Agreed Brian. The site was previously a prison I believe (or was that another joke). Just swapped one set of bars for another. The delights of sitting on the flight plan suite in the Ops room on nights watching couples having it off up the closes between the Council Houses over the street.
I heard the story back in the 1960s so it's nothing new.
What a brilliantly stupid decision. The Air Defence Headquarters for the country co-existant, in a soft building about 8 km due North of Heathrow. Would have been almost impossible for the Russians to find it. Later I remember seeing bunkers placed along the front, obviously to deter the IRA hoying hand grenades through the windows
BTW it would have been planned back in the 50s)