A YouTuber has revealed the dilapidated state of an abandoned Royal Air Force base used to defend Britain from the Nazis during World War II. 

In a video for his channel, BeardedReality, 32-year-old content creator Daniel Sims takes an inside look at the former RAF Church Fenton site near Tadcaster, in North Yorkshire.

The base, established in 1937, was considered a vital English structure for fighting the Luftwaffe — Germany’s aerial-warfare branch — during the second World War. A front-line home defense station, it hosted the RAF’s “Eagle” squadron of American volunteers as well as the RAF’s first all-Canadian squadron and first all-Polish squadron in its time. 

In July 1959, it was converted into a pilot-training school, and then in 2013, it became the private Leeds East Airport. By 2013, though, many of its buildings had fallen into disrepair, and in 2021, a number of them were demolished, Jam Press reported. 

Many of the structures left standing at the base are not doing too much better, as Sims revealed during a recent adventure inside the 85-year-old outpost. 

Eerie photos show what the once-glorious base looks like after years of abandonment.

Photos from his journey show rooms fully taken back by nature, with weeds galore growing among bits barely identifiable as old bars and kitchen areas now covered in greenery and graffiti. Throughout the site, floors are in a state of collapse and debris can frequently be spotted hanging from the barely-there ceilings. 

Despite its fallen glory, it would appear Sims is not its only recent visitor: During his video, he and his fellow explorers are periodically sent running after they hear others moving about in the building alongside them. 

“The place is f – – king creepy but an amazing explore,” Sims said at the end of the video, bemoaning his inability to get into certain sections of the facility. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get into the tower because security rolled up right beside us.”