Secret Scotland - Troy Wood Traditional Cache
Kryten: No longer interested in feathering Groundspeak's nest
Secret Scotland - Troy Wood
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache is one of a series dedicated to secret places of one kind or another and is located in Troy Wood near Crail.
See www.secretscotland.org.uk for more places of this type
It is placed within sight of what has become known as "Scotland's Secret Bunker" which was constructed to be the Scottish seat of regional government in the event of nuclear war. When visiting the cache site, the bunker is located beneath the red roofed farmhouse to the east of the cache site.
Construction began in the 1950s and was performed in absolute secrecy with the drivers of all lorrys delivering materials to site having to surrender their vehicles to Royal Corp of Transport drivers who would take them somewhere and return them empty. No civilian was permitted to see what was being constructed and upon completion the entire structure was buried and a bogus farmhouse constructed on top to both conceal the entrance ramp and provide accomodation for the site security staff.
The bunker was constructed in a 40 metre deep hole and consisted of a concrete box with three metre thick walls, strengthened with tungsten rods, and sitting on a bed of shock absorbing gravel. The bunker was constructed on three floors and contained elecrical generation equipment capable of powering the town of St Andrews for three months, and an air filtration plant capable of dealing with radioactive particles; gas, smoke and biological warfare which can replace the entire bunker atmosphere every 15 minutes.
In the event of nuclear war, the Minister of State, Secretary of State and their staff would have been resident here along with scientific staff, the met office, RAF control and a BBC radio station. It would be from here that the three minute warning would be received and the general population, advised of the outbreak of hostilities.
The bunker was equipped with nuclear hardened communication facilities capable of contacting other government and military installations including Downing Street. The original telephone switchboards are still in place, all in full working order, equipped with 2,800 outside lines and 500 internal extensions, and all manually operated by 10 operators working 24 hours a day.
There would be up to 2000 staff resident in the bunker working 6 hour shifts and a submarine style hot bedding system used to reduce the dormitory space required. Uncontaminated water was too precious to be used for showering so the occupants were expected to endure up to three months underground with only minimal washing facilities. No wonder the air was changed every 15 minutes. The bunker also contained a chapel with onsite clergy who would have been absolutely vital to keep the occupants at least psycologically functional.
The bunker was decomissioned in 1990, it's role having been taken over by a replacement facility at Cultybraggan, near Comrie, which is also the subject of cache in this series (GC15XJR).
Since the bunker is a commercial venture, this cache is located at some distance from it, and so can be found without having to visit the bunker site itself. A visit there is however recommended although you can expect to leave feeling rather depressed.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fgbarf