RRH Portreath

United Kingdom / England / Camborne-Redruth /
 Second World War 1939-1945, Cold War 1947-1991, interesting place, early warning radar
The site is located on the north Cornish Coast, and is on the headland between the coastal villages of Portreath and Porthtowan. RAF Portreath was built as a fighter command airfield in 1940. Pre-war parts of the site were used as a Victorian rifle range, elements of which can still be viewed from the North Cornish Coastal Path (in the area of Sally’s Bottom), and it was extensively farmed as part of Nancekuke Common. The north eastern quadrant of the site still bears the hallmarks of the extensive mining activity that took place in this part of the County. After the war, the base was known as Chemical Defence Establishment, Nancekuke and was used for manufacturing nerve agents. This ceased in the late 50s but the plant was maintained in readiness until 1979 when the factory buildings were demolished. The site currently operates as a remote radar base (RAF Remote Radar Head Portreath) and occupies approximately 380 hectares and has a perimeter of 10.2km, 2.4 km of which runs adjacent to the Cornish Coastal Path. Parts of the site are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRH_Portreath
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   50°16'5"N   5°15'51"W

Comments

  • This was also quite notorious as a branch of the Chemical Defence Establishment at Porton Down (germ warefare) This part was closed in 1978 when Britain gave up chemical and biological weapons.
This article was last modified 7 years ago