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Nissin huts, why did they go out of fashion?

two-cylinder

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cambridge
Exactly the same happened to ours. Grandad put the inner skin in and the sheets disintegrated.
I understand the inner sheets weren't galvanised and condensation between the two skins caused rapid rusting.
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
They were multiples of 6ft bays, that was enough room for a single bed and locker in each, when used as sleeping quarters.
Some came with window kits, with wire reinforced panes to contain the glass in an air raid, some didn't.
We had about 9 of them when I was a kid, some with deep litter poultry in, a 120ft long one with part wooden boarded floor for storing sacks of grain and the old 780 combine parked in the open end, which was then packed with bales of straw to keep out the weather. One had concrete block pig sties built inside it and a inner lining.The lining sheets sat on the flange of the tee-section of the hoops, and were sleeved and seam bolted together and held in position by wires tensioned by radiuseurs that pulled them tight down like a belt round your trousers.
The inner skin was not galv and eventually fell away in chunks. I best remember as a child the sound of rats running between the two skins.
All were built on cast in situ walls about 1ft high with the bottom timber and then the hoops bolted to the top of the wall.
It is forgotten today how bloody tight things were financially after the War, and how much Forces surplus came to the market at that time, James at Newport Pagnell was indeed the Nissen hut king, and a lot of dry floor space that was accessible to the machinery of the day, could be made cheaply and quickly with farm labour.
I spoke to a man a bit back whose boss in the 50s had dealt in Forces surplus;
He went to a base one day and had to bid on complete Nissen huts full of assorted mystery contents, he opened the door on one successful bid to find the shed stuffed to the gunwales with Harley Davidson despatch rider bikes.
Cannot imagine the likes today, can we.
 
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David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
Knew of a Miracle Span quonset type shed put up as a potato store locally, and the condensation in there was terrible. Ithink there was enough ventilation through a leaky Nissen to keep things sweet.
PS.
There's a couple of bundles of hoop steels here if anyone wants them
 

two-cylinder

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cambridge
Knew of a Miracle Span quonset type shed put up as a potato store locally, and the condensation in there was terrible. Ithink there was enough ventilation through a leaky Nissen to keep things sweet.
PS.
There's a couple of bundles of hoop steels here if anyone wants them

We used those hoops to get the curve profile when making a roll over sheet end ;)
 

PSQ

Member
Arable Farmer
Ours was previously the canteen at RAF Charterhall. After the war it was relocated and became over time the potato grading and bagging line, seed potato store, and then a GP shed where the Clayson combine and Drott were kept. It was also where we held the post harvest parties with the farm staff and the girls from the tattie machine :)
It succumbed to tin worm about 10 years ago.
 

Flat 10

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Fen Edge
Knew of a Miracle Span quonset type shed put up as a potato store locally, and the condensation in there was terrible. Ithink there was enough ventilation through a leaky Nissen to keep things sweet.
PS.
There's a couple of bundles of hoop steels here if anyone wants them
No condensation in Blueline shed here which is similar. really pleased with it.
 

J 1177

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Durham, UK
We had a asbestos nissen hut ontop of brick walls. Think it cost £62. It had brick wall at the back and timber doors at the front. It was used as a machinery store in winter and wet grain store in summer. In later years (when the timber doors had disintegrated it was used as a fattening shed for pork pigs (they did well in it). There is now a 25x60 portal frame on the site where it stood.
 

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

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