Posts Tagged ‘Military’

Whitchurch ROC Post (Oving), Jan-2010

Posted on February 4th, 2010 by thirtyfootscrew

I wanted to start the year with a little bit of urbex but had limited time so an ROC post was ideal, I caught wind on the ‘net that the Whitchurch post (in a Buckinghamshire village called Oving) was in reasonable condition (no floods, no vandalism) so I headed up that way and found the place pretty easily.  After parking up a side street and approaching via a public footpath I realised that the easy way was from the main road, the fence is wide open and despite the traffic it’s easy to get in and out, though it is quite exposed to passers by.  The hatch is on fine, though the clasps weren’t in place when I arrived…

…down in the post it’s in reasonable condition with most of the furniture gone but what’s left is in reasonable shape…

There are a couple of original artefacts intact and for the first time in an ROC post I also saw some telecoms equipment intact, though I’m guessing the door was brought down here as a replacement unless the stickers were added in-situ…

All in all it was a good little trip and the hatch is better sealed than it was in the first place so I left the place happy, sorry if the photos aren’t entirely clear – I didn’t have torch with me (doh!) and I only had my point-and-shoot camera rather than the DSLR.

Popularity: 8% [?]

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RAF Chenies Radar Station, Nov-2009

Posted on December 29th, 2009 by thirtyfootscrew

Chenies01_towerOn the first free weekend for ages I found a nice easy to reach site in a countrified spot on the outskirts of Flaunden and Latimer, Hertfordshire. RAF Chenies was a post-WW2 radar station (history from Subterranea Britannica) that is now derelict apart from a live Met Office radar that still hums away under its golf-ball covering.

The ROTOR programme that led to its construction was a post-war attempt to modernise the UK’s radar infrastructure in the face of veiled threats from Cold War adversaries, the government committed a considerable amount of money to the project even though the British economy was in a pretty dire state.

The site is large when compared to the actual buildings which occupy a small portion of the fenced-in area, consisting of a main building complex…

Chenies03_bldg

The coolest part is probably the live ‘golfball’ radar which hums away in the background, as well as the large antenna at the very back of the complex…

Chenies02_ball Chenies05_ballcage

Around the side of the main building are a couple of sheds containing an electricity substation, some kind of machine and some barrels – it’s a little bit ‘Black Mesa’ with the humming radar in the background but I don’t think there’s anything too sinister out there.

Chenies08_barrel Chenies06_engine

Chenies07_dial Chenies09_muff

The interior of the building has two levels and consists of both completely ruined rooms as well as some that would be perfectly servicable, floors are a little unstable in places and some rooms would’ve been dangerous to enter.  It’s worth noting that there was a ‘Hazard Asbestos’ sign on the floor so wear your P3 if you’re on site here, here’s a few interior shots…

Chenies10_roomwide

Chenies12_roomknackered

Chenies11_roomempty

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RAF Finmere, Jul-2009

Posted on July 19th, 2009 by thirtyfootscrew

Finmere WoodsIt’s been a while since I managed to find time for exploring with a combination of weather, birthdays, grubby British weather and so on but this weekend I managed to get across to West Park (report due soon) and I managed to have a little poke around in the woods near RAF Finmere.

When I arrived in the area there seemed to be some activity on the airfield so I had to give that a miss but so I headed down to the woods, parking next to (but not in front of!) a gate by a public footpath. The woods seem to be used heavily for paintballing and there’s plastic tape up all over the place, I managed to tread carefully and avoid being shot but on a couple of occasions I did end up within a hundred yards of a group of paintballers but I don’t think anyone spotted me.

The majority of the structures remaining seem to be odd roofless bunker/trench type arrangements, I saw at least 7 or 8 of them dotted throughout the woods (bearing in mind I was avoiding the ‘live fire’ of the paintballers), I’m not sure what their original use would have been…

Entrance to Bunker

Entrance to Bunker

Bunker Layout

I didn’t have much time on my hands so I was probably only wandering around for an hour or so, I’d love to come back with someone who knows the area a bit better – if anyone’s interested please give me a shout.


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Nocton RAF Hospital, Mar-2009: Video #3

Posted on May 5th, 2009 by thirtyfootscrew

Following on from my other urbex videos, I’ve compiled a final video that completes the exploration of Nocton RAF Hospital. This third video runs through a large swathe of the main building with a few excursions, it was easily the creepiest part of the whole day and a large part of why I got the hell out of there!

If you’d like to learn a little more about the place, please check out the first Nocton video or you can get some great background info from RAF-Lincolnshire.info.

Music used in video…

http://ccmixter.org/files/milabrya/19323
http://ccmixter.org/files/morgantj/19473

Popularity: 32% [?]

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Nocton RAF Hospital, Mar-2009: Video #2

Posted on May 4th, 2009 by thirtyfootscrew

Following on from my first urbex video, I’ve compiled another video that continues the exploration of Nocton RAF Hospital. The second video picks up where the first left off and contains video footage and photographs of a large part of the facility’s exterior and a few shots from inside buildings, leading right up to the point where I enter the main building…

If you want a little history you can check out the first Nocton video or you can get some great background info from RAF-Lincolnshire.info.

Music used in video…

http://ccmixter.org/files/GrangeGorman/12222
http://ccmixter.org/files/Loveshadow/12996

Popularity: 32% [?]

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