Culham ROC Monitoring Post
(Opened 1960, Closed 1968)
Situated about 10 miles south of Oxford, this ROC Post was tricky to find, because the area it was in was very overgrown.
It wouldn't be any fun if it wasn't dangerous!
The sign was referring to an abandoned shooting range.
It took about half an hour and we really had to battle through the undergrowth, and climb up some steep banks, but we found it!
The T-shaped part sticking out of the top of the hatch shaft was where the "Ground Zero Indicator, (GZI)" was mounted. This was basically a pinhole camera which would show the bearing and elevation of the explosion. The idea was to mount the GZI, wait for the bang, then retrieve it - completely bonkers!
Much to our surprise the hatch opened.
A ladder leading to... Only one way to find out:
Send Max down!
Ben did the sensible thing and stayed on the surface.
It was dark down there! Good job we brought lots of torches with us.
Under flash illumination you can see the post has been extensively fire damaged. Note the circular opening in the ceiling which is the Fixed Service Meter tube. There were two bed frames in there as well, which the ROC personnel would have slept on. The hole in the top of the wall behind Max is the bottom of the ventilation shaft.
Looking back towards the entrance shaft. Just behind max is a hand pump for draining the Post of water, (it didn't work).
Another happy explorer!
The ventilation shaft.
The boys looking very happy about our discovery. At the bottom right of this picture is the top of the Fixed Service Meter tube
Right next to the ROC Post was a concrete pillbox. The black splodge at the bottom right of the picture is a dead rabbit. There were quite a few in there...
Ben was light enough to push up onto the roof to see what was there. Answer - not a lot. Still, he took a nice picture of Max and I.
Two down, one to go, and a 45 minute drive to: