The site of former PoW Camp 53 Sandbeds to the South West of Selby is like no other site I have come across ! I can best describe the site as 100m x 300m slab of concrete. This former PoW Camp following the end of the war was levelled with most of the WWII buildings being removed. A Purpose-Built Mushroom Farm was built on the site and contained within modern steel framed and structured commercial buildings at the north end of the site. However, the farm went out of business and the remains of the farm have been destroyed by fire evidence of which can still be seen.

At the time of my visit the remains of what may have been a Maycrete building were to be found in the centre of the site with the gutted fire damaged former mushroom farm structures at the rear. The remnants of these buildings have been subject to fly tipping, vandalism, and graffiti tags. During my site visit I meet two local people walking their dogs who told me that there have been plans in existence for some time to redevelop the site as a housing estate.

As with the other sites for which I have found inspection reports the ones for this camp reflect the common theme that I would at best call “Class Patronisation”. These reports were written by British Army Officer and High-Level Civil Servants charged with the care in most cases “Other Ranks”. The few pages included here serve as an introduction to more documents that can be found through the link at the bottom of the page.