Updated 1st January 2012
RAF HOLMPTON 2003 to 2011
- Scroll down this page for:
- RAF HOLMPTON OVERVIEW
- HISTORIC RAF HOLMPTON
- ABOUT US
- GREEN ISSUES
- EMPLOYMENT POLICY
The Restored 'MCRS' Operations Room
WHO OWNS RAF HOLMPTON - 
- We are often asked this question - The site of Royal Air Force Holmpton was a just green field in 1950 - It was requisitioned as part of the Rotor Radar Programme in 1951 and remains a part of the RAF today some 60 years later - It is currently part of the portfolio of 'Air Command' based at RAF High Wycombe - Until the end of 2010 it was owned by Defence Estates, with ownership being transferred to the new Defence Infrastructure Orgasnisation (DIO) in January 2011. (For further information scroll down to Joint Support Unit)
RAF HOLMPTON OVERVIEW - 
The present site of RAF Holmpton was built between 1951 and 1952 and started its operational life in 1953 as an Early Warning Radar Station. Going on to become a principal radar site this remained operational until the relocation of the radars in 1974, the Station then became a training facility for RAF Radar Technicians until 1984 parented by RAF Leaconfield. During the mid 1980's it was refurbished as a new Emergency War HQ for RAF Support Command parented by RAF Brampton, but with the ending of the Cold War it reverted to training between 1992 and 1995, this time being used by the RAF Regiment, the RAF Police, the ROC and the TA parented by RAF Leconfield. Extensive rebuilding in 1995 saw the addition of AREA 7 to form an Experimetal Electronic Warfare Operations Centre (CCIS) with projected plans for a further massive rebuild. This final rebuild did not proceed with CCIS moving out in 2001 and the site moving onto care and maintenance with Aqumen Defence now parented by RAF Digby but under the control of Personnel and Training Command (PTC) HQ at RAF Innsworth. This was only to be a short period of inactivity as on 10th February 2003 the site moved onto its current plan.
HISTORIC RAF HOLMPTON - 
February 2003 saw the start of a new project to gradually restore the whole site and initially provide a facility holding Archives and photographs of underground defence establishments built in the British Isles between 1945 and the present day. In early 2004 limited access allowed public visitors below ground for the first time in over 50 years and by August 2004 this progressed to providing a new exhibition along with guided tours of the Preserved Heritage Areas of the Command Bunker. By 2005 this had expanded into a major exhibition with regular public opening times, and each year has seen further expansion and improvement of the visitor experience with the incorporation of many original artefacts throughout the displays. A new TV and Video Studio was installed in 2007 maintaining an extensive film and image library. This is regularly used to create our own audio visual presentations throughout the public areas further enhancing the displays and enabling us to continually improve and update the permanent exhibitions. At around this time the original paper archives were passed to another organisation and in due course will become available to researchers on the internet. Investment in the site reached £2,000,000 by late 2009 and work still continues on further restoration. 2010 has seen the provision of additional areas opening to visitors along with enhanced viewing facilities. The whole project is scheduled for completion by 2011. Since starting in 2003 the project has continually evolved and much of the originally stored archive material relating directly to RAF Holmpton is now on display throughout the displays making this much more accessible to the visiting public and increasing the authenticity of the permanent exhibits. RAF Holmpton has already won a number of Awards and aims to be in it's Mission Statement: 'The most authentic restoration of a Cold War & Post Cold War Command Bunker open to visitors in the UK' - From the feedback we continually receive from our ever growing number of visitors we seem to be achieving this.
ABOUT US -
Between February 2003 and November 2009 the co-ordination of the whole project at RAF Holmpton was managed by HIPPO or to give it's full name: (The Holmpton Initiative Project Planning Office) which took over the management of the site from AQUMEN DEFENCE in 2003. HIPPO was an independent finance initiative (IFI) and operated at no cost to the taxpayer. Its purpose was to complete the initial restoration and refurbishment of the whole site prior to the handover of the Public Exhibitons & Historic Collections to a Preservation Society.
THE ROYAL AIR FORCE HOLMPTON PRESERVATION SOCIETY - Charity Number 1143594
On 1st November 2009 'The Royal Air Force Holmpton Preservation Society' (a formally constituted society) took over the Conservation and Presentation of the Historic Collections - RAFHPS now has overall responsibility for the Collections - The Displays and Exhibitions - The Photographic & Film Archive and the VTR Studio Facility - But most importantly it also continues the restoration and preservation of the historic site -Backed by our members past experience of working on and implementing four major National Heritage Sites. Hellfire Corner Secret Wartime Tunnels at Dover Castle for English Heritage - The Western Approaches WWII Headquarters for the City of Liverpool - Scotland's Secret Bunker near St Andrews and The Furze Hill AAOR (County HQ) Bunker in Essex - The final stages of the restoration project at Holmpton are now set to complete in 2012 - As a part of this ongoing process on the 31st August 2011 the Royal Air Force Holmpton Preservation Society was registered as a Charity with the Charity Commission.
The Land & Buildings - Technical Systems and Historic Collection are now maintained by our Joint Support Unit, and although Royal Air Force Holmpton is still owned by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), the entire project is independently funded until 2028 as a No Cost Option (NCO) - This simply means that RAF Holmpton is managed, maintained and preserved at absolutely no cost to the Government or Taxpayer and We are rightly proud of this achievement.
GREEN ISSUES - 
We are proud of our continued track record of conservation and preservation. Yorkshire Water have completed (2007) a new scheme improving both the integrity of the fresh water supply to the site & the drainage of natural land water. An example of this is our storage of over 55,000gallons of rain water which we use for land maintenance/vehicle washing etc, further reducing our call of the main supply. Our water consumption has been minimised with flow meters and reduced capacity equipment and we process all our main drainage through our on site effluent works. 2007 saw a major commitment to energy conservation and the entire site is now fitted with energy effecient lighting with our external lighting fitted with shielding to mimimise vertical light pollution. We have also completed (November 2007 with Yorkshire Electricity) a totally new power supply scheme, which has done away with our original high voltage sub station and replaced this with a new low voltage supply. Back in the 1950's the radar station drew up to 1megawatt from the national grid and even up to 2003 the station might at any time draw up to 300Kva. We have now installed new energy effecient central heating together with new air conditioning and water heating systems and even if everything in the building was turned on at full power at the same time (which it never is) our maximum call on the national grid would only be 42Kva, so we have achieved a truly massive reduction. In 2008 we will be installing new generators in our power station and these will enable us to run free of the grid in times of emergency. Our new generators will have a maximum capacity of 25Kva which is in itself again a massive reduction from our old generators which had a call of 300Kva. The contract for this part of the new system has not been awarded as yet but we are investugating the possibility of using gas generators as an alternative. All our domestic and office waste is taken directly for recycling and our land is maintained without the use of fertilisers and we produce hay from our 31 acres during the spring/summer. Being a fenced site we are able to protect and not disturb our wildlife. We have resident birds on site including Kestrel & Owls, and we belong to a local scheme providing Owl boxes. We are justifiably proud of our approach to the environment and our extensive energy - water and waste projects have achieved a reduction in our carbon footprint of 85% for which we hold an award - We continue to persue wherever possible a 'green' approcah to our management of the site.
Just over 1 mile of fencing & hedgerows enclosing 36 acres of land provide a 'Haven' for Wildlife (Birds - Rodents - Rabbits - Fox - etc)
EMPLOYMENT POLICY - We are an equal opportunities employer and have a policy of comprehensive inclusion for all regardless of race - creed - orientation or age. We are signed up to 'Positive About Disabled' and 'Age Partnership Group' - In year 2000 we won a Millennium Award for our policy on Social Exclusion - Due to the current 2010/2011 cutbacks and cost savings we do not have any vacancies at the present time.
PRESERVING THE HISTORY OF ROYAL AIR FORCE HOLMPTON
MAINTAINING ROYAL AIR FORCE HOLMPTON