One of two pillboxes on the Moor to defend the stop line along the western side of Grandstand Road (see HER 5809). No remains of the pillbox can be seen but it is visible on aerial photographs dating from 1946.

One of two pillboxes on the Moor to defend the stop line along the western side of Grandstand Road (see HER 5809). No remains of the pillbox can be seen but it is visible on aerial photographs dating from 1946.

Station 14G. Ground controlled interception radar was used for guiding night fighters onto attacking bombers. The earliest stations were "mobile" - they had equipment on wheeled caravans and temporary wooden hutting. "Intermediate" stations had aerial arrays mounted above and below a metal gantry, with separate operations huts. "Final" stations built from 1942 onwards had a brick operations block, known as "Happidromes", with a single rotating aerial array, with the equipment housed in a well underneath. The Dinnington GCI Station was in operation by April 1941.

Station M39. The coastal defence/Chain Home Low chain was set up to provide radar plotting of shipping and aircraft movements. The stations were originally manned by the army, then the RAF took over responsibility for them. The transmitter and receiver equipment was housed in a timber or brick building, with a wooden gantry supporting the aerial array mounted on top of the block. Four buttresses provided support.

The site of a Royal Observer Corps monitoring post. The site is located on the east side of a public footpath immediately south of Whitley Boys Club, 200 yards south of Hill Head Road. The site was built as part of an extensive network of posts designed to confirm and report hostile aircraft and nuclear attacks on the United Kingdom. At the time of the Defence of Britain survey (1995-2002) the site was found to be in an uncertain condition. The site was opened during October 1964 and closed in September 1991. During a field visit of April 1999 the only evidence of the post is a truncated telegraph pole alongside the footpath. (1-2)

The site of a Twentieth Century observation post is visible as a structure on the latest 1988 Ordnance Survey vertical air photographs.
(3)

These posts were intended to be manned during times of tension, to monitor the location and power of nuclear detonations and the progress of radioactive fallout, so that the population could be warned, and Civil Defence measures effectively managed. They operated in clusters of three posts linked by telephone and radio cables, meaning that readings could triangulated with independence from peace-time telephone system. The posts were manned by observers. A bunk-bed and basic toilet facilities were provided. Food had to be prepared in the post. No air filtration system was installed. Half of the ROC posts, including Kenton, were abandoned after the 1968 defence cuts. Some however remained in use until 1991 when the ROC was finally disbanded. Post 2 in cluster M of 23 Group moved here from the Seaton Sluice area of Northumberland in November 1957. In around November 1963 it resited to Whitley Bay near Marden Quarry (HER 5886). This was a visual observation post to track aircraft movements. Early Observer Corps Posts had a simple instrument for plotting the plan position of the aircraft. Throughout WW2 the ROC had a more sophisticated "Post Instrument" which also recorded the height of the aircraft. WW2 posts were frequently simply sand bagged emplacements, or more sophisticated examples were of domestic brick construction, some two-storey, with an open observation post and a crew room. Some had latrines.

These posts were intended to be manned during times of tension, to monitor the location and power of nuclear detonations and the progress of radioactive fallout, so that the population could be warned, and Civil Defence measures effectively managed. They operated in clusters of three posts linked by telephone and radio cables, meaning that readings could triangulated with independence from peace-time telephone system. The posts were manned by observers. A bunk-bed and basic toilet facilities were provided. Food had to be prepared in the post. No air filtration system was installed. Half of the ROC posts, including Kenton, were abandoned after the 1968 defence cuts. Some however remained in use until 1991 when the ROC was finally disbanded. Whitburn ROC moved here as post 1 in cluster E of 30 Group June 1940 from a site on the southern outskirts of Whitburn (HER 5883). In December 1952 it was renumbered post 3 in cluster N of 23 Group. In June 1959 it moved underground. It closed in October 1968. This was a visual observation post to track aircraft movements. Early Observer Corps Posts had a simple instrument for plotting the plan position of the aircraft. Throughout WW2 the ROC had a more sophisticated "Post Instrument" which also recorded the height of the aircraft. WW2 posts were frequently simply sand bagged emplacements, or more sophisticated examples were of domestic brick construction, some two-storey, with an open observation post and a crew room. Some had latrines.

These posts were intended to be manned during times of tension, to monitor the location and power of nuclear detonations and the progress of radioactive fallout, so that the population could be warned, and Civil Defence measures effectively managed. They operated in clusters of three posts linked by telephone and radio cables, meaning that readings could triangulated with independence from peace-time telephone system. The posts were manned by observers. A bunk-bed and basic toilet facilities were provided. Food had to be prepared in the post. No air filtration system was installed. Half of the ROC posts, including Kenton, were abandoned after the 1968 defence cuts. Some however remained in use until 1991 when the ROC was finally disbanded. Whitburn ROC opened here as post 1 in cluster E of 30 Group in December 1936. In or before June 1940 it was resited nearer to the rifle ranges (HER 5884). This was a visual observation post to track aircraft movements. Early Observer Corps Posts had a simple instrument for plotting the plan position of the aircraft. Throughout WW2 the ROC had a more sophisticated "Post Instrument" which also recorded the height of the aircraft. WW2 posts were frequently simply sand bagged emplacements, or more sophisticated examples were of domestic brick construction, some two-storey, with an open observation post and a crew room. Some had latrines.

These posts were intended to be manned during times of tension, to monitor the location and power of nuclear detonations and the progress of radioactive fallout, so that the population could be warned, and Civil Defence measures effectively managed. They operated in clusters of three posts linked by telephone and radio cables, meaning that readings could triangulated with independence from peace-time telephone system. The posts were manned by observers. A bunk-bed and basic toilet facilities were provided. Food had to be prepared in the post. No air filtration system was installed. Half of the ROC posts, including Kenton, were abandoned after the 1968 defence cuts. Some however remained in use until 1991 when the ROC was finally disbanded. Post 2 in cluster E of 30 Group moved here in or before May 1949 from a site in Washington (HER 5881). In December 1952 the post was resited back to its original base at Washington (HER 5880). At some time after 1952, as part of the general reorganisation of the ROC during the Rotor period, the post was resited back to Hastings Hill, a ground level Orlit post was required for this resite. In or before June 1959 the post moved underground. In or before October 1968 it was renumbered post 1 in cluster H of 23 Group. This was a visual observation post to track aircraft movements. Early Observer Corps Posts had a simple instrument for plotting the plan position of the aircraft. Throughout WW2 the ROC had a more sophisticated "Post Instrument" which also recorded the height of the aircraft. WW2 posts were frequently simply sand bagged emplacements, or more sophisticated examples were of domestic brick construction, some two-storey, with an open observation post and a crew room. Some had latrines.

These posts were intended to be manned during times of tension, to monitor the location and power of nuclear detonations and the progress of radioactive fallout, so that the population could be warned, and Civil Defence measures effectively managed. They operated in clusters of three posts linked by telephone and radio cables, meaning that readings could triangulated with independence from peace-time telephone system. The posts were manned by observers. A bunk-bed and basic toilet facilities were provided. Food had to be prepared in the post. No air filtration system was installed. Half of the ROC posts, including Kenton, were abandoned after the 1968 defence cuts. Some however remained in use until 1991 when the ROC was finally disbanded. Post 2 in cluster E of 30 Group moved here in or before April 1943 from a site nearer to Washington village (HER 5880). Around May 1949 the post was resited at Hastings Hill (HER 5882). This was a visual observation post to track aircraft movements. Early Observer Corps Posts had a simple instrument for plotting the plan position of the aircraft. Throughout WW2 the ROC had a more sophisticated "Post Instrument" which also recorded the height of the aircraft. WW2 posts were frequently simply sand bagged emplacements, or more sophisticated examples were of domestic brick construction, some two-storey, with an open observation post and a crew room. Some had latrines.