Back in 1994 I visited this site when I was helping out with a open day when I was in the cadets. Many years later I was shocked when I found out that you could now get tours around the site and the bunker, so for the last 4 years I have been waiting to get onto one, but each time I have either been working or on holiday, but this time I got lucky and away we went to have some fun and games.
The day was perfect as we met up with people who I had only ever chatted online with , so It was fab to finally put a face to the person. The only gripe of the day was the typical british weather, when we popped back out on ground level it was raining sideways, so that ruined our chances of a great group photo under the Radar.
A little bit about the site and what it was used for.
World War II
In 1941, the Air Ministry surveyed a piece of land not far from the Broads at Horning in Norfolk with a view to establishing
a site to host a brand new Air Defence station, a Ground Control Intercept station to be exact, from where Fighter
Controllers, backed up by a wide range of support staff, could direct RAF fighters, day or night, to attack enemy aircraft
from Germany as they launched raids against Military and Industrial targets in Norfolk as well as against the City of
Norwich itself.
In September 1941, two years into the Second
World War, the first Secret radar system was
installed at the new Radar Station of RAF
Neatishead. Initially, the complement of forty
airmen and airwomen was billeted at a local
village and training began in this radical early
warning system. At first, the station was home to
temporary mobile Radars but it was soon to boast
new, improved fixed Radar systems such as the
Type 7 Search Radar and Type 13 Height-finding
Radars. The hardened Control Room, the
“Happidrome†was built and it is this very building
which, today, forms part of the Museum.
The Cold War
At the end of World War II in 1945 the world
entered seamlessly into a new conflict that was to
last 45 years – the Cold War. As the defences for
the United Kingdom were reorganised with fewer
but more advanced Radar Stations to meet the
new threat, RAF Neatishead continued to play an
increasingly important role in the Air Defence of
Great Britain. The station was established as a
Sector Operations Centre (SOC) and continued to
be used as such until 2004, by which time the
only other SOC was in Buchan, Scotland. In
1954, the main Operations Centre was re-
established deep underground in a vast two-
storey hardened Bunker designed to withstand
attack by Nuclear bombs.
Between them, the Centres were responsible to
NATO for the Air Defence of the UK, the Western
North Sea (including the vital oil production
platforms), and the Eastern North Atlantic well
out past Ireland. To provide cover over such a
vast area, a number of remote Radar sites were
set up to feed information into the Sector
Operations Centres, with Trimingham on the
North Norfolk Coast being the Radar site still
associated with RAF Neatishead today. By 2004,
technology had improved to such an extent that
all controlling functions could be undertaken from
one Control Centre at RAF Boulmer in
Northumberland.
Neatishead Today
Today, the aim of the base at Neatishead is to “to provide radar, ground-to-air radio and data links coverage as part of the UK Air Surveillance And Control System (ASACS), in support of national and NATO air defence; a task that has become increasingly important after the tragic events of 9/11.†Now called a Remote Radar Head, staff based here are responsible for both the Radar at Trimingham as well as equipment at a number of other sites in North Norfolk and at Neatishead itself. Information is sent by secure datalinks from the various systems to RAF Boulmer where the Controllers monitor UK airspace.
The above information has been taken from the museum's website, and plenty more information can be found on that right here
My photos from the 3 hours spent inside and down below
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The day was perfect as we met up with people who I had only ever chatted online with , so It was fab to finally put a face to the person. The only gripe of the day was the typical british weather, when we popped back out on ground level it was raining sideways, so that ruined our chances of a great group photo under the Radar.
A little bit about the site and what it was used for.
World War II
In 1941, the Air Ministry surveyed a piece of land not far from the Broads at Horning in Norfolk with a view to establishing
a site to host a brand new Air Defence station, a Ground Control Intercept station to be exact, from where Fighter
Controllers, backed up by a wide range of support staff, could direct RAF fighters, day or night, to attack enemy aircraft
from Germany as they launched raids against Military and Industrial targets in Norfolk as well as against the City of
Norwich itself.
In September 1941, two years into the Second
World War, the first Secret radar system was
installed at the new Radar Station of RAF
Neatishead. Initially, the complement of forty
airmen and airwomen was billeted at a local
village and training began in this radical early
warning system. At first, the station was home to
temporary mobile Radars but it was soon to boast
new, improved fixed Radar systems such as the
Type 7 Search Radar and Type 13 Height-finding
Radars. The hardened Control Room, the
“Happidrome†was built and it is this very building
which, today, forms part of the Museum.
The Cold War
At the end of World War II in 1945 the world
entered seamlessly into a new conflict that was to
last 45 years – the Cold War. As the defences for
the United Kingdom were reorganised with fewer
but more advanced Radar Stations to meet the
new threat, RAF Neatishead continued to play an
increasingly important role in the Air Defence of
Great Britain. The station was established as a
Sector Operations Centre (SOC) and continued to
be used as such until 2004, by which time the
only other SOC was in Buchan, Scotland. In
1954, the main Operations Centre was re-
established deep underground in a vast two-
storey hardened Bunker designed to withstand
attack by Nuclear bombs.
Between them, the Centres were responsible to
NATO for the Air Defence of the UK, the Western
North Sea (including the vital oil production
platforms), and the Eastern North Atlantic well
out past Ireland. To provide cover over such a
vast area, a number of remote Radar sites were
set up to feed information into the Sector
Operations Centres, with Trimingham on the
North Norfolk Coast being the Radar site still
associated with RAF Neatishead today. By 2004,
technology had improved to such an extent that
all controlling functions could be undertaken from
one Control Centre at RAF Boulmer in
Northumberland.
Neatishead Today
Today, the aim of the base at Neatishead is to “to provide radar, ground-to-air radio and data links coverage as part of the UK Air Surveillance And Control System (ASACS), in support of national and NATO air defence; a task that has become increasingly important after the tragic events of 9/11.†Now called a Remote Radar Head, staff based here are responsible for both the Radar at Trimingham as well as equipment at a number of other sites in North Norfolk and at Neatishead itself. Information is sent by secure datalinks from the various systems to RAF Boulmer where the Controllers monitor UK airspace.
The above information has been taken from the museum's website, and plenty more information can be found on that right here
My photos from the 3 hours spent inside and down below
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