responsibility of RAF Balloon Command. The site contained an air raid shelter for the operational crew and several combustible devices used to simulate fires and lights. The site was activated in December 1940 but closed several years later, following a reduction in enemy aircraft attacks and lack of manpower. In 1948, the estate was valued at £82,615. In the year ending March 1971, it produced an income of £20,268. By that time the entire Moss had been fully reclaimed; of cultivated land, of roads and plantations, and of 'industrial area' were available for use. The principal land uses were dairy, arable farming, and glasshouse culture. No refuse was delivered for the year ending March 1971, and the Moss had by that time taken a total of 1,305,822 tons of refuse. Industrialisation of the moss took place from 1947–1952 when Petro-Carbon ltd began to build what would later become known as the Shell Site. The estate was leased on 1 October 1968 to Shell Chemicals, who in 1957 had purchased a propylene oxide plant along the moss's northern edge. Shell had built an ethylene oxide plant in 1958 and began to produce polyether polyols the following year. Council housing was built nearby, at Carrington and Partington, for workers and their families. By 1985 the Shell plant had a turnover of about £200M and employed 1,150 people, but a major restructuring of the business reduced the workforce to less than 500 by 1986. By 1994, four distinct plants operated on the site, producing a range of chemicals, and materials including polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene. In 2005 it was reported that Shell would close their polyols and ethoxylates units, a decision which came into effect in 2007. The estate is currently managed by chartered surveyors Bell Ingram. LyondellBasell operate the last remaining chemical plant on site. Manchester United opened their Trafford Training Centre training ground and Academy in 2000, on land formerly owned by Shell. Bury F.C.'s Carrington Training Centre, formerly occupied by Manchester City F.C., is located nearby. Because of the Moss's history as a dumping ground for waste, bottle diggers often frequent the area. Several rights of way exist on the land, and a horse-riding school operates in the area. Geography and ecology At (53.42056, 2.38778), above sea level, Carrington Moss lies along the southern edge of the Lancashire Plain, an area of Bunter sandstones overlaid with marls laid down during