Raf Holmpton - Visit The Bunker

Last year Lee suggested we start a project called "Leave it in the Locker", the idea was visitors could write us a short message about the bunker, the art exhibition or whatever was on their mind. The project grew and spilled out of the locker. Hundreds of visitors left messages, the time has come to take them down as we prepare for reopening on the 9th March. Thanks to everyone who left feedback, we've really enjoyed reading them and we'll be repeating the project this year when Lee Karen Stow's "Hidden" exhibition will be displayed in the computer hall and mezzanine floor.

Yesterday we were very pleased to meet Sheelagh Strawbridge and Kay Watkins who were Greenham Common protesters back in the early 1980's. Sheelagh and Kay are taking part in Lee Karen Stow's "Hidden" exhibition telling the story of the women of the cold war which will be on display in the bunker throughout 2019. Work is just starting on installing the exhibition, more pics to follow as work progresses.

Happy New Year! Sylvia and I would like to thank our veterans, volunteers, and supporters for helping to make 2018 our best year ever. Its been wonderful to see new projects come to fruition, especially the arts exhibition and the military shows which are set to return bigger and better in 2019. All of this wouldn't be possible without our visitors, many of whom return year after year. Thank you so much for helping us to keep this relic of the cold war maintaned and preserved, and we're looking forward seeing you all in 2019.

I thought I'd share this having seen it on a BBC4 programme a couple of nights ago about the BBC's unseen secret Christmas comedy videos made for staff by their videotape editors. This clip is from the 1984 edition, the same year that Threads was screened. Don't think this would have gone down well if it had gone to air afterwards.

Sylvia and I have been in Poland and Ukraine for a few days and in between the Christmas markets and mulled wine we've been checking out a few Soviet era cold war relics. These pics are from Kiev, really interesting city. We wanted to see Chernobyl and the Pervomaysk missile base but the cold is intense and the snow is deep! Will have to come back in spring.

Here's a link to todays Forces TV news article about our Cold War veterans. Many thanks to all who came in to talk about their service down the "Hole".

A big thank you to all our visitors who bought Sylvia's drinks and home made cakes when visiting the bunker. Your generosity has helped Sylvia raise £1711.69 this year. Our highest total ever, and that doesn't include funds raised from the sale of merchandise which should push the amount raised for our wounded service personnel well over £2000. Here Sylvia is presenting the cheque to Help for Heroes coordinator Lesley Hodgson, also pictured Lesley's husband Ken, and Nuclear Reporting Cell veteran Carl Olsen. Thanks again to all our visitors for their continuing support.

Yesterday, for the first time we held a service of remembrance at the bunker. It was very moving to see the ops room full of veterans and Holmpton and Hollym residents who came to pay their respects. Many thanks to Chaplain SCC Reverend Duncan Harris RR who conducted the service, and also RAF Holmpton veteran Pat Leckonby who did much of the organising. Wreaths were laid by representatives of the three armed forces, and a fourth from our Help for Heroes coordinator Lesley Hodgson on behalf of Holmpton parish council. Thank you so much to everyone who attended and made the event such a success.

This weekend 10th and 11th November will be our last opening dates of 2018. On Sunday, in conjunction with Holmpton and Hollym churches we'll be hosting a service of remembrance in the ops room at 10:30am, conducted by Chaplain SCC Duncan Harris RR. We have a small number of seats available, there's no entrance charge for visitors attending the service and they will be welcome to look around the rest of the bunker when we open just after 11am. If you would like to come please phone on 01964 775069 or email info@visitthebunker.com.

Did you set your clocks back an hour this morning? This clock in the Nuclear Reporting Cell always remains on GMT also known as Zulu time, hence the Z printed on the front. All reports of nuclear detonations or fallout would be recorded using GMT. At least the clock will show the correct time for the last few opening days of 2018.

This weekend 27th and 28th October some of our military vehicle enthusiast friends will be holding an informal gathering here at the bunker. They're going to be present in the armoury, in uniform, to demonstrate and chat about the the deactivated weapons on display. Why not come along and get up close and personal with an AK47 and many more weapons from the Cold War era.

Last May we had a lot of fun filming an episode of Combat Dealers here at the bunker with Bruce Crompton and the team. The episode will be screened at 9pm next Tuesday evening 16th October on Quest. We're looking forward to watching, in the meantime heres a few pics from the day.

We were sorry to hear about the recent passing of local ROC veteran Chief Observer Bill Carter. Bill's family have kindly donated his uniform plus lots of kit, documents and photos that will really add to our knowledge of Royal Observer Corps operations in our region.

Yesterday we were very happy to welcome Newark and District Air Cadets 1260 ATC Squadron to the bunker. A real pleasure to meet a group of young Cadets who were so interested in our cold war history.

We've had a great morning filming with Hannah and Mark from BFBS Forces TV. Taking part were radar era veterans Janet Huitt, Barbara Turner, Kath Shimwell, and Janet Levesley. Also NRC veteran Ted Pattrick popped in earlier to talk about the later post radar era in the bunker. We really appreciate the support of our cold war veterans, and will post on Facebook when we know the broadcast date.

This morning we discovered a Driffield Rock in the bunker. The poppy and aircraft design is very appropriate as we currently have Martin Water's poppy exhibition in the old computer hall / radar ops room.. Thank you to whoever left such a nice tribute to our fallen servicemen for our visitors to find, I wonder who will pick it up and continue its journey.

Next weekend 8th and 9th September Sylvia and I will be taking a short break and leaving the bunker in the very capable hands of our Royal Observer Corps veterans. Obs Officer Ted Pattrick and Obs Carl Olsen will be here to share their experiences of staffing the Nuclear Reporting Cell until 1995, a great opportunity to meet the people who volunteered for this crucial part of our cold war defence plan. Also a chance to meet the newest member of our team Mike Glover who served in the British Army on the Rhine and the Middle East in the 1970's.

Wow what an amazing and impressive place RAF Holpton is; well worth a visit! We entered at 1pm and left at 4pm not realising how time had passed as we soaked up all the history and exhibits. Lovely welcoming and informative staff. Highly recommended.

Well worth a visit and so much to see. The people who work there have so much knowledge. Definitely a place to visit if you’re in the area.

Was an awesome place to visit, time was of no importance to all the chaps who gave us a tour and explained what went on and how the bunker functions really welcoming to me and my friends and family had a great trip, thanks folks even had a game of pool in the mess and listened to a classic jukebox whilst having a game

Visited the Bunker today with my son. Anyone with an interest in history, Cold War or otherwise will absolutely love this place. I have a interest in Nuclear Weapons so this was like manna from heaven. I found the rooms very interesting and liked the clubhouse. I didn’t think the jukebox worked until I heard the Undertones playing. Not really suitable for those with mobility issues although I did see a wheelchair. Nice to talk to the veterans too. I had a good chat with the chaps from the ROC. Keep up the good work, I’ll be back soon with my older kids who were disappointed they didn’t come today.

Very interesting place to visit and the staff are amazing. Strongly recommend a visit.

Took my family to visit the bunker today, we range from 12 to 62 years and a good time was had by everyone. It’s a fascinating place, quite eerie to be honest. The information and the bunker itself is quite awe-inspiring. The staff are very knowledgeable and you definitely come away feeling like you’ve learnt something. We also had a cup of tea when we finished our tour and can highly recommend the home made iced lemon cake, delicious!

Thoroughly enjoyed our visit so unbelievable just how big the bunker is , would recommend this attraction to anybody .

This is a real gem of a place to visit if you're into Cold War history like me! Carl, John and Sylvia were very welcoming and friendly and were always around if we had any questions, what a lovely group of people! The little shop at the front was full of goodies to buy and the tea, coffees etc were very cheap and was wonderful to know proceeds went to Help For Heroes. We will definitely come back again and again and again!

Such a good place :)

Well laid out, lovely piece of hidden history :)

Such a amazing place to visit, so much history to see and witness. Video and photographs are encouraged. There is a small area set a side for exercising walking dogs, although they are not allowed in the main complex. I cannot speak highly enough of how much I enjoyed my visit here.

Only went for a couple of hours, but it was nice to get indoors and rhe cool for that time of day.

I found it really interesting - my 4yo was even sufficiently engaged to be quite good, which takes some doing! Her going free helped too (and £8 for an adult I thought was perfectly reasonable)

Highly recommended

I’m so glad this place has solid 5 star reviews, it truly deserves it. Went today on a suggestion from a friend just as a random thing to do and it was truly fantastic. As someone who isn’t particularly interested in museums and that sort of thing, it really avoids being a ‘typical museum’. You can walk freely wherever you like and check out pretty much everything. And the staff are very friendly and happy to show you the more restricted areas. All great!

I loved it here, fascinating site, important history made accessible, friendly and knowledgeable team. I took lots of pictures for my dad who served for 44yrs, and he recalled visiting nearby Patrington. I would definitely recommend a visit, whether you have military connections or not.

I had the pleasure of camping over at the grounds of the bunker this weekend as part of a military display. I have to say I'd never heard of RAF Holmpton, but with the lovely weather it could only be lovely.

Wow, I was wrong, it was 'Fantastic!'.

The grounds are so peaceful and tranquil. My husband and I went into the bunker with a picture in our minds of what it was going to be like. 1 corridor with a couple of rooms coming off. As I say we didn't know the place existed, more fool us...my word were our preconceptions so far from what met us.

So much detail, care and time. The place feels like a tardis, rooms coming off rooms, different floors and sub floors, up these stairs round this corner into that room so many nooks I didn't know where to look first. The film's being shown in the cinemas were really informative too. (I now know what to do when the bomb drops!) all with enthusiastic staff, with the knowledge too. I dont want to spoil anything, but if your reading this review you really must visit the bunker, and if you've already been, wasn't it marvellous!



Thank you to Sylvia & John, you made us feel so welcome.

Great place to visit, so much to see, spotlessly clean and the staff are really friendly, give yourself plenty of time to look around as there are plenty of rooms to look around with lots in them, the place is huge

Fantastic location to visit. Unexpected and very well staged. Well worth a visit.

Brilliant day today, thank you for being so approachable and so excited to show us the extra bits and pieces - especially letting our 4 year old play with the air raid siren (he is going on about it a little!!) BUT any chance of a picture of the famous Crystal the cat - he's gutted he didn't find her � �

Great place to visit �

An excellent and fascinating place. We found a leaflet for it in our hotel and thought we would take a drive up and see what it’s like. We are so glad we did! Every part of it is brilliantly interesting. The volunteers were wonderful. Definitely 5 stars.

Absolutely well worth a visit. Fascinating place and the lady and gentleman we spoke to gave us a lot of interesting information and showed us some amazing items. If you are interested in history it's right up your street, if you aren't well I guarantee you will still have an amazing few hours here!