Let’s get the boring part out the way,
“Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Monitoring Posts were underground monitoring stations built for volunteers to monitor the effects of a nuclear blast. The first prototype was built in Surrey in 1956 and was used for a trial to see how effective they were to operate and live in. With only a few tweaks to the ventilation shaft needed, the Government gave the order for hundreds to be built. The Royal Observer Corps was a civil defence organisation, made up of civilian volunteers. Established in 1925, the ROC were under the control of the RAF Strike Command – responsible for the UK’s bomber and fighter aircraft. After WW2 the Government decided that the main threat was that of a nuclear bomb. In 1957, the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) was established to provide information to civilians and the military. The ROC would provide specific data about a nuclear blast, including the position and magnitude. Information from the ROC, UKWMO and Met Office would be used to produce a forecast of radioactive fallout. This ‘fallout’ would be monitored as and where it occurred, with its actual location measured from ROC posts. The ROC were expected to remain inside an ROC post for between 7 and 20 days after a nuclear blast.”
Unfortunately this post is no longer accessible and a large boulder has been placed on the entrance hatch some time between January 2024 and 2021, multiple features of the post are still visible above ground as well as the aircraft observation post on the hillside a few hundred feet away from it.
The Photos:
the now sealed hatch
ventilation shaft
The observation tower
From the inside
The Sketchy Stair Rail
That’s all folks, not the most exciting but hey ho
“Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Monitoring Posts were underground monitoring stations built for volunteers to monitor the effects of a nuclear blast. The first prototype was built in Surrey in 1956 and was used for a trial to see how effective they were to operate and live in. With only a few tweaks to the ventilation shaft needed, the Government gave the order for hundreds to be built. The Royal Observer Corps was a civil defence organisation, made up of civilian volunteers. Established in 1925, the ROC were under the control of the RAF Strike Command – responsible for the UK’s bomber and fighter aircraft. After WW2 the Government decided that the main threat was that of a nuclear bomb. In 1957, the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) was established to provide information to civilians and the military. The ROC would provide specific data about a nuclear blast, including the position and magnitude. Information from the ROC, UKWMO and Met Office would be used to produce a forecast of radioactive fallout. This ‘fallout’ would be monitored as and where it occurred, with its actual location measured from ROC posts. The ROC were expected to remain inside an ROC post for between 7 and 20 days after a nuclear blast.”
Unfortunately this post is no longer accessible and a large boulder has been placed on the entrance hatch some time between January 2024 and 2021, multiple features of the post are still visible above ground as well as the aircraft observation post on the hillside a few hundred feet away from it.
The Photos:
the now sealed hatch
ventilation shaft
The observation tower
From the inside
The Sketchy Stair Rail
That’s all folks, not the most exciting but hey ho
