RAF museum at Croome makes way for cafe

Locals and volunteers are upset at plans to convert part of a mortuary for airmen killed in the Second World War at Croome Park into a cafe

One National Trust member told us,

I was concerned that it was a rather heavy-handed way of treating volunteers. I know National Trust has many public relations problems of its own making and this seemed just like another one.

Worcester News reports,

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 former 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'.

A coffin leaving the garage mortuary at Croome (Image: Defford Airfield Heritage Group)

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.

Mike Mullins, 78, was one of 50 volunteers until he left in 2022 and remains a member of DAHG. He says some volunteers are 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."

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.

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."

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.