Walking past these bungalows you wouldn’t think anything of them – they’re just someone’s average home, but the buildings are far from average, they were supposedly built to withstand an atomic explosion. Following the end of the Second World War, in 1946, plans were submitted to build ‘atomic bungalows’ on Canvey Island. Whilst this was…
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TN9 Hadleigh at Sandpit Hill was one of several heavy anti-aircraft batteries in the area – such as TN7 Furtherwick and TN8 Northwick on Canvey, and also TN10 Vange. They would’ve been used for defence in the Second World War to shoot down enemy bombers and fighters during the Blitz. It also would have been a defence…
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In a field parallel to the A12 lies two remains from the Cold War. Opened in July 1959 is the Royal Observers Corps (ROC) Post at Hatfield Peverel – built to monitor the radiation of a nuclear bomb; if one was ever dropped. Situated right next to the ROC post is a is a Type…
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Photos from Dave Bullock. Above ground photo by Nick Catford. Nick Catford from the amazing site Subterranea Britannica visited the site in 1997, 1998, and 2000. He records: When first inspected in 1997 the post was in reasonable external condition with all surface features intact but with some land erosion around the access shaft. The…
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Situated close to the A12, this immaculately preserved ROC Post hasn’t been touched for years and is pretty much a time capsule. Built in the June of 1959, a month before the one at Hatfield Peverel, the site holds many relics that would have been in the bunker when it was first opened including old bedding,…
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During the early Second World War, Germany bombed British towns, cities, and industries using aircraft. This initially took place in daylight leading up to the Battle of Britain, but when this tactic failed, Hitler decided nighttime bombing would give an advantage. In the Blitz of 1940 and 1941, the daytime was ordinary, but every night…
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Over a thousand nuclear observation posts were built after the Second World War, but what actually are they? 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…
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Out of 88 Avro Vulcan’s built, XL426 was the 44th to be built and currently resides at Southend Aiport, maintained by the Vulcan Restoration Trust. Weighing over 90,000KG, the bomber first entered service in September 1962.
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