The Cold War was
the name given to the
relationship that developed
after World War Two
between the USA and
British led NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
in the West and the
Soviet Bloc (USSR).
It lasted from 1945
to 1980. The period
was to dominate international
affairs for decades
and many major crises
occurred – the Russian
invasions of Hungary
(1956) and Czechoslovakia
(1968), the Cuban Missile
Crisis (1962), the Vietnam
War (1959 - 1975) and
the Berlin Wall (1961
- 1989) being just some.
There were many incidents
as both sides spied
on each other - the
famous one being the
shooting down of an
American U2 Spy plane
over Russia in May 1960.
For many the growth
in nuclear weapons launched
by both sides from land,
sea or air was the most
worrying issue. CND
(the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament) was formed
in 1958 and the Government
published a leaflet
in 1976 entitled “Protect
and Survive” on what
to do in the event of
a nuclear attack.
Back in 1955, the
U.K. the Government
expanded the role of
the ROC – the Royal
Observer Corps and began
to build underground
command and monitoring
facilities in case of
nuclear attack. In 1968
the Labour Government
cut back the Corps,
its role (many bunkers
/ posts were staffed
by volunteers) and facilities,
although it was not
until 1992 that most
were eventually closed
or ‘moth-balled’.
Lancashire
There were thirty
three ROC monitoring
sites in the County
Palatine (pre-1974 boundary
changes) - from Barrow-in-Furness
to Warrington. Lancashire
County Council had their
HQ ‘bunker’ in Westleigh
House, Lea Road in Preston.
It opened in 1956 and
the Lancashire Evening
Post carried a report
on the 3rd April 2007
saying that the site
was up for sale.
Another major site
was the ROC 21 Group
HQ at Langley (Longley)
Lane in Goosnargh, to
the east of Preston.
Originally built in
World War Two as 9 Group
Operations Centre for
RAF Fighter Command,
it was a radar station
until 1956. Thereafter
its three bunkers and
50 rooms were used as
the ROC Area HQ and
communications facility;
it closed in 1991 and
was offered for sale
by the MoD in June 2000.
Brindle
ROC
Nuclear
Observation
Post,
Hough
Hill,
Brindle,
September
2007.
The ROC monitoring
post in Brindle was
actually called ROC
Brinscall. Apparently
when it was opened in
November 1962 the telephone
line was connected to
the Post Office (GPO)
Telephone exchange in
Brinscall, several miles
away – hence its ‘incorrect’
name; perhaps they were
trying to confuse the
Russians!
It is located on
Hough Hill above Denham
Quarry, overlooking
the site of the old
Brindle Workhouse and
close to the row of
cottages at Top o’th’
Lane. Basically it is
a brick lined underground
room to accommodate
two people, with equipment,
bunks and a toilet recess.
There is a notice on
the door into the monitoring
room saying “Beware
slippery floor”. The
site officially closed
in September 1991.
Back in 2002, the
Historical Society was
contacted by Owen Woods
from Whitstable in Kent.
In the early 1960s he
was an Apprentice Bricklayer
for J.W. Lee Ltd. and
worked on the ROC Bunker
on Hough Hill during
the winter of 1962 –
63, as he put it… “laying
bricks down a hole in
atrocious weather”.
What he didn’t realise
until quite a few years
later was that his Great-Grandfather
had been born in Brindle
Workhouse in 1858.
