TWENTIETH CENTURY DEFENCE SITES of TYNE and WEAR

Section 4 The Cold War
1954. Many of the original gun
emplacements are still in good condition, and
can be seen both on the ground and on
aerial photos (information provided by Roger
JC Thomas).
87 Gosforth, Melton Park,
Command Post (HER 5571)
A bomb-proof concrete structure was built in
1951 to replace the operations room in Low
Gosforth House (which was demolished in
the early 1970s). Melton Park was still the
command centre for Lizard Farm Heavy Anti-
Aircraft Battery well into the 1950s, which
was the only anti-aircraft site in the area to
be kept in operation during the Cold War.
From 1962 it has been in use as
Northumberland County Record Office. The
building is a vast strong-room, partially sunk
into the ground and walled, roofed and
floored in reinforced concrete. The large
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central room, where the operations table was
located, was once surrounded by a viewing
gallery, later used as an exhibitions space by
the Record Office (Northumberland County
Council 1969 and Cocroft 2003).
Royal Observer Corps
Posts
In 1947 the Royal Observer Corps was
reformed with a nuclear reporting role. These
posts were intended to be manned during
times of tension, to monitor the location and
power of nuclear detonations and the
progress of radioactive fallout, so that the
population could be warned, and Civil
Defence measures effectively managed.
They operated in clusters of three posts
linked by telephone and radio cables,
meaning that readings could be triangulated
independently from the peace-time
telephone system. The posts were manned
by observers. A bunk-bed and basic toilet
facilities were provided. Food had to be
prepared in the post. No air filtration system
was installed. Half of the ROC posts,
including Kenton, were abandoned after the
1968 defence cuts. Some however remained
in use until 1991 when the ROC was finally
disbanded (Lowry 1996, 127, Osborne 2004,
191-2).
35 Washington/Hastings Hill,
Royal Observer Corps Post
(HER 5881)
After the war, the ROC remained in
existence, and in 1950 Operation Rotor was
launched, a large-scale overhaul of Britain’s
air defence control and reporting. Although
Rotor primarily concerned itself with the
radar network, it also reorganised the ROC.
In or before December 1952, the post moved
back to its original position in Washington,
but returned to Hastings Hill some time after
1952, when it was equipped with an Orlit
post. These were concrete observation
posts, with an open topped observation area,