Background History (stolen from Wikipedia)
"Royal Air Force Aird Uig was a Royal Air Force radar station located on the western edge of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The main masts and operations room were located north of the village of Aird Uig on Gallan Head, with a separate domestic site nearer to the village, five-eighths mile (one kilometre) further south.
The station was originally constructed as part of the ROTOR programme and it was operated by the communications ground trades of the RAF between 1954 and 1974. After ROTOR, the site continued in RAF use as a communications station and radar site until 2000, when the responsibilities of the base were moved to RAF Buchan, near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. The site was then taken over by NATO as a communications hub before being vacated completely by the military in 2010. In its later years, No. 112 Signals Unit at RAF Stornoway provided the staffing for the day-to-day operation of the site. The Guard House, which is at the entrance to the site, is asbestos contaminated, as are other various buildings on the site.
There are plans to recondition the site and open it to the public as a tourist attraction, observatory and whale listening post."
The Explore
We were on holiday in the Outer Hebrides and I had this site on my radar (pun intended) having read about it online and seen a handful of photos. After driving many miles along a single track road through the hills we eventually started to see the first distinctly military looking buildings in the distance. It turns out that much of the village consists of the 1950s flat-roofed RAF accommodation blocks, some of which have been converted for private residential use. Some of these are in a better state than others, with the more dilapidated ones being used to store boats, old vehicles, trailers etc. But the part I was interested in seeing was the radar station itself, which sits further up from the village on an exposed headland called Gallan Head. After parking up we walked the last half mile or so to the station and were met by a large, wind blasted site featuring a handful of flat-roofed buildings and the concrete bases for the long-gone antennae and their guy wires. One or two of the buildings had been painted externally with artwork and the old generator building appeared to be in use as an artists workshop. The main operations block itself was clearly derelict and after a quick look around access was spotted. Inside it was mostly empty but there were a few interesting pieces of equipment still surviving like the ventilation blower and electrical switchgear. One large room had a hatch in the floor with a steep staircase down into an empty basement. Apparently this was originally constructed to take a Kelvin Hughes projector but this was never fitted, and instead the pit was covered over and used to store emergency rations. Even though it wasn't raining there was still water dripping through the flat roof into dustbins and buckets that had been optimistically arranged to catch the leaks. All of these were brimming with water and soaking the surrounding wooden floors, some of which were in a dodgy state. In the 1980s the operations block had a pitched, corrugated metal roof fitted, as was typical on the islands where flat roofs really don't work, but it looks like this was removed after closure allowing the leaks to resume. The decay inside was very nice though and there wasn't much evidence of vandalism other than some abstract graffiti at one end of the building. Most of the interior had a distinctly Cold War look about it but there were some signs of modern upgrades, such as the kitchen and showers.
Back outside we had a quick look at the remaining concrete blockhouse nearby but there was nothing much to see inside and part of it was closed off and being used for storage. We were also treated to the sight of two enormous sea eagles wheeling overhead, which was truly spectacular.
On the way out of the village we stopped for a quick look at a small building at the roadside and found that it contained an excellent old electrical switch panel. The outer wall read "Aird Uig, where eagles soar" which was very apt. Hopefully the plans to refurbish and reuse the buildings will bear fruit as it is a stunning location and would encourage more visitors to the area. If you've never been to the Outer Hebrides I would highly recommend making the trip!
Drone view of the main operations block and generator house to the left, with the village of AIrd Uig in the background.
Antenna base with guy wire securing points.
Guy wire point.
Empty block house.
Generator building, now in use as an artists workshop. Some excellent artwork on the outside.
The main operations block.
Meet "BOB" the ventilation system.
Workshop with basement underneath.
Some sort of control gear.
Stairs to the projector pit, which was never used for its intended purpose. There was nothing much to see at the bottom.
Electrical room.
Corridor leading to amenities area.
Inside the electrical sub station that lies a mile or so from the village.
"Royal Air Force Aird Uig was a Royal Air Force radar station located on the western edge of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The main masts and operations room were located north of the village of Aird Uig on Gallan Head, with a separate domestic site nearer to the village, five-eighths mile (one kilometre) further south.
The station was originally constructed as part of the ROTOR programme and it was operated by the communications ground trades of the RAF between 1954 and 1974. After ROTOR, the site continued in RAF use as a communications station and radar site until 2000, when the responsibilities of the base were moved to RAF Buchan, near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. The site was then taken over by NATO as a communications hub before being vacated completely by the military in 2010. In its later years, No. 112 Signals Unit at RAF Stornoway provided the staffing for the day-to-day operation of the site. The Guard House, which is at the entrance to the site, is asbestos contaminated, as are other various buildings on the site.
There are plans to recondition the site and open it to the public as a tourist attraction, observatory and whale listening post."
The Explore
We were on holiday in the Outer Hebrides and I had this site on my radar (pun intended) having read about it online and seen a handful of photos. After driving many miles along a single track road through the hills we eventually started to see the first distinctly military looking buildings in the distance. It turns out that much of the village consists of the 1950s flat-roofed RAF accommodation blocks, some of which have been converted for private residential use. Some of these are in a better state than others, with the more dilapidated ones being used to store boats, old vehicles, trailers etc. But the part I was interested in seeing was the radar station itself, which sits further up from the village on an exposed headland called Gallan Head. After parking up we walked the last half mile or so to the station and were met by a large, wind blasted site featuring a handful of flat-roofed buildings and the concrete bases for the long-gone antennae and their guy wires. One or two of the buildings had been painted externally with artwork and the old generator building appeared to be in use as an artists workshop. The main operations block itself was clearly derelict and after a quick look around access was spotted. Inside it was mostly empty but there were a few interesting pieces of equipment still surviving like the ventilation blower and electrical switchgear. One large room had a hatch in the floor with a steep staircase down into an empty basement. Apparently this was originally constructed to take a Kelvin Hughes projector but this was never fitted, and instead the pit was covered over and used to store emergency rations. Even though it wasn't raining there was still water dripping through the flat roof into dustbins and buckets that had been optimistically arranged to catch the leaks. All of these were brimming with water and soaking the surrounding wooden floors, some of which were in a dodgy state. In the 1980s the operations block had a pitched, corrugated metal roof fitted, as was typical on the islands where flat roofs really don't work, but it looks like this was removed after closure allowing the leaks to resume. The decay inside was very nice though and there wasn't much evidence of vandalism other than some abstract graffiti at one end of the building. Most of the interior had a distinctly Cold War look about it but there were some signs of modern upgrades, such as the kitchen and showers.
Back outside we had a quick look at the remaining concrete blockhouse nearby but there was nothing much to see inside and part of it was closed off and being used for storage. We were also treated to the sight of two enormous sea eagles wheeling overhead, which was truly spectacular.
On the way out of the village we stopped for a quick look at a small building at the roadside and found that it contained an excellent old electrical switch panel. The outer wall read "Aird Uig, where eagles soar" which was very apt. Hopefully the plans to refurbish and reuse the buildings will bear fruit as it is a stunning location and would encourage more visitors to the area. If you've never been to the Outer Hebrides I would highly recommend making the trip!
Drone view of the main operations block and generator house to the left, with the village of AIrd Uig in the background.
Antenna base with guy wire securing points.
Guy wire point.
Empty block house.
Generator building, now in use as an artists workshop. Some excellent artwork on the outside.
The main operations block.
Meet "BOB" the ventilation system.
Workshop with basement underneath.
Some sort of control gear.
Stairs to the projector pit, which was never used for its intended purpose. There was nothing much to see at the bottom.
Electrical room.
Corridor leading to amenities area.
Inside the electrical sub station that lies a mile or so from the village.
