The post in 2013 pre-demolition of the access structure
Woodham Ferrers is a small village in south Essex, north of the largely later and more well-known development South Woodham Ferrers. On the hill at the south of the village lies the remains of a Cold War observation post, designed to locate and report nuclear blasts, which would have been manned by the Royal Observer Corps volunteer group who had existed spotting enemy planes since WW2. The bunker saw service through most of the conflict, opening in 1959 and closing in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
2021 Visit
An eerie after-dark visit to the thought-demolished post in Autumn 2021 revealed it to internally survive largely unchanged since 2013, if even a little tidier. However, the above-ground access structure; once bearing its original light green paint, had sadly been needlessly demolished. The shaft now survived as a hole in the ground, with the lid lying on the ground adjacent. Considering the bunker was not sealed, it is both a mystery and a real shame as to why the hatch structure went.
2013 Visit
After looking around the site of Stow Maries Aerodrome, we had a couple of hours free to look around the local area so we planned to visit the Woodham Ferrers ROC post. The only ROC post that we had been to before is the Canvey Island post which has been capped with mud and concrete meaning we could not get in. However this one was open and waiting!
We had to walk up quite a steep hill to get there with amazing views looking far and wide in different directions. The first bit that we came to was this, a ventilation shaft. Although posts already had one vent shaft attached to the hatch area, a second one was constructed at the far end of the post, this one lead into the main observers room while the first on the hatch lead to the smaller toilet room/area, metal or wooden louvered vents were attached to either side.
