RRH Portreath

Former RAF Portreath, built during 1940, opened in 1941 had a varied career during WW2 as a RAF Fighter Command station and as a Coastal Command station. After the war deacctivated by RAF and under MoD supervision it became an outstation of Chemical Defence Establishment (CDE) Porton Down and Portreath became an important chemical weapon storage during the Cold War. In the late 1950s chemical weapons production terminated but the facility was maintained through the 1970s in case production of nervegas was needed! The CDE facilities were demolished in 1979-1980

RAF reactivated the site as a manned radar station. An underground Control and Reporting Post (CRP) for UK Air Surveillance was operational as of 1986 and part of the United Kingdom Air Defence and Ground Environmen (UKADGEt) project at grid 50°15'49"N 5°15'57"W and 50°15'53"N 5°16'47"W. A mobile AR327 Commander S-band long-range tactical radar a.k.a.T-101 radar system and telecom installations were added in the mid-1980s. In the late 1990's the installation was changed into a remote operated radarstation feeding its data into the Air Command & Control System.

BAE AR327 longrange radar http://imagegallery.baesystems.investis.com/default.aspx?catid=193

Search for RRH Portreath