Originally Posted by
chevvron
What next I wonder?
The (air defence) radar from Ash in Kent was piped into LATCC at West Drayton as it was excellently placed for civil traffic on what was airway Red 1 between Clacton and Brookmans Park and also for traffic on Blue 29 from Costa to Clacton. When I went to ATC camp at Manston in '86, there was an Air Defence guy in the mess who told me he was engaged in re-opening the ops room at Ash for operational use. Course a couple of years later the Cold War thawed so I dare say it was mothballed again. As far as I'm aware, Ash Radar is no longer used by NATS so I presume it may have been closed down completely, but could it be re-opened like Saxa Vord?
Ash was a rotor scheme bunker and was the first of those modernised to R3A EMP hardened standards, as with Neatishead and Boulmer. The site was sold off in 1998 and became a secure data storage facility.
Here's a link to the full history of the site:
RSG: Sites:RAF Sandwich