The Ministry of Defence has said it cannot yet confirm how Army Reserve basic training will be delivered once the Grantham barracks closes, or what any change would cost, pointing to a review of training across the UK due to report in autumn 2026.
The Conservative MP for Grantham and Bourne, Gareth Davies, whose constituency contains Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, home to Army Training Regiment Grantham, had asked where the reserve basic training delivered there would move once the barracks closed, what it would cost to replicate that capacity at an alternative location, and what modelling the department had done of reserve training capacity after the closure.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Defence, Louise Sandher-Jones, said the Army was conducting an Army Reserve Basic Training Review that would make recommendations by autumn 2026, setting out options for how reserve basic training is delivered across the United Kingdom in future. “Until future plans are fully determined, we cannot provide costing estimates at this time,” she said.
The answer leaves open the central questions for the site and for the reservists who train there. With the review’s recommendations not expected until the autumn, a decision on where the training goes, and what it will cost to move, remains some months off.
The scale of what is in question is set out in figures the minister released in response to further questions from Davies. Army Training Regiment Grantham trains only reservists, and over the past five years it has handled a majority of all Army Reserve basic training. In 2025-26, 609 of 1,051 reserve recruits, or 58 per cent, completed an element of their basic training at Grantham. The proportion was 57 per cent in 2024-25, 66 per cent in 2023-24, 69 per cent in 2022-23 and 67 per cent in 2021-22, with the number passing through the regiment ranging from around 545 to more than 920 in a year.
Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, has been identified for disposal as part of the long-running programme to reduce the size of the defence estate, under which the Ministry of Defence has been closing and selling sites it judges surplus or too costly to maintain, consolidating activity onto fewer locations. Army Training Regiment Grantham is one of the Army’s centres for the basic training of reserve soldiers, the initial course that recruits to the Army Reserve must complete before going on to further trade and unit training.
The Army Reserve forms a significant part of the Army’s overall strength and is intended to be mobilised alongside regular units, making the throughput and quality of reserve basic training a question of how readily that force can be generated. Where the courses are run affects how accessible they are to reservists, who balance their service with civilian jobs and travel to training in their own time, a consideration that tends to feature in decisions about the location of reserve training.
Unless they’ve moved, Grantham plays host to other units as well, not just ATR ( G )
I recall some moved to Cottesmore.
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Isn’t Grantham home to something like 75% of the RLC TA Units ?
Went there a few times for a number of conferences.
Yes, but specialists, so the likes of No 2 OSG – Operstional Support Group, recruited nationaly as opposed to local recruitment.
RHQ of one of the Cavalry Regs too I recall, QRL? and a few other bits and pieces.
Another piece of the national footprint gone, which to me is wrong
Hi Daniele,
I believe No 2 OSG has been subsumed into 167 RLC. Forgot about RHQ RL, they are indeed there too.
Hi George.
Has it? I’ll see what I’ve got listed for Grantham when I’m home later.
Thanks.
Hi George.
Back home now, anything you can comment on here? Assume some now out of date.
Headquarters 102 Operational Sustainment Brigade. ( York 29 )
104 TS B 2 Operational Support Group RLC. ( R ) ( To Cott 25 )
– 497 Operational Support Squadron. ( R )
– 498 Labour Support Squadron. ( R )
– 499 Contract Management Squadron. ( R )
– 500 Communications Squadron. ( R )
294 Transport Squadron, 158 ( Royal Anglian ) Aviation Support
Regiment RLC ( R )
167 Catering Support Regiment RLC. ( Reserve ) ( To Cot 27 )
– Regimental HQ.
– 111 Catering Squadron. ( R )
– 112 Catering Squadron. ( R )
– 113 Catering Squadron. ( R )
– Army Reserve School of Catering. ( R )
495 Movement Control & Liaison Unit. ( R ) ?
496 Logistic Liaison Unit.-C ( R ) ? ( US Support )
Reserve Strategic Movements Staff.-C ( R ) ( For DCMC / PJHQ )
148 Expeditionary Forces Institute Squadron RLC. ( R ) ( NAAFI )
HQ – Royal Logistics Corps Reserve. ( R )
HQ – Specialist Units R L C Reserve. ( R )
104 TS B HQ – Expeditionary Forces Institute.-C-Con ( R ) ( NAAFI )
Army Training Regiment ( Grantham ) ( Reserve Phase 1 ) ( Donnington ? )
– Inkerman Company.
– Waterloo Company.
–
Grantham Station Support Unit.
R HQ – Queens Royal Lancers.
Morning Daniele,
I can comment on some of the above –
The HQ 102X move to York was due to happen last year but was cancelled. My understanding is that they will move to Catterick once a new HQ for them, 19X and 1XX (plus 2 Sig Regt) is built there. A site has been vacated and is awaiting demolition for that to happen. But zero movement on that yet. The 2029 date was I believe for them to be in Catterick – Grantham was to close, they’d move temporarily to York, then move to Catterick upon the closure of York. Rumour has it that York now won’t close though. I guess we’ll know more when the DIP is finally announced.
I believe 2OSG doesn’t exist any more; 498 & 500 Sqns are now part of 167 Regt RLC. They are still PWoG Barracks based.
294 Sqn RLC are still in Grantham, apologies I said they were part of 159 Regt, they are indeed a sub-unit of 158 Regt which is Headquartered in Peterborough.
167 Regt RLC and the Reserve Catering Training Facility are still in PWoG Barracks.
I don’t recognise these units from my time at PWoG Barracks, I suspect they’ve been disbanded or subsumed into other formations, but happy to be corrected if anyone else knows what the score is –
495 Movement Control & Liaison Unit. ( R ) ?
496 Logistic Liaison Unit.-C ( R ) ? ( US Support )
Reserve Strategic Movements Staff.-C ( R ) ( For DCMC / PJHQ )
148 Expeditionary Forces Institute Squadron RLC. ( R ) ( NAAFI )
HQ – Royal Logistics Corps Reserve. ( R )
HQ – Specialist Units R L C Reserve. ( R )
104 TS B HQ – Expeditionary Forces Institute.-C-Con ( R ) ( NAAFI )
ATR(G) with Waterloo and Inkerman Coys are still at PWoG Barracks, I understood that the long term plan was to move them to Pirbright.
As I said previously, PWoG Barracks, with a bit of investment, could be used for an awful lot more, theres a lot of space in that place. But, sadly, the developers are snapping at its heels and I do fear for its future. There’s a lot of history there, (ex RAF Spittlegate) and Grantham will be sad to lose the local connection to the military should it close down.
Hi George
Thank you for getting back to me, good post that.
Yes, in my hobby, keeping tracks is hard with all the amalgamations, cuts, moves, and rebrandings.
Locally, you’re very much heading into RAF country.
PWoG Barracks is in a great location with its own small training area, perfect for training recruits, indeed I did my TA training there in 1989 and served two years there later as a regular. There is room on site to base a major unit alongside the recruit training, but the barracks has suffered from under investment and with building developments pushing out of town it is prime real estate for redevelopment. Presently it hosts ATR(G), HQ 102X, 167 (Catering) Regt RLC and a sub-unit of 159 Regt RLC. It is also used to run All-Arms PTI courses and hosts numerous sporting contests and RLC Corps competitions and training. Situated on the A1 and on the main railway line to London and Edinburgh it is easily commutable for service personnel. You can walk into town easily from there too, which is handy for families and soldiers. Just my opinion, but instead of selling this site off the MOD could make better use of it.
Let’s be clear DIP is a package of cuts….
It is lunacy closing good locations like this when talking about ramping things up.
To be fair, this closure has been planned long before the DIP even existed.
I recall it was on the list of 40 odd additional sites earmarked for closure as part of MoDs assumed savings nonsense.
The problem is finding homes for the occupants of these places, and several sites have been extended or their closure rescinded altogether.
With the obsession with super garrisons locally they want units moved to the big site at Kendrew Bks, the old RAF Cottesemore. North Luffenham is another, and Melton Mowbray, though I think that’s been saved.
Spot on. Used to visit the mother in law near Sleaford and for years we’d get off the A1 and go past PWoG on our left before left at the roundabout top of the hill to Sleaford.
Open area for training, what looked like an old Boxer microwave mast, lots if caravans I recall?
It’s obvious they want to build on it.
HQ 102 still there, think they’re due to go to Kendrew Barracks.
Isn’t 25 TSR RLC also there?
Scrub that, I’m confused, they’re at Leconfield. Thought there was another…no, cannot think of it, need to see my database.
Hi Daniele,
I believe it used to be 5 (Training) Regt RLC, but that is gone.
Back in my TA days it was Depot RCT (TA)… THE RCT (TA) was large enough to have its own depot back then!
Boom! I knew it was 5 something….
Thank you, you’ve cleared that up nicely from my swirling, murky brain.
PWoG was also used as the mobilisation facility for Reserves going on TELIC, HERRICK etc…its an ideal mounting centre for stuff like that. Madness to close that place.
I cannot think off my head where the Reserve Mounting Centre even is, there was one at Chilwell, Chetwynd Barracks, that’s all gone too save the Army Reserve and RNR Centre.
Hopefully it’ll get saved, but you know HMG, desperate to build houses.
Yes, Chilwell was RTMC for Herrick and Telic. Shutting this year in its entirety.