The ROC monitoring post at Skelmorlie was built as part of an extensive network of posts designed to confirm and report the effects of a nuclear attack in the region.
A host of volunteers served in the Royal Observer Corps until it's stand-down in 1991.
Fifteen feet below the ground these highly trained volunteers waited for the message we all hoped would never come. This was part of the nuclear threat we experienced in those days.
Access to the post is by way of a vertical ladder fixed to the wall of the entrance shaft.
Once you have descended the ladder you enter the world of yesterday, with apparatus designed to detect and measure the effects of any nuclear blast should there have been an attack.
I personally serviced the communications within these posts prior to the exercises - mostly these were held over a weekend.
The posts were designed to be protected from a blast and were self sufficient.
Thankfully - for now at least - these days are behind us.
More images are available at - www.dougie-coull-photography.co.uk - better resolution and options to licence.
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