact, if you have not received an email please contact us via [email protected].
The Big Picture Today
Whan the UK Gov. had no further use for the site it asked Defra (then MAFF) to clean it up and sell it, after many surveys it was decided that it must be retained as a secure site but with public managed access and millions were spent to achieve this
In May 2006 Alun Michaels the Secretary of State for Wales officially opened the site for managed access and in 2008 RVHS formed and was invited by Defra, to become a stakeholder
We were at that time limited to investigating local and related history, but research on the internationally important Building 45 and Tube Alloys soon took precedence.
We later expanded into many areas but our success in getting the tunnels opened was by far the most popular and onerous of our activities.
The situation on the site was that Defra was only funded to maintain the integrity of the site and not the needs of the shareholders which led to some difficulties.
In recent times several changes had been made culminating in December 2025 when the complete site was closed for survey and remediation and to date most it is again accessible apart from the tunnels.
We are told that the tunnels are currently subject to major engineering works which will continue into 2027 when, on completion, a greater number of more extensive tours will be possible.
We are in conversation with Defra to try to mutually fit in limited tours this year. We are currently unable to confirm any of this as we have had no view of the tunnel interiors in recent times
The responsible position is that the tunnels are undergoing remediation and will not be available for tours until 2027 and any improvement is a bonus
It should be remembered that the current situation exceeds our wildest dreams. If someone had told you a year ago that the complete site would be remediated with RVHS highlighted concerning the Tube Alloys developments and the major tunnel excursions you would have thought them coocoo, but it is all true.
The only outstanding matter is the tunnel works which are already funded with the next tranche in place, but it is a marvellous opportunity to prepare how to make each Tunnel Tour a memorable experience when we open them.
After remediation we now have the opportunity to plan and control what we do in future and need to rebuild our future and restructure RVHS with many new peole involved in its future.
We will be continuing these Facebook messages in a more limited way but our contact is through [email protected] where we hope to plan and deliver the enhanced tunnel tours for 2027.
Regards
Colin

01/08/2026

Meeting Concerning Tunnel Tours 2026
We have booked the Field Study Centre, Rhydymwyn Valley Site at 11am on Sunday,2nd August 2026 to discuss if Defra's modified and temporary basis for 2016 tunnel tours would be acceptable (I understand the modifications are already in place and ready to go}.
Subsequent to the meeting if we decide to start the tours again we will need to complete a crash program of training and marketing, if we don't feel we can adequately and safely do this we will start preparing for when full access is achieved.
We believe that it is in our best interest to complete some tours this year in order to have the opportunity to restructure our operations. The Tunnels have had expensive and major refurbishment which after taking other developments into consideration show a long-term commitment to the Tunnel Tours.
This long-term future will guarantee that more tunnel spaces will be more readily available. After running the first 2026 tour, we need to rebuild the administration with ADDITIONAL new teams and new people.
THERE HAVE BEEN NO TUNNEL TOURS FOR ALMOST A YEAR MAINLY BECAUSE OF MAJOR CONTINUING SITE IMPROVEMENTS AND IF WE TAKE UP THE TEMPORARY DEFRA OFFER ABOUT THE TUNNEL WORKS THEY WILL COMPLETE AND FULLER AND MORE FREQUENT TOURS WILL BE POSSIBLE. i WOULD INDICATE THAT THE CAUSE FOR THE EXPENSIVE MITIGATION IS TO SATISFY OUR FUTURE TOURISTS
The most significant items, of international importance, are our recent activities in the Tube Alloys area which has some personal issues I will need to address in the short term.
This an open meeting with no agendas except for having the hope that 86.8 acres of beautiful, dedicated, countryside with a marvellous history will be be welcoming the public, and especially children for many tears to come
Best Regards
Colin

26/07/2026

Meeting Concerning Tunnel Tours 2026

We have booked the Field Study Centre, Rhydymwyn Valley Site at 11 a.m. on Sunday,2nd August 2026 to discuss if Defra's modified and temporary basis for 2016 tunnel tours would be acceptible (I understand the modifications are already in place and ready to go}.

Subsequent to the meeting if we decide to start the tours again we will need to complete a crash program of training and marketing, if we don't feel we can adequately and safely do this we will start preparing for when full access is achieved.

We believe that it is in our best interest to complete some tours this year in order to have the opportunity to restructure our operations. The Tunnels have had expensive and major refurbishment which after taking other devlopments into consideration show a long-term commitment to the Tunnel Tours.

This long-term future will guarentee that more tunnel spaces will be more readily available. After running the first 2026 tour, we need to rebuild the administration with new teams and new people.

25/07/2026

The Tunnel Tours 2026
We have not been able to open the tunnels this year yet, but on review as of today the situation is as follows
Since December 2025 the site was totally closed for a complete site survey. On completion of this a major remediation program was undertaken. Almost all of this has been completed and the site returned to our use.
The Tunnels are being subject to major engineering currently and there is another major set of works, costing significant sums of money to follow which will continue into 2027.
This means that there are difficulties with access routes in the short term and Defra are sympathetic to our need to resurrect the Tunnel Tours this year by making an expensive, short term accommodation which we need to explain to you at our meeting on Sunday 2nd August.
If we are to cope with any tours this year we need to the push on with the marketing and training and need a lot of help.
We have also made some startling developments with Tube Alloys which we will bring you up to speed with at the Meeting

14/06/2026

VISIT BY BANGOR UNIVERSITY
We had lovely day with marvellous weather.
If anyone took pictures, please forward them to us and we will do a full report.
Best Regards
Colin

10/06/2026

Rhydymwyn Buffer Depot and Tunnels Access in 2026-Part 4
From the end of last year when the site closed for refurbishment many changes were made and completed before the re-opening at the beginning of May.
The major parts effected were:
1. The Danger Area (DA) is fully re-opened and the only obvious, visual differences are that the doors of the buildings are now blocked with notices attached.
2. The Wet Feature is currently closed off, and extensive engineering work is taking place.
3. The Woodland Path now terminates at the boundary to the DA, and it has been made safer with extra signage.
4. We thought that a secure library for important and key documents had been provided in the VC, but it appears this has been withdrawn.
5. Tube Alloys (TA). Building 45/P6 is the most famous building on the site and is of international importance. It is where the original Simons Separation Engines were tested to prove the efficiency of the gaseous diffusion process which led to fissile material being produced on an industrial scale. During the close-down Defra made repairs and clearances to the Grade II listed building and we now have all year access through it. We understand the roof is about to be repaired and need to have documentary evidence of all the changes to the building to complete our records. We may have an agreement that we will set it up as a Tube Alloys Building. We must thank Defra for their major works, which were unexpected.
6. The Tunnels. We are informed that major engineering activity is being carried out and this may continue into 2027. So, works are still in progress, and as an accommodation, Defra offered us limited access to the North Tunnel inside a Heras fencing cage. Whilst we are grateful that they have gone to such efforts on our behalf, we do not think we can do this without giving undue risks to our tourists. Since Ken Skates originally opened the tunnels for us, we have had a rocky road with gaining access, with several cancellations for various reasons. It is the general preference that we wait until the works are completed and then re-open them with a secure and reliable agenda, which will also allow us to re-organise RVHS as a reliable and stable unit.
7. We will, however, now start to arrange a meeting, where one of the top items will be if you wish to take advantage of the accommodation offered by Defra.
One final thing we must consider is the new site induction protocol which has been changed in many ways. We believe we may be reduced to taking tour parties on the site, but it must be read in conjunction with what wish to do on site.
Best Regards
Colin

07/06/2026

Rhydymwyn Buffer Depot and Tunnels Access in 2026-Part 3

In 2008 about a dozen of us formed RVHS to research the Valley Site and report on our findings.
In the intervening years we have been on a marvellous journey but then was then and now is now.
There have been major changes recently which totally change what is available and what our access is to it.
As we are now better informed, we can report on what is being offered by Defra and how we can best integrate with that.
This is not a short-term casual issue, major changes have been made, and we wish to be able to contribute in the fullest way to the long-term future of the site and its importance. There are so many people who wish to be involved.
To achieve this, we need to tell all of you, in a broad way what is the situation today, we will then call a full meeting and answer any questions, and you will be able to chose how you wish to progress.
We believe that we are acting in a mature and responsible way.
Best Regards
Colin

Rhydymwyn Buffer Depot and Tunnels Access in 2026-Two.This message is mainly for the many people who are not members of ...
28/05/2026

Rhydymwyn Buffer Depot and Tunnels Access in 2026-Two.
This message is mainly for the many people who are not members of RVHS who will be invited to a meeting when we will all decide what parts of the site, we can take forward for the maximum public benefit.
With the tunnels one option is to give minimal access for the rest of this year returning to fuller access when the tunnels are next more fully available, another option is of course not to pursue the short-term limited option but wait until they are more available.
To help you with this, we have attached a picture to view before our meeting..
We will post overviews of all topics ASAP
Nothing has been decided yet
We are trying to find solutions.
Best Regards
Colin

27/05/2026

Rhydymwyn Buffer Depot and Tunnels Access in 2026.
There have been many recent changes and as we promised
we are ready to report those changes.
Up to 2024 we had our most successful series of years, but this changed when Defra amended the tunnel access protocols, effectively closing them to us.
We informed them of the situation, and they indicated that several changes were going to be made at the end of 2025, and matters would be resolved for the 2026 tunnel tours
It was understood that we would mutually move forward and consult where possible.
This continued until two days before Xmas 2025 when, without warning, Defra totally closed the site for major refurbishment and access, the site re-opened at the beginning of May with many physical and access changes.
We publicly promised that when we reached a point where we were confident that what information we had was accurate we would call a public meeting and give a full explanation to you all and we could then decide what parts of the site it is possible to use in the future
We will start providing the overall background in the short term, starting with
THE TUNNELS
In the period between the closure and re-opening in May, it is asserted that major works have and continue to take place, we have been excluded from all information. It has been offered that as a special accommodation for a portion of the North Tunnel to be totally isolated by Heras fencing with reduced visitor numbers. Defra had issued a RAMS which seemed to be a copy of one issued in August 2025 which caused us to cease tours. We were additionally told by Defra that it would in future be necessary to carry one gas detector for every four visitors and not be able to check the air flow through the whole tunnel system for toxicity and to satisfy our insurance requirements.
We do not believe the reduced access and conditions would be attractive to potential tunnel tourists.
There are now further considerations concerning entry to the site which we need to address.
We will update you on other parts of the site shortly
We are trying to find solutions.
Best Regards
Colin

02/05/2026

THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE WAS RECEIVED FROM DEFRA TODAY.
Access Update: Extended Access at Rhydymwyn Buffer Depot
Your support has been invaluable while we worked through the necessary steps to ensure the Rhydymwyn site could reopen safely and with the appropriate controls in place.
We are now pleased to confirm that the site will reopen with full access from Bank Holiday Monday, 4th May.
We had hoped to reopen for the full Bank Holiday weekend; however, the printed copies of the updated induction and site guide will not arrive until tomorrow. To ensure a consistent and safe process for all users, the reopening will therefore take effect from Monday.
As part of the revised arrangements, there is a change in process for all site users:
• All existing members must complete and sign the new site induction before access can be granted, even if they have completed a previous version.
• Any new members or visitors must also complete the induction prior to entering the site.
• Anyone accessing the site MUST sign in and out using the register located at the Visitor Centre.
• Processes for group activities can be adapted to suit all parties, but all activity must be formally recorded.
Hard‑copy forms will be available on site, and electronic copies of both the induction and the site guide are attached to this email should you wish to circulate them to your members in advance.
Below is the notice that will be displayed on site and may also be used in your own communications or media channels:
RHYDYMYWN SITE – IMPORTANT UPDATE
We are pleased to confirm that full access to the Rhydymwyn site will resume from Monday 4th May.
To support a safe and well‑managed return, all site users will be required to complete a site induction, including those who have completed one in the past. This ensures everyone is up to date with current guidance and site arrangements.
Copies of the induction and the site guide are available in hard copy on site, and can also be provided electronically on request.
Thank you for your cooperation as we move into this next phase of reopening. Your support helps us maintain a safe, positive and well‑informed environment for everyone using the site.
Thank you again for your continued engagement and understanding. If you have any questions or require further information, please feel free to get in touch with the site on 01352-741591
Best regards
Colin

Address

17, Nant Alyn Road, RHYDYMWYN, Flintshire
Mold
CH75HQ

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+44 1352 781129

Website

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