On Friday afternoon the kids and I dashed over to what was RAF Neatishead to have a stroll around the museum. We visited earlier in the year and tickets are somewhat delightfully valid for a period of 12 months. Absolutely amazing value (and the cafe is great!).
RAF Neatishead was established as a Ground Control Intercept (CGI) station covering the south of the United Kingdom, and had its first equipment installed in 1941 following the outbreak of World War II. Essentially its purpose was to direct RAF fighters to attack enemy aircraft as they launch raids against industrial targets in Norfolk, day or night.
It also operated as part in the Cold War where it was a Sector Operations Centre (SOC), covering the eastern sector of the UK until 1963. It has been used for trials and been upgraded and downgraded miltiple times since.
It is still in service but in 2005 it was downgraded to Remote Radar Head (RRH) Neatishead, current operations are adjacent to the museum. RRH forms apart of the UK 'AIR Surveillance And Systems (ACACS) and is part of the NATO air defence.
One of my favourite exhibits (I'm a simple man) is a little model radar in the very first exhibit room. The little cluster of blobs you can see on the monitor is me! I wouldn't mind trying to build one of these as a little project.
Another favourite exhibit is that about the Bloodhound missile. They were developed in the 1950s and are a ramjet powered surface-to-air missile. It was the UK's primary air defence weapon into the 1990s. The display is pretty cool and there are plenty of buttons for the kids to press and interact with.
Another enjoyable area includes the cockpits of both Jaguar and Tornado jets. The Jaguar is setup as a mini flight simulator so you can try the controls and see what does what. The Jaguar cockpit is immediately below.
And here's the Tornado. Its nose is longer than a normal Tornado fighter due to the specialist radar equipment. Youngest enjoyed the Jaguar today, but I stayed away as I was in shorts. There're lots of sharp bits in the cockpits and I managed to cut my leg during our last visit whilst inspecting the Tornado (my own stupid fault).
The below is the Second World War Room where you can view how things were tracked. It's like a giant board game but with lots of pressure!
These two were hard at work on lookout duty and were't really up for a chat.
We next visited the Air Interception Room where they have all different models of aircraft used for that purpose. They also have an AI 23 Radar (1960 - 1988) as fitted in the English Electric Ligthtening.
The history room was another very interesting space where the girls also found time to have a go on another flight simulator. I can't imagine what it must have been like spending hours in a dark room analysing once of these screens.
We didn't get a chance to walk around the Cold War Rooms as there was a talk in there. It's a mighty impressive space though with may desks containing radars such as the one shown about (but a bit more modern).
The nuclear report cell includes an item about the Doomsday clock.
"The Doomsday Clock is a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making. It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet."
The time below is slightly optimistic - it is currently said to be 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the clock has ever been.
After the stress of the Doomsday clock it was time for some Norfolk made ice cream from the gift shop. Vanilla for me, salted caramel for the youngest and chocolate brownie for the eldest. We ate as we looked about a few exhibits outside.
This is a Bloodhound launcher.
Not a clue about this one!
The RAF Air Defence Radar Museum is a great morning/afternoon out. Another place I'd like to head to on my own without the girls dragging me to the next exciting thing. There's so much to read and see in such a small space - you could easily spend 3 - 4 hours looking through it all.
It made me chuckle that one of the most exciting things for my youngest was one of the old dial telephones - the ones you used to put your finger in and spin to dial the number. Completely alien to her!
