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This, we vicariouosly like!
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret4.htm
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret3.htm
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret2.htm
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret.htm
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Cold War nuclear command bunkers get a new lease of life!
A former top secret Cold War Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQ),
hidden deep inside a bunker underneath the Lincolnshire Wolds near
Skegness, got a fascinating new lease of life in Summer 2005 following
two years of refurbishment work.
As reported by BBC News at the time of the sale in 2003, the
decommissioned emergency command bunker - for use by military chiefs of
staff and Government officials in the event of nuclear war - was
snapped-up for £400,000 by a specialist computer data security company,
Centrinet, with its global operations centre in Lincoln. If the bunker
had been built today from scratch, the cost would have easily exceeded
£20 million!
The company wanted to use the massive facility to keep their clients'
sensitive data safe from threats such as TEMPEST and Electromagnetic
Pulse (EMP) attack, as described in one of my UK Secrets series of
articles for Eye Spy Magazine. Centrinet's client list is reported to
include airlines, banks and government departments in more than 40
countries worldwide.
Centrinet's main HQ is located on a brand new industrial park in
Lincoln, yet to appear on many maps. However, the "secret" location of
their TEMPEST-proof secure data bunker has been revealed to be the old
Cold War RGHQ at RAF Skendleby, between the towns of Spilsby and Alford.
The only things at ground level to give the game away are the
substantial fence surrounding the site, the tall communications mast and
the classic "bungalow" style guard room, containing a blast door
entrance to the bunker access tunnel. Adding to the intrigue is a
surface mound, dotted with air intakes and exhaust outlets, plus the
original WWII ROTOR radar installation next door, all shown in pictures
below!
Centrinet's activities are described firstly in general terms on their
corporate website, but you can also take a fascinating "virtual reality"
walk-through tour of the data bunker on their more specific website
which promotes SmartBunker™ - "the most secure data centre in the United
Kingdom".
In 2000, enthusiasts from Subterranea Britannica (SubBrit) managed to
secure an "access all areas" site visit (for members only) after the MoD
had decommissioned the bunker, but before it had been acquired by
Centrinet. A full report can be found on SubBrit's official website
together with photographs of the old equipment and facilities, before
Centrinet's high-tech makeover introduced row upon row of Internet
server racks.
Another old MoD bunker from the Cold War era in rural Kent was disposed
of following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In an almost identical
operation to Centrinet's, the EMP and TEMPEST protected rooms deep
beneath the old radar station at RAF Ash – actually in the adjacent
village of Marshborough near Sandwich – were purchased by the mysterious
AL Digital Telecoms company.
The "AL" turned out to be Adam Laurie, the entrepreneur behind the
development (with brother Ben, the original writer) of Apache SSL - one
of the world's most famous Internet server systems. It utilises the
Secure Sockets Layer technology used for web-based financial transactions.
Adam and Ben Laurie have transformed their telecoms company into The
Bunker™, which provides a secure data centre along the same lines as
that of Centrinet.
Whilst their primary data centre is at the RAF Ash site, a secondary one
is situated in the hardened command bunker within the former USAF/RAF
Greenham Common airbase near Newbury in Berkshire, most of which has
been converted into the New Greenham Park industrial estate.
Incidentally, right next door you can still spot the old Ground Launched
Cruise Missile (GLCM) Alert and Maintenance Area (GAMA) - specially
constructed silos designed to (hopefully) withstand both nuclear and
conventional direct strikes.
Yet another ex-MoD bunker in a "safe" rural location at RAF Bawdsey, an
old radar station near Woodbridge and Felixstowe in Suffolk, was also
purchased by AL Digital and considered for use as a third "server farm",
but the current status of this is unclear.
Significantly, Adam's and Ben's father Peter Laurie is the author of the
classic 1970s book "Beneath the City Streets". Yes, you guessed right,
it details secret Cold War nuclear bunkers and emergency Government
crisis control centres!
* www.centri.net
* www.smartbunker.com
* www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/s/skendleby/
* www.thebunker.net
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret4.htm
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret3.htm
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret2.htm
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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret.htm