The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was set up in 1925 originally to
observe and identify enemy aircraft. However, in the 1950’s
with nuclear attack a real possibility, their responsibilities were
broadened to reporting nuclear explosions and monitoring fall-out.
With this in mind, a total of 1563 underground monitoring posts
were constructed throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
This one opened in March 1964.
A ladder leads underground from the main hatch into a chamber
which originally contained bunk beds, tables, chairs, radio and
monitoring equipment. A chemical toilet would also normally be
found.
The hatch is unlocked, but access requires a
‘Scottish’ T Bar Key (English keys were slightly
different). If you are lucky to have access to a T Bar Key, then
you enter entirely at your own risk.
For the vast majority of us who don’t have a key, then the
photos shown below give a view of the condition of the main chamber
when it was photographed in 2001 when there were 4 inches of water
on the floor. Items remaining at that time included two tables, a
WB1401 carrier receiver and WB1410 filter unit, Tele-talk, rope,
two plastic buckets, small splint, wooden chair, various papers, BT
junction box and wiring, dome key, light and coax aerial cable
fixed to the wall.
Its condition has deteriorated considerably since then, as can
be seen from the photos taken in April 2008.
It’s a sad fact that since 1495 the World has never seen
25 consecutive years without at least one war, and fortunately the
one this post was designed to monitor never materialised. It
therefore closed in September 1991 and remains a chilling reminder
of what could have been.
There is parking next to this location which now shares a site
with the ubiquitous mobile telephone mast. Despite the mast and the
trees, I managed to get good GPS reception with an accuracy of 2 or
3 feet at the cache location. The area is fenced off, but there is
a stile allowing access and you need to be discreet as there are a
couple of houses on the opposite side of the road.
If you’re stuck, use of the clue cuts down the possible
cache placements considerably.