Aren't ROC bunkers great? Sure, they're samey, repetitive, tiny and probably not worth traveling out specifically for, but I have a soft spot for these little nuggets of Cold War history, and I'll often swing by one if I happen to be in the area.
I've covered about thirty of these things now, so long term readers will know what they are, but for those who haven't seen one before, this is one of 1,563 identical underground facilities installed across the UK in the 1960s. The idea was to have the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) stationed down here for the purpose of monitoring nuclear activity and communicating it across a network of other ROC posts, so that the UK could react accordingly to the apocalypse that everyone thought was pretty darn imminent.
Alas, it wasn't, and I was born anyway. Thanks for nothing, Soviet Union.
Naturally with the threat of nuclear weapons, the monitoring posts were designed to be used as bunkers to be lived in for a short period if the worst was to happen. Here's a little diagram to show how they looked.
(Image not mine, obviously)
So as you can see, they are tiny. Think of your most annoying work colleague and imagine being stuck with them here for a period of time. I can honestly say, I know what I'm eating when the rations run out!
In light of recent events regarding Vladdy P, many people in the urbex groups comment "We might need these soon" literally every time someone posts a ROC bunker, and it's absolutely delusional. Seriously, half of these things were decommissioned in 1968 and the rest followed in 1991. Since then they've rotted away in fields with absolutely no maintenance while the human race has progressed technologically. A ROC bunker won't save you from a nuclear attack today. I've read conflicting accounts of their practicality even in 1963. Nevertheless, it might make for a fun camping trip and historically they do reflect the attitude of the era, that a proactive approach to the Cold War was needed, even if the powers-that-be weren't entirely sure what to do, and obviously whatever holes are in the ROC posts effectiveness aren't meant to disparage the ROC themselves, who were largely composed of civilian volunteers bravely doing their bit for the safety of their country.
Here's the shaft leading down into the ground. This particular ROC post closed in 1968, so we really weren't expecting much. Typically the longer these things have been abandoned, the worse condition they are in, what with having several additional generations of annoying kids to vandalise them. Don't listen to boomers on Facebook when they say kids back then had manners and respect. Kids are little shits no matter the era.
Additionally, many ROC bunkers have been welded shut or outright demolished by land owners.
Personally I think destroying them is short-sighted, and thankfully others seemingly agree because there are a few examples of ROC posts being restored to how they used to be, or converted into wine cellars and man caves too, and I wholeheartedly approve.
At the bottom of the ladder is a grated floor for catching rain water, and a hand pump for pumping the water out.
From here a doorway leads into the bunker itself. Check it out!
For a 1968 closure, this place is in pretty damn good condition. It has three beds, which is mildly terrifying in that adding an additional long pig person to these cramped living conditions during an apocalypse would absolutely increase the level of irritation. Humans are annoying. I know we're social creatures, but we also didn't evolve to be crammed in a tiny underground concrete box together for an undetermined period of time either
So the wall on the left would have had loads of communication equipment and various gadgets and doohickeys for monitoring nuclear activity, and just because it wasn't cramped enough down here, there would have been a couple of seats too. All of the expensive stuff would have been cleared out when the post was closed, but apparently in 1968 nobody wanted to dismantle a set of beds and lug them up a ladder in the ground, so here they are.
The old light switch.
And this thing here is the toilet. And if you think living down here with an irritating work colleague sounds challenging, imagine having to lug a bucket of your combined excrement up a ladder.
It's still better than the toilets in some pubs and clubs.
This box is pretty interesting. It's a genuine piece of ROC storage equipment left over from the 1960s, and it allegedly once contained batteries.
The lid is over by the toilet.
And these big chunky bastards, I think, are the batteries. How cool is this? They've been down here since 1968.
And then, more morbidly, we have this poor little creature. At some point in the bunkers years since abandonment, a rabbit has tumbled down the hatch, or perhaps even the air vent. And since rabbits can't climb ladders or dig through concrete, it's died down here.
The air vent is above the bed, wide open.
So that's all I've got. ROC bunkers are tiny and scattered all over the UK, so if you do happen to live on this tiny grumpy island, you probably live within 10km of one. They're not always unlocked, and they are very rarely in good condition, but they are there for anyone wanting to have a mooch, and despite their identical design, they're all a little bit different. Like I said, they aren't worth traveling out specifically for, but it can make a good little add-on to an adventure if you happen to be in the area.
If you do venture down into a ROC bunker then it's probably worth mentioning that the access shaft is almost always full of spiders. I've also seen a few where the ladder is coming out of the wall, so it's probably also worth telling someone where you're going, because if for some reason you end up stuck, you won't be able to call for help when you're down there. There's no signal underground.
Nor is there any light. Bring a torch.
So, my next blog will be a chapel, and then after that I'll be going back to my original "local" blog to annoy my locality with tales of my derring-do. In the meantime, I am on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, Vero, Reddit and sometimes Twitter, so if you like the blog and want to see updates, those are the places to go and hope that the algorithm is on your side.
Thanks for reading!
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