IT was probably the last reunion of former cordite factory workers at the Holton Heath site - created on the instructions of Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, during the First World War.

Two years after the first gathering of ex-factory staff and those who served in the research facility, as it became from 1957 until its 1997 closure, around 80 fellow workers gathered in the main office building.

The Royal Naval Cordite Factory Association held a buffet reunion and inspected the massive scale model of the site built by workers in 1942, which has become their legacy to protect.

The impressive model, which is accurate even down to the number of trees depicted at a scale of 40ft to one inch, is to be re-housed at a naval firepower museum in Gosport.

Bob Duke, chairman of the association, said the members felt they could no longer look after the historic relic.

The huge factory site - which has lain mostly hidden for the past century - is soon to be brought back to life as a business park after being sold by the MOD to Bournemouth-based developer Birchmere.

The firm intends to re-use the buildings, many of which are grade two listed, in a sympathetic manner, according to director Paul Jeffries who attended the reunion.

The gathering was a final chance for former staff to meet old friends and reminisce about the secret military establishment where 10 people were killed in an accidental explosion in 1931.

Mr Duke said: "This is probably the last reunion on the site. The real reason we set up the association was to look after the model, which is now going to Gosport because we decided we could not look after it properly any more.

"There is a certain sadness, but everyone is here to enjoy themselves and meet old friends, including some who worked at the factory in the 1930s."

Between 1967 and 1996 Mr Duke worked at Holton Heath in the Admiralty materials laboratory.

He added: "In the middle of the Second World War there were 4,500 people here.

"As a research facility there were maybe two or three hundred, so there was a family atmosphere and that is why I think there are so many people here today.

"I suspect when it was a cordite factory there was a certain camaraderie because your life depended on the competence of your fellow workers."

Mr Duke hopes the association will be able to hold future reunions in the area, possibly at a local hostelry.

First published: September 14