Boulmer

[REF]

I may be heading up to Boulmer on an Easter Camp with the air cadets. What is left of the old airfield and is there much else to see in the general area?

[Mike Y Bunker 13]

Nothing left of the WWII airfield biuldings apart from possibly 1 small corogated shelter on the South westside of the site up a rather broken up track. The road that takes you around by the beach is actually part of the old peri track and at the southern side of the site you can stop on the road and clearly make out one of the runways heading away from you accross the fields towards the modern RAF Boulmer on the north west side of the old airfield.

It is a beautiful quiet place now, its hard to imagine it in WWII.

Cheers Mike

[REF]

Thanks for that Mike.

Out of curiosity, how far is your Bunker from Boulmer?

[Mike Y Bunker 13]

At guess about 25 miles.

Cheers Mike Y

[EGDGZTCW]

A photo of RAF Boulmer Admin site, now gone I believe, taken from 7 Crowlea Rd, Longhoughton in 1980/1. You can just make out the Lighning gate guard just below centre right of photo.
I was stationed here for three years, 80-83 and worked in Border Radar, a joint NATS/RAF radar unit along side the Air Defence cell down in the bunker on the Ops site, about two miles up the road toward Alnmouth. In 1982 we moved out of the "hole", known as the R3, and moved into a temporary building on the surface. This allowed the R3 bunker to be re enforced.
Such a long time ago now.

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[David Thompson]

I was lucky enough to visit Boulmer in September and spent the morning on the Ops Site down the R3 'bunker' via the much altered ROTOR bungalow and in the afternoon went back to the Main Site to visit 202 Squadron . Both sites have been totally rebuilt with the up-graded 'bunker' being oficially opened in 2004 . I guess the Admin Site was off the coast road from Longhaughton ? You can make it out on GE as you can the bungalow and the wartime runway layout . I have photographs of both sites and would post them if I knew how to !

[EGDGZTCW]

I was lucky enough to visit Boulmer in September and spent the morning on the Ops Site down the R3 'bunker' via the much altered ROTOR bungalow and in the afternoon went back to the Main Site to visit 202 Squadron . Both sites have been totally rebuilt with the up-graded 'bunker' being oficially opened in 2004 . I guess the Admin Site was off the coast road from Longhaughton ? You can make it out on GE as you can the bungalow and the wartime runway layout . I have photographs of both sites and would post them if I knew how to !

Yes, the Admin site was along that road from Longhoughton down to Boulmer village, about three quarters of a mile on the left. A few hundred yards futher on, to the right, was the domestic site, accomodation huts (and they were huts!) airmens mess, NAAFI etc and 202 of course (I see from GE that this site has been developed somewhat in the 26 years since I left). As a "singley" and a "Border Raider", I was billeted in one of the empty married quarters in the village (L'houghton), rather than on the main accomodation site in the huts. This was due to shortages on that site, lucky for us. There was six of us in 7 Crowlea Rd, 5 airman and 1 corporal. I later moved over to 1 Lacey St, just behind the NAAFI shop. After a shift down the R3, we would be driven by MT from the site to the mess, after the meal we would then have to walk back to L'houghton village, back to the house, as MT would'nt provide transport for this. I remember it being a particularly dark and cold walk in the winter months, thankfully I managed to get a Great Coat in the end! If we finished a shift and we didn't go to the mess, then we would eat in the Burnside pub, in fact we were in there most nights as it was nearer than the club on the base.

Having just looked on GE, I see the admin site, as was, is gone completely, but what are the new structures there? they look like fuel tanks??

One day I hope to return and had have a look at all these places.

My only regret is that I didn't take more photo's, particularly inside our old Border Radar ops room, but I guess it was because photography around the site at the time wasn't really encouraged (the coldwar period as it was) and being found with a camera down there without permission would have been a bit awkward to say the least.

A view of the Ops site taken though a 400m zoom ( a cheap one!) from Alnmouth (I think). Sorry for the poor image, but you can just make out the T85 radar on the R12 and the "nodding" height finders and just right of them, the High Speed Aerial. The HSA was on the hill above the R3.

[Ossington_2008]

Windy drizzle all day up here. My wife took the pics as I cruised past a gap in the hedge. Is it still manned? There was no signs of life.
We drove through Acklington village too, but I failed to see anything airfieldlike in the gloom.

[David Thompson]

The large building is the R12 building , see here ; http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/...er/index1.html . It's all fenced off due to asbestos and a similar building at Staxton Wold was demolished . This is on the Ops Site and the entrance is further down the road .
At Boulmer you see more at the Admin Site , including the Phantom gate guard and a couple of pillboxes , by going down the coast road from Longhoughton . The Sea Kings are also there . Strangely there is no link between the two sites , not even a tunnel !

[EGDGZTCW]

Ah, Boulmer...my home for three years. Still manned as far as I know. Although that building with the railings on top probably isn't. That is the R12 complex. There was a type 85 radar turning on top of that when I was there in '83. I assume these were taken on the road to Alnmouth? If so, and I think you are, you are looking SE across the Northern boundary of what we knew as the "Ops site". The ops site falls away beyond that R12 building into a small valley, following the lay of the land, if you see what I mean. Did you go down a hill further along this road?......same contour.....and so all the "life" is in that valley within the confines of the boundary fence. You would have passed the main gate now at the bottom of that hill, I believe. Top of the hill in my time. The Admin and Domestic sites are on the Boulmer village road about a mile or so to the left of this photo and slightly behind. This is where you would have found what remains of Boulmer airfield, best seen from the coast road out of Boulmer village. If memory serves me right, part of the 202 sqn area is built on the Northern side of the old airfield.

In 1983 I was posted to Border Radar, a joint CAA/NATS and RAF radar unit. We were a "lodger unit" here as it was primarily an Air Defence radar site. We worked underground in an R3 complex in the depths of the cold war ( hi drama !..lol) I lived in Longhoughton village in one of the married quarters along with 5 other "singlies". There was not enough accomodation on the main domestic site (thank goodness, they were only huts, a big shock for me, I was posted here from the luxury of Brize Norton !!) we'd travel this road and see that view every day.

Thanks for posting, it's brought a whole load of memories back from long, long ago (nearly another galaxy...to me anyway, I was from Prince Risborough !!)
I'm sure I've posted what few photo's I have somewhere else on this forum...I'll have a look. Also see the Sub britanica ( thats not right but I hope you know what site I mean ??) for a load more recent photo's of Boulmer. If you look hard enough you may even see me as I think I'm in the background of one of them...happy days.

Chris

Just found this...taken from Alnmouth looking North toward the ops site. Look carefully and you'll see the Type 85 radar atop the the R12 building that's in your photo's. Also note the two "Height Finder" radars (photo centre) used by the Air Defence. The R12/T85 is just visible to the left of the height finders in my photo. Also, just right of the HF's is the HSA (High Speed Aerial) There was another older radar on this site that we used, not in the photo, known as the Type 84. photo taken 1981 ...ish