Loved my time at Neatishead great little station posted there 1997-2001 best posting I had. The volunteers keeping the museum alive are legends.

@dct1

2 жыл бұрын

Do you know the best way to get on a tour around the bunker?

This brings back some memories. I was stationed at RAF Neatishead from 1992 to 1999. First of all, in the R30 which is now the museum. Then down In the R3. Loved every single minute of it.

@IKS-Exploration

3 жыл бұрын

glad you enjoyed a trip down memory lane :) and thanks for your service :)

Ian, many thanks for another brilliant video; this one with a personal connection. During the sixties my Dad was stationed at RAF Neatishead (barracking at RAF Coltishall). After the 1966 fire he was moved to the American sector in Berlin. There’s not much more I know about what he did at Neatishead other than he worked underground and there was a connection to radar; he kept it very secret right up to his death 11 years ago. Seeing all on your video and knowing there are tours, I’ll book myself on one and see it all for myself!

@danielmarshall4587

4 жыл бұрын

Wow, you make a good point, "he kept it very secret right up to his death....." all those people such as your Dad doing their job, no big fanfare, no looking for attention, just getting on with their job.

@grahamfisher5436

Жыл бұрын

have you watched - Joan Hopkins RAF Neatishead it's on KZread.

Back in the seventies I worked for BICC ( British insulated Callander Cables Ltd ) at the West Bromwich Depot in Brandon Way, I used to work on the jigs cutting these high voltage steel armoured cables to the customers sizes, they were difficult to wind into smaller manageable coils and always heavy, the drums thet were deivered to us on were typically 7-8' diameter, they were made in various factories around the North West, I went to see them being made in one factory at Prescott which i believe was in Lancashire

Good video. I was loaned to the unit to assist removal of office and barrack furniture from the bunker on its decommission. One of the last airman to visit it.

It looks like that place could be kitted out again quite quickly, very tidy place. Obviously the volunteers work hard on keeping it spic and span. I am glad they don't forget our Norfolk retained fire fighters who were lost there, bless them.

It would have been more interesting if we could have heard what the guide was was saying.

My dad worked on Radar used to take me to his job in the 70's that place is big they had massive computers in those days that had to be chilled pretty much the same thanks for history walk!!!; )

Thank you. It's a long time since I have seen an R3 and haven't been down that one since the 80's. Did you know about the scratches one one of the fires blast doors that failed to open? That door was used in the rebuild as a reminder to take the safety seriously.

@richardvernon317

Жыл бұрын

That door was kept in the Fire Section. It was from the PBX room, it is now displayed in a fire service museum.

“You can tell it’s the officers mess because it says officers mess above the door”, oh yeah 😂😂😂

Looking forward to making one of the bunker tours this year. The museum is wonderful and needs time to do it real justice. We then had a guided tour of the bloodhound missile battery equipment from someone who used to actually operate it. Was an extremely memorable visit with not only exhibits but real live former operating staff that brought it all to life.

@IKS-Exploration

5 ай бұрын

Yeah is a very worthwhile trip :)

The Fire was started by a LAC Supplier by the name of Chessman who should not have been in the Bunker as he didn't have the Security Clearance. One of the Civilian Fireman suffered from a heart attack and the other two were part of a search party that went into the bunker to recover him. One of those two was later found died at the base of one of the stair wells in the main operations complex while the other had tried to escape down the main entrance tunnel. However he followed the stair well railing around the side of the stairwell and into the PBX (telephone switch board room). While in that room he inadvertently closed the door (it was a sliding door on rails) and when he managed to locate it again he tried open it like a normal door. As he ran out of air, he quite literally tired to claw his way through the door with his bare hands before he died in there. To put the fire out, the bunker was flooded with water from a local river. In 1981 I visited the station as an Air Cadet, At that point in time the Bunker was still a smoke blackened shell with operations being carried out from the R30 building on the surface (what is now the Air Defence Radar Museum). During the Visits we visited the fire section who still had the fire damaged door from the PBX Office with the blood and scratch marks of the dead fireman on it and we were taken down the bunker and shown where the firemen had died. On my second visit there in 1985 (as part of me RAF Trade Training) the Bunker was a building site for the installation of the IUKADGE Integrated Command and Control System which I was later working on in 2004 when the Bunker was shutdown. One of my tasks due to the job I did in that bunker was to act as a Fire Marshall in evacuation of that bunker in the case of a fire. This involved training in the use of a BA system and how to safely escape that place from either exit (there was an emergency exit on the other side of the bunker from the main entrance) in pitch blackness without falling down any holes in the fault floor or following the railings into a side room. Not an easy task in the 15 minutes allowed due to the limited air supply held by the BA Kit,

@robinwells8879

5 ай бұрын

Horrific story about the firemen. Heart breaking.

That's what is needed in many of the other places you've videoed! Interested volunteers looking after the place!

Thanks for the walk around, guys, seems to me that place could be brought back to life very quickly 🇬🇧🇬🇧🛸🛸

My first posting after 2 years training. 1974 to 1985 i was there. Did 1 year in R12, the rest in the R30 looking after the computer systems that fed the display consoles/keyboards/rolling ball/flight sims (only showed as targets on the screens)/RAPDS/ERAPDS. Designed and built the 'Tote' that shows each consoles state/radar states. Happy days.

The earthing straps across the floor could possibly be the equipotential bonding to the Faraday cage in the outer structure that was designed to protect the equipment inside from nuclear EMP.

@richardvernon317

3 жыл бұрын

That bunker was EMP screened. My office was shown at 22.03.

RAF Boulmer in Northumberland had a radar a bit like this one except there were two of them rotating. I remember them in the early 1990s. In later years they changed the system and it was dismantled and replaced with large white spheres.

Its really good to see someone thouht to preserved a place like that, the cold war was actually a big thing that younger generations cant conceive, its being wiped from history slowly. Awesome you guys get it and do your vids

@thetruth7633

4 жыл бұрын

Kermit Daddyqb yes, the wiping is done by governments, look at Germany. Merkele and her party would like to erase all war history. Seen many bunkers demolished over the years.

Makes the one I built using Protect & Survive look a little pathetic 😂😂😂

I'm trying to track down the bunker of mr Keith Grimes in the 50s in Leicestershire . My grandfather was stationed at an airbase in Leicester during his national service and was a bit of a prodigy at the time rocketing through school and gained top marks. He was esceptionally talented in mathematics and he became a triangulator for incoming planes. His stories are fuzzy because he rarely talked about his time in the RAF, except a funny story about poker and his mate losing and ran naked round the runway and people thought it was a ghost and there was a few stories about the base which my grandad though hilarious along the few that were there. He had a level head and like tywin lannister in the flesh. But he told me of this base that looked like a hole on the outside but ran deep into the earth and he was to guard and in case of aircraft he was to be called inside and help triangulate its space. He never was and the base apparently was eerie and never was called again, but he joked it was easy to find. We never did. It's near Leicester and North

amazing place

... and suddenly a man in an orange suit with a crowbar pops out of the darkness 😄

Finaly somone did a proper Dokumentation on this site and i am glad that its iks...i sad it once and i say it again "better than most dokus on tv"... love the low fly approach😁stay save , greetings from germany

Golden Gem. Would have been great to pay a bit extra for a guided tour. I worked at RAF Pitreavie Castle underground bunker for 4 1/2 years and the RAF Northwood MHQ Bunker for 2 years. They blew up the entrance to Pitreavie but Northwood is still there. Golden Gems. 1979-1986. Pull up a Sandbag folks. Great days.

@AnnaKraft97

4 жыл бұрын

Why'd they blow up the entrance? 😮 Sounds suspicious

Rollin down da road with my transit van .. 😄

I like your channel is the best in the world 🌎🌎

"No one screamed" quality driving hahaha

15:57 Looks like logic gates used in computing. If X1 Or X2 are positive (or have a load) Y0 becomes active (what ever Y0 represents) If Y0 and X3 are positive Y2 is on. Dont know if it relates to electric circuits, or someone playing around with binary logic.

24:14. Refrigeration plant. Some serious cooling capacity

Jesus Folks, I got here as fast as I could.

Drives like a mad man folks LOL

@mavos1211

4 жыл бұрын

No way was he doing 30! More like 45 I’d say

@katsibson163

4 жыл бұрын

@@mavos1211 looks faster in a van .....

@katsibson163

4 жыл бұрын

@@mavos1211 looks faster in film

love the raised picket Hamilton bunker

@gosforthlad

4 жыл бұрын

It looks similar but i think that's a modern day Sangar pillbox . Too well preserved to have been buried for 40 years .

That brought back a few memories.

Did you visit the Museum on the other side of the site? Their guided tour is a mine of information !

I drive past this everyday, it’s a magnificent site

That was cool to see. Thanks for sharing it.

Ahhhh great video!!!

Nice! 5:50 those holes are to dispert pressure impact?

I was having a good laugh at the 'Van Banter' - poor Chris sounds well stressed out! It's a good bunker - but I do prefer the bunkers you visit where there are no guides or tourists, or working lights, or indeed, on a very big one near me that you've visited, no floor.

@katsibson163

4 жыл бұрын

same here but sadily here its a tour or no entry :-(

Some serious electrical installation there

@emlraradio

Жыл бұрын

Several MW !

Man that is such a gem of a bunker👍 thanks for sharing ian

Lol, you guys getting there you sound like a bunch of old ladies trying to get to church. Don't be offended, I had a good laugh at the way you sounded. 😉😆

Big speaker in the Plant Room.......noisy in there with 6 machines running!

A very cool place to visit, very sad there was a fire and people lost their though all because of one little idiot. Thanks for sharing. x

Looks similar underground to RAF sandwich

Bloody hell 1:30 it's the trench sequence off Star Wars. Great video thank you.

@danielmarshall4587

4 жыл бұрын

Once you've seen one of those Guard Houses oh... sorry Bungalows they all look the same.

disappointed for lack of "Jesus Folks", "Generator Room" and "Asbestos" despite being plenty of it. Not disappointed for great video, interesting place and size of that door.

This could have been easily mothballed , such a waste being unused. Be a perfect data centre!

@MrL4t3

4 жыл бұрын

Private mancave / gamers hideout 😄

@curranhouse

4 жыл бұрын

@@MrL4t3 You got it in one! :D

Not gonna lie, you guys were driving a little bit fast at the start!

@katsibson163

4 жыл бұрын

nope try traveling in a a 1998 transit - lol

This place is vastly more modern compared to the other semi-dismantled bunker you lads stumbled upon whose lights were still working. In that bunker they left quite a bit of kit behind including what appeared to be a small generator. The generators here look fairly modern and there's two of them. You lads need to check out the Burlington Bunker if the opportunity comes, as it's only open for tours every now and again, and there is still tons of stuff left inside: the kitchen is fully furnished as are the offices and the telephone exchange, the generators are still there, as well as the massive fans. If you ever visit Gibraltar, there's a massive underground power station at Caple Hole with the generators still in place. I believe it's part of a massive bunker complex that is open to the public. Worth checking out.

@Tobyscott2002

4 жыл бұрын

TheKilroyman Burlington has never been open for tours as far as I know. If that is true can you tell me who to contact to organise such tours?

@TheKilroyman

4 жыл бұрын

@@Tobyscott2002 that itself is also very obscure. I know there have been organized tours of Burlington, but the people that went on the tours didn't leave contact info. I think the MoD decides this.

@Tobyscott2002

4 жыл бұрын

How do you know they organise tours if you don’t know anyone who’s been on one? The mod may show people around but as far as I am aware that has never been a public tour as such. Certainly not advertised has most of the exploring world would like to do Burlington. They would need to install a turnstile 😉see what I did there?

@TheKilroyman

4 жыл бұрын

@@Tobyscott2002 there was a blog post from some people that managed to get inside (Not sure if it's still online). But judging by the way the article was written it looked like a limited tour because they didn't cover the entire bunker.

@TheKilroyman

4 жыл бұрын

@@Tobyscott2002 I could very well be wrong about organized tours, I'm just repeating what Ive seen online

You recently did a video of spurn head. Did you visit Holmpton bunker while you were over that way?

Quite impressive. Imagine what Corsham would look like, but we'll never see for another 60 years.

@danielmarshall4587

4 жыл бұрын

True.... that's the thing. This bunker, no longer needed..... "cos we've got others" that's the bit that stops me in my tracks all the money spent on this and other bunkers. The KZread vids from America on other channels of bunkers/missile sylos (spelling?) and the costs involved uncredible.

I saw a video earlier where a company had bought a similar bunker and chucked a load of servers racks inside it

@richardvernon317

Жыл бұрын

The former RAF Ash in Kent. Its actually an exact copy of Neatished's upgrading including the EMP screening and its role was to act as a standby Sector Operations Centre that could take over air defence of the southern UK if Neatishead was taken out in anyway. By the time IUKADGE became operational, the Cold war was over and Ash was used for Software development before being closed.

Hornsea radar station, is well worth a look round.

What is that banging noise

@katsibson163

4 жыл бұрын

the van lol

Identical to the one in Ash 😮

The staff here are great as most used to work there and are happy to talk about it. When I visited they were happy to talk about the suspected IRA attack ! I knew nothing about it in the media

@emlraradio

Жыл бұрын

Things like that are only known to us that know !

@oddball1953

9 ай бұрын

I was stationed there at the time

it makes you wonder what was down there to keep a fire burning for so long.

@timk.2381

4 жыл бұрын

Many cables, furniture, fuel and so on. The problem in a Bunker is that you cannot flood the bunker properly with air to cooldown the hot surfaces. And water in combination with heat produces steam, a lot of steam 1liter of water produces around 1600liter of steam. So with the equipment of the sixties it was very dangerous to operate in that conditions.

4 жыл бұрын

You would have little chance of getting out of there with power off and conditions like that.

@emlraradio

Жыл бұрын

Unewrground walls were waterproofed with pitch.

“Don’t touch the walls” . Very Spinal Tap.

So pleased you were able to get inside of this place. I've only seen one other video of this bunker. Great video as ever chaps 👍🏻

What is that wall of holes??

Have you done anything in Dorset?

Diss is a state of da ort French built emergency control panel numbah free. It's got a big red buttin' that sets off a pre recorded loop tape dat keeps screemin' "run away.... evry botty blutty run away'!!! Okay now movin' on........ :^D lol

I think you'd love visiting the Diefenbunker here in Ottawa (Canada)! It's a real trip, a lot of the original equipment is still in place :D

Those guys kept disappearing.. one had no legs.. one was a floating head. OMG!!!! Oh wait, they were just wearing camo.

@IKS-Exploration

5 ай бұрын

Lol

People do not realise that the bunker is in 2 half’s. inside and outside the EMP shield. Read about EMP SHIELDING

Uploading a video at 6am, Jesus Folks, have you all got Insomnia?

Wonder what the orange and yellow suits were for.

It's so nice to see people taking care of this bunker for people to see in the future.! Spanking video!

Love the history of this mate. U done a good job exploring

That's a lot of cables

great vid nice touch thinking of those brave firefighters keep up the great work

Visit RAF Holmpton, you will like it more.

slow down am only doing 30, well seams like your doing more lol, he training to be a racing driver in a van ok :D

Only way to drive old Transits is keeping momentum up because once its gone its very tedious getting back on pace

@colintook3357

Жыл бұрын

"I am only doing 30" lol

The Civvy firemen refused to work alongside the RAF Fire Piquet who had water onto the fire. The RAF had to pull out before the Local Part time firemen went in.........in the meantime the fire got a greater hold. Lots of mistakes made, Non familiarity with the site and poor BA training anc control......amongst others RIP the 3 Firemen.

5:28 big ass air wall - wow - NORAD size

Thanks for the vid Guys would love you to do the large tunnels under Dover Castle

@chrisbentleywalkingandrambling

4 жыл бұрын

They have been there. Subex have done loads as well. They are respectful too.

@ronaldbell446

4 жыл бұрын

Chris Bentley I seen the vids on Dover tunnels but not the 1s under the Castle as they travel for miles

I love Chris's beat up van nothing is great.

Have you visited hack Green nuclear bunker in Nantwich cheshire very interesting, great vids by the way

What type of tractor are they in at the start.

@katsibson163

4 жыл бұрын

hahahah transit van

Does anybody know how the hell the guy managed to start the fire in the first place or why he would want too?

@emlraradio

Жыл бұрын

Fire in waste paper bin.......he spent several years at HM Pleasure!

Brilliant stuff, love this place

@rapidman1376

4 жыл бұрын

The officers mess is a massive spiders nest!!!

Outstanding video folks

Wall paint in that underground corridor at about 4 - 5 minutes in is pretty cruddy.

It looks like the set from a 1970s show zAyjkaFYnzE.

You should take up tarmac rallies.

That looked so cool

Many thanks. ...

TRUE STORY PICKED UP FROM FORMER RAF COLLEAGUES FROM RAF NEATHs DURING THE 1980s AT A TG3 REUNION AT WESTON SUPER MARE 2 YEARS AGO........ SOME WERE INVOLVED IN THE WIND UP!!!.... POOR BLOKE. The Burnt Fen Man..... During the RAF 100 TG3 reunion at the weekend I was told one of the funniest, hilarious wind up stories I’ve ever heard. It happened at RAF Neatishead in Norfolk, during the 1980s. Sadly 2 firemen had lost their lives in a fire in the underground complex, known as the R3, during the 1960s. The unsuspecting victim had been primed for months about local sightings of “The Burnt Fen Man”, a ghostly figure, clanking chains, always driping wet to ease his torment at the burns he had suffered, some of the sightings were around the camp itself. So one night he was sent out to do his RADAR head checks (fire and safety checks). A bit creepy at the best of times due to the sound of the hydraulics, power units and sudden movements of the HF200 “nodding horror” radars. As he passed the EWS tank (a huge ground water tank used for fire fighting purposes) a pre positioned scuba diver, covered in chains and camo netting emerged from under the water waving his arms in the air. Utter shock and panic prevailed on the poor victim, who ran screaming into the R3 for shelter. A move already predicted by his tormentors. Only to be met by two dark clad figures in BA sets, making “darth vader” breathing noises stumbling towards him with outstretched arms..... needless to say, the victim of the windup, a guy known as “Strop” was never the same again. IF YOU CANT TAKE A JOKE, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE JOINED!

@emlraradio

Жыл бұрын

That was a great Watch to be on!

@richardvernon317

Жыл бұрын

@@emlraradio And there was the fat J/T who ate any stuff left lying about in the engineers crew room. So somebody made a Yorkie bar made out Exlax chocolate and left it on a table. The fat J/T ate it all and you can guess the rest.

Perhaps someone could start a fund to help these people divest themselves of their missmash of Nato DP gear and buy normal clothing. I have lots of old camo from my army career, but I can't find it. (Old gags are the best).

Too bad that the communication equipment has been stripped, you now only see the utilities.

@richardvernon317

3 жыл бұрын

The only comms equipment in there were phones. The radio comms were at other sites and accessed by the radar console system which was known as DVCS (Display and Voice Communication Sub-system).

@emlraradio

Жыл бұрын

@@richardvernon317 Tx and Rx at Barton Turf !

@richardvernon317

Жыл бұрын

@@emlraradio And other places. DVCS could access any IUKADGE supported radios from Portreath in the south to Saxa Vord in the north. There were also a number of IUKADGE radios located on Airfields from Valley to Wattisham,

@richardvernon317

Жыл бұрын

Communications and Display equipment. There were 40 radar display consoles in there at two levels. The Upper floor ops room held the Weapons Teams who controlled the Fighters and SAM's. The Lower floor ops room held the Surveillance team who managed the air defence picture. The Computers and Comms switches which ran everything (and the engineering team) were on the lower floor as well.

Good video, Thanks! I was 20 years old in 1974 when that reopened. And now I am old! :(

@donnyanda3191

4 жыл бұрын

thats the year i was born

@johnjenkins6547

4 жыл бұрын

@MrCanman75 You are correct. :)

@chrisbentleywalkingandrambling

4 жыл бұрын

65? 66? 1 1/2 years until I can retire!!!

@chrisbentleywalkingandrambling

4 жыл бұрын

@MrCanman75 we all get old, unless you die young.

@johnjenkins6547

4 жыл бұрын

@@chrisbentleywalkingandrambling 65. have 8 more months. Already retired, but have 8 more months until I can collect full S.S.

Reminds me of the old sports centres prob same architect voices bouncing all over the place

Marvellous, folks, marvellous.

I know there's alot of rubbish in the comment section about not alot of info about where they're at. Can someone shed a little light

Was stationed at RAF Boulmer, so know a little of these systems, visited the attached museum to the featured site.and I believe there was an act of arson at the R3 by a young airman which resulted in the deaths of some fire fighters, I see the photos of the HF200 s which were also at Boulmer as was the T84 along with the main unit, which I did not work on directly, as a LAC I was only trusted with DBU and fuse changing!!

@garyblair1907

4 жыл бұрын

sgtcrabfat when were you in DBU? Me 83/84 under Mal Best, who liked the odd lager shandy!

Killed three firemen and only got seven years ! :(

nice boys loved the video

What a waste! Just big empty rooms where equipment used to be. Nothing technical to see. No radar units, no transmitters, no power supplies, no generator rooms, no nothing!

@richardvernon317

Жыл бұрын

No radar equipment there at all. The place was an Control and Reporting Centre, The Radars were mobile and were based 20 miles away or more. All of the radar data came in by telephone or microwave data links. It all got feed into a rack of 4 PDP-11/44 Computers which converted all of the data into the same message format and that was feed to a pair of Data Handling Computer Strings each made up of a DEC VAX 1000 series Computer connected to 2 PDP 11/44 computers and around 20 LSI-11 Micro Computers. The two DHS strings processed all of the radar data into a single air and sea plot which was displayed on the 40 odd console in the bunker with one string as the Primary and the other as a back up which would take over if the master system failed. The Computer room looked like any other 1970's computer centre.