What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
are in ones town? I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
on and wonder whether its an old one.

I could be up for building a list if people were interested? I'd put
it on my website.

A

On Sep 16, 9:58 pm, UKuser  wrote:
> What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
> are in ones town? I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
> on and wonder whether its an old one.
>
> I could be up for building a list if people were interested? I'd put
> it on my website.
>
> A

Police stations are a good starting point. Sometimes they have a
platform on the roof wher ethe siren would have been located. I can
think of two in my locality still in place on the roof. Apart from
that it is often down to local knowledge. Another siren near me was
located in the grounds of a scout hut with a telephone pole connecting
it to the police station and the control point there.

Neill

"UKuser"  wrote in message 
news:281bc1f0-c12f-4a7a-9a60-f9ef99ed5e36@e18g2000vbe.googlegroups.com...
> What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
> are in ones town?
>
Is there a cabinet at, or near, the base of it?
>
>I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
> on and wonder whether its an old one.
>
In Workington (Cumberland), the old WWII air-raid sirens were used for 
'cold-war' purposes until removal in 1989 - 91', so your local County 
Archive (ARP and council records) might be a place to start.  Of course, 
newer sirens were installed - Town Halls and Fire Stations are likely places 
to look.  Always worth writing to your local Emergency Planning Officer as 
well, explaining your case and your interest.
--
Regds,

Russell W. B.
http://www.huttonrow.co.uk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b

UKuser wrote:

>What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
>are in ones town? I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
>on and wonder whether its an old one.
>
It depends where you are, but disused supports for tram/ trolley
wires can look like that.

Chris
-- 
Chris J Dixon  Nottingham UK
chris@cdixon.me.uk

Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

You could ask your local police force as they would have installed and 
maintained the sirens on behalf of the UKWMO.

Each police force had a Warning & Monitoring Officer who was responsible for 
all the warning equipment (CCP's, sirens, Speech Receivers etc) within the 
force area.

You may be able to get copies of the records under the FOIA.

In London there were approx 500 sirens and they were almost entirely mounted 
on police buildings or poles by the side of the road.

The pole mounted siren would normally have a cabinet next to it which 
contained the control equipment.

"UKuser"  wrote in message 
news:281bc1f0-c12f-4a7a-9a60-f9ef99ed5e36@e18g2000vbe.googlegroups.com...
> What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
> are in ones town? I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
> on and wonder whether its an old one.
>
> I could be up for building a list if people were interested? I'd put
> it on my website.
>
> A

"UKuser"  wrote in message 
news:281bc1f0-c12f-4a7a-9a60-f9ef99ed5e36@e18g2000vbe.googlegroups.com...
> What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
> are in ones town? I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
> on and wonder whether its an old one.
>
> I could be up for building a list if people were interested? I'd put
> it on my website.
>
> A

There's one on the rail viaduct near Waterloo East. Stand with your back to 
the IMAX cinema and the bus stops and look up at the top of the wall. 
Probably left due to access problems or for GLC managed flood warning, now 
disconnected.
There are still stickers inside County Hall relating to Flood Warning and 
evacuation procedures.

Nick P

The Waterloo air raid siren was a dual purpose siren as it could be used for 
air attack warning and flood warning.

100 of the 500 air raid sirens in London were dual purpose.

When the air attack warning system was withdrawn in 1992 it was ordered that 
the dual purpose sirens should not be immediately removed as they were 
offered to the London Boroughs for them to take over to preserve the flood 
warning facility.

I assume that there were funding problems or logistical problems and that 
the London Boroughs did not take over the dual purpose sirens so they were 
removed like all the others.

The siren at Waterloo was probably to difficult to remove so it has been 
left in situ.

"Nick P"  wrote in message 
news:39Qsm.188035$cf6.111501@newsfe16.iad...
>
> "UKuser"  wrote in message 
> news:281bc1f0-c12f-4a7a-9a60-f9ef99ed5e36@e18g2000vbe.googlegroups.com...
>> What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
>> are in ones town? I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
>> on and wonder whether its an old one.
>>
>> I could be up for building a list if people were interested? I'd put
>> it on my website.
>>
>> A
>
> There's one on the rail viaduct near Waterloo East. Stand with your back 
> to the IMAX cinema and the bus stops and look up at the top of the wall. 
> Probably left due to access problems or for GLC managed flood warning, now 
> disconnected.
> There are still stickers inside County Hall relating to Flood Warning and 
> evacuation procedures.
>
> Nick P
>

On Sep 20, 12:33 pm, "Ian"  wrote:
> The Waterloo air raid siren was a dual purpose siren as it could be used for
> air attack warning and flood warning.
>
> 100 of the 500 air raid sirens in London were dual purpose.
>
> When the air attack warning system was withdrawn in 1992 it was ordered that
> the dual purpose sirens should not be immediately removed as they were
> offered to the London Boroughs for them to take over to preserve the flood
> warning facility.
>
> I assume that there were funding problems or logistical problems and that
> the London Boroughs did not take over the dual purpose sirens so they were
> removed like all the others.
>
> The siren at Waterloo was probably to difficult to remove so it has been
> left in situ.
>
> "Nick P"  wrote in message
>
> news:39Qsm.188035$cf6.111501@newsfe16.iad...
>
>
>
> > "UKuser"  wrote in message
> >news:281bc1f0-c12f-4a7a-9a60-f9ef99ed5e36@e18g2000vbe.googlegroups.com..> >> What is the easiest way to find out where the local old UKWMO sirens
> >> are in ones town? I pass a strange (road light type) pole with nothing
> >> on and wonder whether its an old one.
>
> >> I could be up for building a list if people were interested? I'd put
> >> it on my website.
>
> >> A
>
> > There's one on the rail viaduct near Waterloo East. Stand with your back
> > to the IMAX cinema and the bus stops and look up at the top of the wall> > Probably left due to access problems or for GLC managed flood warning, now
> > disconnected.
> > There are still stickers inside County Hall relating to Flood Warning and
> > evacuation procedures.
>
> > Nick P

I found a siren in a barn in Wiltshire a couple of years back while
sheltering frim a shower of rain. I was a bit oof the beaten track, so
I wondered if it would have been controlled from the local shop or
pub, I went past last year and saw it had gone as the bard had been
refurbished.

Neill

-- 

"Neill"  wrote in message 
news:bee393b9-2108-46f5-9211-c98bff3bca02@a6g2000vbp.googlegroups.com...

8><------------------------------------------

>I found a siren in a barn in Wiltshire a couple of years back while
>sheltering...

When you say you 'found' a siren in a barn, do you mean it was just lying 
about in the muck or was it attached to anything?  Some locals in outlying 
areas were issued with hand-crankers to be sounded after instruction from 
their WB1400/1401, but I would doubt an electric siren would be installed in 
such a location.

Is there evidence of any three-phase electrical switchgear, or anything like 
this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b/3619777657/in/set-72157619654427376/

--

Regds,

Russell W. B.
http://www.huttonrow.co.uk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b

On Sep 20, 10:41 pm, "Russell W. Barnes" <russell dot barnes at
huttonrow dot co dot uk> wrote:
> --
>
> "Neill"  wrote in message
>
> news:bee393b9-2108-46f5-9211-c98bff3bca02@a6g2000vbp.googlegroups.com...
>
> 8><------------------------------------------
>
> >I found a siren in a barn in Wiltshire a couple of years back while
> >sheltering...
>
> When you say you 'found' a siren in a barn, do you mean it was just lying
> about in the muck or was it attached to anything?  Some locals in outlying
> areas were issued with hand-crankers to be sounded after instruction from
> their WB1400/1401, but I would doubt an electric siren would be installed in
> such a location.
>
> Is there evidence of any three-phase electrical switchgear, or anything like
> this?http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b/3619777657/in/set-7215761965...
>
> --
>
> Regds,
>
> Russell W. B.http://www.huttonrow.co.ukhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b

This one

http://neillwood3163.fotopic.net/c215769.html

At the time I was a bit careful about the location, as I didn't want
to be responsible for the lightfingered turning up. Now its gone, I
can say it was in a barn at Alton Priors. This is not far from the
former airfield at Alton Barnes and not far from Yatesbury, so could
have possibly come from one of those places. It was rusted solid
though

Neill

On 22 Sep, 10:12, Neill  wrote:

8><----------------------------------------------
> This one
>
> http://neillwood3163.fotopic.net/c215769.html
>
> At the time I was a bit careful about the location, as I didn't want
> to be responsible for the lightfingered turning up. Now its gone, I
> can say it was in a barn at Alton Priors. This is not far from the
> former airfield at Alton Barnes and not far from Yatesbury, so could
> have possibly come from one of those places. It was rusted solid
> though

Damn!  Looks like it would've been a nice little 'fixer-upper'!  You
should have had a word with the farmer at the time.  It looks a bit
like this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b/244424930/in/set-72157619654427376/
You might well be correct about its provenance, but it looks like it
was in, er, 'storage' to me.  When I say 'storage', I mean like
farmers keep things in storage... :o)

On Sep 22, 12:26 pm, russell_w_b 
wrote:
> On 22 Sep, 10:12, Neill  wrote:
>
> 8><----------------------------------------------
>
> > This one
>
> >http://neillwood3163.fotopic.net/c215769.html
>
> > At the time I was a bit careful about the location, as I didn't want
> > to be responsible for the lightfingered turning up. Now its gone, I
> > can say it was in a barn at Alton Priors. This is not far from the
> > former airfield at Alton Barnes and not far from Yatesbury, so could
> > have possibly come from one of those places. It was rusted solid
> > though
>
> Damn!  Looks like it would've been a nice little 'fixer-upper'!  You
> should have had a word with the farmer at the time.  It looks a bit
> like this one:http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b/244424930/in/set-72157619654...
> You might well be correct about its provenance, but it looks like it
> was in, er, 'storage' to me.  When I say 'storage', I mean like
> farmers keep things in storage... :o)

I'm glad to see this discussion has proved so interesting! For you
info, I have already contacted my local police force who advised me
they no longer have this information, so I am contacting my local
council and asking them. It was suggested I could contact the MOD and
do FOI with them, so who was in overall charge of this system? Was
UKWMO part of the military or civilian government?

A

"ukuser"  wrote in message 
news:a3f6e657-34e6-4b8b-8d2a-d234cf4dcf21@o21g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...

> so who was in overall charge of this system? Was
>UKWMO part of the military or civilian government?

Sirens would be the Home Office.  I trust you've had a good look at this 
site here?
http://www.ringbell.co.uk/ukwmo/index.htm

--
Regds,

Russell W. B.
http://www.huttonrow.co.uk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b

The UKWMO was part of the Home Office but as I said earlier the police
installed the warning equipment on their behalf.

I filed a FOIA request with the Cabinet Office & Home Office a few years ago
and got copies of several files about the air raid sirens but there did not
appear to be a national list of their locations.

The Cabinet Office now have responsibility for emergency planning and a lot
of the Home Office files were transferred to them.

Some of the files were still restricted and I must have been the first
person to ask to have copies of them under the FOIA as there were several
months of delays while they decided whether to release them or not.

"UKuser"  wrote in message
news:a3f6e657-34e6-4b8b-8d2a-d234cf4dcf21@o21g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...
On Sep 22, 12:26 pm, russell_w_b 
wrote:
> On 22 Sep, 10:12, Neill  wrote:
>
> 8><----------------------------------------------
>
> > This one
>
> >http://neillwood3163.fotopic.net/c215769.html
>
> > At the time I was a bit careful about the location, as I didn't want
> > to be responsible for the lightfingered turning up. Now its gone, I
> > can say it was in a barn at Alton Priors. This is not far from the
> > former airfield at Alton Barnes and not far from Yatesbury, so could
> > have possibly come from one of those places. It was rusted solid
> > though
>
> Damn! Looks like it would've been a nice little 'fixer-upper'! You
> should have had a word with the farmer at the time. It looks a bit
> like this
> one:http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_w_b/244424930/in/set-72157619654...
> You might well be correct about its provenance, but it looks like it
> was in, er, 'storage' to me. When I say 'storage', I mean like
> farmers keep things in storage... :o)

I'm glad to see this discussion has proved so interesting! For you
info, I have already contacted my local police force who advised me
they no longer have this information, so I am contacting my local
council and asking them. It was suggested I could contact the MOD and
do FOI with them, so who was in overall charge of this system? Was
UKWMO part of the military or civilian government?

A