This was the birth place of Streylock and Dubman. We had started meeting up and having camera nights for a year or so before, taking photos of subways, tunnels and anything that was of interest. Enjoying this so much we went searching for bigger things to photograph and discovered we both had a passion for Cold War history, Derelict Buildings, Jet Aircraft and Space. A real match. The first big “mission,” as we called them, was Orford Ness. An amazing road trip playing dub and techno in the old but trusty Silver Ford Mondeo. Camping in a little apple orchard in a pub garden of The Jolly Sailor in the pouring rain. Waking up knowing that we were going on a massive adventure, which started with getting a boat across to the shingle island to see the most magnificent sights of derelict test sites of the Cold War. We were the only two nutters over there at the time, battling against the elements. Lashing rain at times, bashing heavy winds and the most amazing dark skies. This all added to the ambiance of the area which has an incredible force about it not far removed from the landscape of the 1979 film by director Andrei Tarkovsky Stalker. This was the big one and straight away we knew we wanted more. This is where our close bond of friendship properly started. And that’s when we called ourselves Streylock and Dubman.

This post will feature Streylock’s images and I will upload mine soon with another page.

From Wikipedia
The Atomic Weapons Research Establishment had a base on the site, used for environmental testing. When a laboratory test is conducted to determine the functional performance of a component or system under conditions that simulate the real environment in which the component or system is expected to operate. Many of the buildings from this time remain clearly visible from the quay at Orford, including the distinctive “pagodas”. Whilst it is maintained that no fissile material was tested on the site, the very high explosive initiator charge was present and the buildings were designed to absorb any accidental explosion, allowing gases and other material to vent and dissipate in a directed or contained manner. In the event of a larger accident, the roofs were designed to collapse onto the building, sealing it with a lid of concrete.

In the late 1960s an experimental Anglo-American military over-the-horizon radar known as Cobra Mist was built on the peninsula. It closed in 1973, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s the site and building were re-used for the Orfordness transmitting station. This powerful mediumwave radio station – originally owned and run by the Foreign Office, then the BBC and, after privatization in the 1990s, a series of private companies – was best known for transmitting the BBC World Service in English around the clock to continental Europe on 648 kHz from September 1982 until March 2011. The station has been disused since May 2012.

Orford Ness is now owned by the National Trust and is open to the public under the name “Orford Ness National Nature Reserve”, though access is strictly controlled to protect the fragile habitats and due to a residual danger to the public from the site’s former use by the military. Access is therefore only available by the National Trust ferry from Orford Quay on designated open days.

Streylock

The trailer to Stalker