Ottercops Chain Home 40
Ottercops Moss Chain Home radar station (CH.40) was located beside the A696 on the high ground halfway between the villages of Elsdon and Kirkwhelpington.
Built in June 1939, this vast site, consisting of four 360 feet tall steel transmitter towers positioned 180 feet apart, and four wooden receiver towers 240 feet tall, was one of the last Chain Home stations to become operational.
We identified and successfully recovered the following disused underground assets:
- 3 power cables serving 2 sets of radio towers
- A borehole for water to serve live water pipe
- Total cable recovered 18 tonnes with a content of 8 tonnes of lead, the rest was a mixture of copper and waste material.
- 38 locations where steel angle iron was protruding out of the ground. The reason being was due to the felling of the 4 360’ towers where the tops had embedded into the soft ground and could not be recovered at that time.
- Recovered 11 tonnes of steel.
- Field was subsequently rendered safe for use to the delight of the client.
- This legacy is important and the remaining evidence of this home chain station are the two underground reserves, both intact internally, their entrances have been made safe by large boulders to stop sheep falling into the chamber. aswell as inquisitive visitors.
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