IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Gorse Industrial Estate, THETFORD, IP24 2PH

Another view of the Blue Danube replica – Britain's first nuclear free-fall bomb. The inscription on the slate tablet reads 'BLUE DANUBE BRITAIN'S FIRST NUCLEAR DETERRENT 1953 – 1962'. This was subsequently succeeded by the smaller RED BEARD weapon and these free-fall weapons eventually became obsolete and were superseded by more advanced designs. Fortunately for all of us the Cold War never became a hot one. Time taken not available.

This deactivated example of Blue Danube – Britain's first nuclear free-fall bomb – has been carefully renovated by the owner of one of the businesses based on the Gorse Industrial Estate on Thetford Heath to the west of Barnham, Suffolk. The inscription on the slate tablet reads 'BLUE DANUBE BRITAIN'S FIRST NUCLEAR DETERRENT 1953 – 1962'. The site is the former RAF Barnham nuclear bomb store and was designed to lead others into thinking that Britain had many more weapons than was actually the case. It has also been suggested that the site was a decoy and that the real site was somewhere else. From about 1959 – 60 I lived with my family on the married quarters site to the east of Barnham village, having not the slightest inkling of what lay to the west of us. Time taken not available.

It used to form part of RAF Barnham which during the Cold War era was used for storing nuclear weapons. The building would originally seem to have been used for vehicle maintenance; at present it houses an upholstery business. The smaller annex seen at right is a later addition and serves as a lecture room/information centre for visitors interested in the history of this fascinating site.

According to the site plan, this structure was one of the maintenance and repair buildings of RAF Barnham when the site was used for storing nuclear weapons in the Cold War era. Today it is a welders' workshop. It had an observation post on the roof and the ladder to reach it is still in place on the side of the building.

This building formed part of RAF Barnham when the site was used for storing nuclear weapons in the Cold War era. Back then it was a maintenance and repair building. It had an observation post on the roof and the ladder to reach it is still in place on the side of the building.

One of the buildings in the danger area of RAF Barnham, which was used for storing nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The building now forms part of the Gorse Industrial Estate and is currently in use as a vehicle repair garage.

Watch tower on the old R.A.F. Barnham, Suffolk bomb store now an industrial site. R.A.F. Barnham began in 1953 or 1954 and was completed by 1955. it was built specifically to store and maintain atomic weapons. For more info see http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/b/barnham_nuclear_bomb_store/index2.html

This is the entrance to the Gorse Industrial Estate on Thetford Heath, to the west of Barnham village in Suffolk. This site was formerly the RAF Barnham nuclear bomb store from 1953 – 62, closing when the bombs stored here, Blue Danube and later Red Beard, were superseded by later designs. The site has been considerably renovated by its owners, in conjunction with Historic England (formerly English Heritage), and is now home to a number of businesses. This photograph was taken on the day of an English Heritage organised tour and shows one of the five watchtowers, staffed by RAF personnel, which contributed to the very necessary security of this site in its previous incarnation. It is one of a number of Cold War sites in Britain and fortunately for us all it was never called upon to fulfil the role intended for it. Time photo taken not available.

One of originally three huge buildings > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4431720 protected by earth traverses and blast berms where the non-nuclear parts of the bombs were stored. Each building was manned by only four men; the interior was a vast opening space with no partitioning walls and the exterior walls were not joined conventionally so that, in the event of an explosion, they would blow out and release the blast which was deflected by the surrounding earth traverses. The concrete pillars in front of the entrance > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4431737 supported a heavy-duty gantry crane used for unloading of bombs. The adjoining ancillary buildings housed environmental controls and stand-by generators.

It is situated in the "sterile" area, beside the entrance into the danger area. The building seen in the background used to be the Fire Engine shed. RAF Barnham was used for storing nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The buildings now form part of the Gorse Industrial Estate.