I was at Chivenor in the Hunter days, from '73 until it after it closed first time. I lived in a wooden hut, (E-Lines) which had a coke stove with the chimney sticking out through the roof. It was classed as sub-standard accommodation (outside loos) and we got 75p a week allowance because of it. We used to 'borrow' coke from the back of the airmens' mess to power these things which, given a fair wind could glow bright red!
One particularly stormy night one of the huts on E-lines blew down and I was woken up by four soggy mates looking for somewhere to spend the night.
I worked at the GCA site on the bank of the river and to get to work, had to phone ATC local from the Ground Radio bay for a 'green' and then had to run across the runway in between four-ship take offs.
I was on duty the day the Staish ejected from his Hunter and had to man the radar for the subsequent SAR activity.
The radar was an American bit of kit called MPN-11A and comprised two caravans mounted on a turntable. When a runway changed was required we pulled pins out of the ground, rotated the entire radar, by hand, and re-secured it with the pins, there were also stabilising legs with large footpads that attached to the corners of the caravans to prevent them rocking.
The Hunters used to practice 1-in-1 approaches, simulating a flame-out and for that the radar antenna was jacked up to a higher elevation. The jack motor used to burn-out with monotonous regularity and a new one was obtained by flying the target-towing Meteor T7 up to collect one from North Luffenham. It came back strapped in the back seat.
The day the Hunters left for Brawdy was a strange day, really wet and horrible day so the planned mass fly past never happened. That was in contrast to the weather the day we had final fly pasts from just about everything the RAF had to mark the closure. I still have a vivid memory of an RN F-4 coming over the hill at Heanton Punchardon, crossing the runway at 90 degrees and causing one of the controllers who hadn't seen it coming to throw himself, and his tea to the ground!
After the Hunters left the messes were combined and we all ate and drank in the one mess, the Officers', of course. Booze was about 5 pence and regular dances, with buffets, were held in an attempt to spend all the mess money, it was brilliant! I even remember the odds on the fruit machine were frigged to ensure it paid out more often.
During the Cyprus Emergency many families were sent to Chivenor because there were so many empty married quarters and we spent a lot of time equipping the houses with furniture etc.
My task, after the aircraft had left was to de-commission the radar, the yanks wanted it back, despite it being over 40-years old. We spent months and gallons of WD-40 loosening everything that hadn't moved for years and screwing hundreds of blanking plates onto the caravans.
On the day the radar was to be moved, a Scammel Wrecker, the last of its type in RAF service, was used to haul the caravans off the turntable, space was tight and I remember the Wrecker hit the hut, which was our workshop and office, dealing it a crippling blow.
Ahhh! happy days, sorry for the rambling post but I was overcome with nostalgia.