ozz Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 A couple of weeks ago we took the kids to visit my parents and while we were down there we went to Alton towers for the day, driveing there we went through a village call Cheadle where there was a large mill type building with a huge area at the front that looked like a reclemation yard. In the very front of this area is what looked like an ww2 sherman, but on closer inspection turned out to be a fibreglass mock up. Does anyone know anything about this...why it was built, what was it used for ect... sorry still having trouble editing pics.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Perhaps it was a film prop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Perhaps it was a film prop? Quite possibly. The film A Bridge Too Far used fibreglass mock up's mounted on VW car chassis for close ups of the upper hull/turrets and for long shots of the tanks at dusk etc. One of the tanks even turned up in the Time Bandits! Both fantastic films by the way! Nice find Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 (edited) Ooops double post! Edited August 22, 2013 by fatfingers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 That looks like Les Oakes's yard in which case it is from a Bridge Too Far. See this You Tube video: note the door behind the applique armour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Jones Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Looks like the remains of a Sherman Firefly to me , you can see the radio box on the back of the turret , only fitted to the 17 pounder Firefly . Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 I was born near Cheadle and knew Les Oakes before he was tragically killed. He was a real magpie and his yard had all sorts of salvage and reclamation stuff in it. I never spotted this tank though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozz Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 I was born near Cheadle and knew Les Oakes before he was tragically killed. He was a real magpie and his yard had all sorts of salvage and reclamation stuff in it. I never spotted this tank though. the tank is /was right by the wall at the front gates. cool thing realy. will google Les Oakes. for more info. Ta. thanks sleeperservice for the vid, i knew someone here would know. some great footage of it driving around, want to go back and have a closer look, if they dont mind that is. cheers all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 They're pretty cool there, as long as you ask and don't do anything stupid they should be fine with it. There's an amazing amount of stuff there to look at and it should be worth the trip. Hi Nigel. Yep he was pretty amazing one of life's true characters. Used to run up there every couple of weeks from East Anglia with a load of stuff he wanted to collect stuff for yards down there. Pre-tacho it was a nice little earner! I did my last run in 1987 just before the Great Storm that wasn't a hurricane. Next time I went up there in 2001 he wasn't around so I never found what happened to him. If you could PM me I'd like to know and so would my Dad. Been in and out of there a lot since, but never felt right to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 PM sent, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 And received Thanks Nigel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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