TWENTIETH CENTURY DEFENCE SITES of TYNE and WEAR

Section 4 The Cold War
attached to a roofed room for the crew.
Some posts were raised up on stilts, but in
this case it was built at ground level. It was
equipped with the standard ROC Post
Instrument. The Washington/Hastings Hill
ROC post moved into an underground
bunker some time in or before June 1959. It
is last mentioned in records in 1968, when it
was still operating, and in the same location
(at Hastings Hill). It is hard to say with any
certainty when the post finally closed, but it is
thought probably to have gone out of
operation in 1975. Sadly, it has now been
completely demolished (Dobinson 2000,
Wood 1992 and http://subbrit.org.uk).
88 Kenton, Royal Observer Corps
Post (HER 7070)
This post was built in 1960. As with other
Cold War examples, it was to be manned
during times of tension and to monitor the
location and power of nuclear detonations
and the progress of radioactive fallout, in
order that Civil Defence measures could be
put in place. The posts were manned by
Kenton ROC Post
69
three observers. The Kenton ROC post has
been archaeologically recorded in advance
of a residential development on the site. The
entrance was via a concrete shaft 1m
square, sealed with a counterweighted steel
hatch. To the east of the entrance was a
55cm square mount for a warning siren, a
ventilator with timber louvred shutters and
two sensor masts. The interior was accessed
by a ladder. The main room contained a
table, a bunk bed and a cupboard and would
have had a chemical toilet. Above the table
was a mount for the bomb-power indicator
and the telephone connections. The main
room was only 4.5m by 2.26m, which would
have meant quite cramped claustrophobic
conditions for the observers (Mabbitt 2004).
Other Cold War ROC posts
Birtley (HER 5878)
Kenton (HER 7070)
Springwell (HER 5879)
Sunderland (HER 5882)
Tynemouth (HER 5885)
Washington (HER 5880-1 and 5883-4)
Whitley Bay (HER 5886)