Report - Loth Chain Home radar station, Loth, Caithness - 29/12/07

[zimbob]

Visited this with Bryag today, a little history courtesy of Canmore:

Loth Radar station opened in the spring of 1940 and was extended during 1941. The installation was connected to the National Grid in the spring of 1942. The station was placed on a care and maintentance basis in 1944 and thereafter as a school for training until June 1945 when it was used for experimental purposes. The station closed in August 1945.

We were glad a lot of it was below ground, it was bloody freezing in the wind

The first bunker, with remains of Mast mountings on the roof

Inside there were the remains of serious air-con/ducting

There were deep channels in there too - some filled with sheep-shit, some not

Quite a bit to see here, this looked interesting

But upon inspection, there was nothing to it - a kind of courtyard entrance, then a massive empty space, with no discernable purpose we could work out...

Interior of another receiving block bunker - funky green woodwork

It was a bleak bugger of a spot...

Bases of a large mast - there were two of these.

The bunker next to this base was more intriguing - a better size, and had fairly recently been used for some kind of target practice, police tape, loads of sandbags, and M.O.D. targets inside

Not much left of the accomodation huts....

Last shot of the day, looking out to sea from the wee lookout building..

Twas a good wee explore, apart from getting kinda stuck on a mole-hill on the way out - rear-wheel drive + fat tyres + wet grass is never good

And of course Bryag getting the Pigeon attack rather than me made a nice change

 

[bryag]

Re: Loth Chain Home radar station, Loth, Caithness - REPORT- 29/12/07

Your pics came out well, Zimbob. If I had known it was going to be so cold I would have taken a wee dram with me, since you did all the driving (Thanks for that, by the way. I will have to do the next few to make up for it)

One minor correction, though, Loth is still in Sutherland, Caithness does not start until after Helmsdale

As Zimbob said this was a bleak place. Practically on the beach (Thankfully no nudies today) and enough windchill to send the old nads so far up they made a lump in my throat

Anyway, enough of this frivolity. On with the pics

First bunker

That trench (minus me and my square green head

Holes?

Mega HVAC!

Toward ablutions

This large one excited us both!

Until we got inside

Similar to the others (but different in many ways)

A calming shot (protected from the elements)

Zimbob giving some scale of the mast anchors

Aha, more interesting, perhaps?

Hmmm......

LOOKOUT!

Passion wagon?

Cold and wet

The pigeon attack was just deserts, I suppose, but I didn't really HAVE to be such a big girl about it!