# Codename Aspidistra, Crowborough



## godzilla73 (Jul 28, 2010)

Aspidistra was the codename for Britains WWII propaganda radio project, set up by Sefton Delmer and bankrolled by Winston Churchill. Located in an isolated part of Ashdown forest, the site was home to what was at the time, the largest radio transmitter in the world. Known as Aspidistra 1 this had been purchased from RKO in 1942 and was the first of ten transmitter aerials that broadcast "black" propaganda straight into mainlaind Europe with the express purpose of demoralising German forces, particularly the North Atlantic U-boat crews. So successful was it that Joseph Goebbels wrote a a personal diary entry blaming it for significant morale problems amongst German troops. After WWII it was home to the Diplomatic wireless service who broadcast to embassies and consulates around the world and in 1984 it was purchased by the home office who wanted to turn the bunker that housed Aspidistra 1 in RSG 6.1 (see separate post). When the RSG was closed in 1996, it was purchased by Sussex police who use the site for a variety of training purposes including public order, DVP (Deranged Violent Persons), MOE (Method of Entry) and CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear)

These pictures are of the WWII site, which despite being derelict and unsafe in places is still used by Sussex Police, so security is quite tight. This was an organised visit.

When you first enter into the site this rather odd round building is one of the first things you see. This was the aerial allocator room which feed broadcast signals to the aerial array:














Needless to say the Aspidistra transmitters used a huge amount of electricty so they had their own diesel generators housed in the building below.(note the date of construction laid into the glass above the door)The police now use this to store proceeds of crime (mainly cars) some of which have not been claimed - though there is still plenty of evidence of the buildings original use. Like a lot of the site, there is a lot of damp damage here, which is heaven for peely paint fans....


































On top of the generator building there are rainwater lagoons which were used to cool the equipment inside down. You can get a good view of the rest of the site here









Outside the generator building is what I think is a fairly unique pillbox that at does not look like any type or variant I have seen (Cptpies or someone else might like to correct me here). This was used to defend the site in the event of an invasion and was manned by Home Guards













There are other buildings in the WWII part of the site that are inaccessible. These include a Water Tower and a Canteen. There are also vehicles all over the place that the police use for training purposes





















The largest building on this part of the site used to house Aspidistra 6. The outside of it now forms what the police call "bomb alley" where they train officers to deal with public order situations:





Round the back of this building is a whole load of stuff that the police use in this kind of training - and yes that is a stack of petrol bombs in the second picture, and a load of riot shields in the fourth.

















Inside this building are some lovely reminders of its original use:













Now the building houses facilities for DVP training - not pleasant, as indicated by the signage - and MOE training where officers learn to break down doors etc:









There is one listed building which housed another of the transmitters. Apparently it had a marvellous Art Deco interior but this is now quite delapidated and unsafe. The polics staff call it the old cinema, for obvious reasons:





Altogether a really interesting site. More pictures of the RSG to be posted soon.
Enjoy
GDZ


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## Munchh (Jul 28, 2010)

Unusual site you found there GZ, thanks for posting. Did they hustle you around the site or were they more accomodating? 

The first thing that jumped into my head when I saw the pillbox was type 25. 8 feet in diameter with 3 loopholes and 1 entrance. Could be wrong of course.


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## klempner69 (Jul 28, 2010)

Amazing explore and quite different..love the old signs/decals particularly.


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## King Al (Jul 28, 2010)

Great find G, that place looks fantastic, like the water tower and the coach


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## Foxylady (Jul 28, 2010)

Another unusual site with great history. Very interesting features and stuff remaining too. Love this.  
Cheers, GDZ.


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## BahrainPete (Jul 29, 2010)

This is a great report of a fascinating site that will no doubt become 'empty' again as the deteriation sets in and it becomes more unsafe. I love the old attention to detail that fortunately still exists there.


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## Gazmat (Jul 29, 2010)

What a Gem of a place! Shame they cant all stay like this!


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## tommo (Jul 29, 2010)

fantastic site fella, great bit of history to go with it


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## fluffy5518 (Jul 29, 2010)

Nice one  !!
Obviously a good visit -Shame i couldn't get on it !!! Loving that Deltic engine maintenance board..... !!!
Deltic engines,Kings Cross,1978................time to wipe a tear from my eye....and change me incontinance pad !!
PS The above sentance is Rail enthusiast waffle,if you have no interest in trains please disregard !!!


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## godzilla73 (Jul 30, 2010)

fluffy5518 said:


> Nice one  !!
> Obviously a good visit -Shame i couldn't get on it !!! Loving that Deltic engine maintenance board..... !!!
> Deltic engines,Kings Cross,1978................time to wipe a tear from my eye....and change me incontinance pad !!
> PS The above sentance is Rail enthusiast waffle,if you have no interest in trains please disregard !!!



I was wondering on that score, whether or not they would have been built specifically for the site, or if they would have just been recond. loco engines? It would be odd to think of bits of class 55 being used to power radio transmitters....!
GDZ


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## DogRecon (Sep 2, 2010)

Love that old Princess and the official retirement home for post boxes.


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## TK421 (Sep 2, 2010)

Great stuff there mate. I too was suprised to see a 'deltic' engine mention, they were of course developed as a marine engine and I had heard of some places using the same engine type as generators, this must have been such a site!


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## godzilla73 (Sep 2, 2010)

TK421 said:


> Great stuff there mate. I too was suprised to see a 'deltic' engine mention, they were of course developed as a marine engine and I had heard of some places using the same engine type as generators, this must have been such a site!



Didn't know that they were marine engines - always thought they came from locos only. Shows what I know!


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## hydealfred (Sep 4, 2010)

fluffy5518 said:


> Nice one  !!
> Obviously a good visit -Shame i couldn't get on it !!! Loving that Deltic engine maintenance board..... !!!
> Deltic engines,Kings Cross,1978................time to wipe a tear from my eye....and change me incontinance pad !!
> PS The above sentance is Rail enthusiast waffle,if you have no interest in trains please disregard !!!



I too love Deltics. 2 stroke diesel - how does that work  One of the best sounding diesels ever created, along with the Maybachs (German I know) - a truly awesome piece of British engineering the Deltic.


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## godzilla73 (Sep 5, 2010)

hydealfred said:


> I too love Deltics. 2 stroke diesel - how does that work  One of the best sounding diesels ever created, along with the Maybachs (German I know) - a truly awesome piece of British engineering the Deltic.



You should get together with Fluff, Fred. He grills everybody on their engine knowledge!!!!


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## marmitemania (Sep 5, 2010)

DogRecon said:


> Love that old Princess and the official retirement home for post boxes.



That is not a princess its an Ambassodor as in john shuttleworths Austin Ambassodor Y reg


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## hydealfred (Sep 6, 2010)

godzilla73 said:


> You should get together with Fluff, Fred. He grills everybody on their engine knowledge!!!!



I am huge fan of all things diesel, petrol and steam for that matter. Spent Saturday at the West Somerset railway listening to Maybach music  Yesterday it was Duxford listening to 16 Spitfires taking off in one continuous stream. I can safely say I have never heard such a beautiful sound


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## fluffy5518 (Sep 6, 2010)

hydealfred said:


> I am huge fan of all things diesel, petrol and steam for that matter. Spent Saturday at the West Somerset railway listening to Maybach music  Yesterday it was Duxford listening to 16 Spitfires taking off in one continuous stream. I can safely say I have never heard such a beautiful sound



Wow !!! Now there's a man after me own heart !! Always appreciated the sound of a classic,from British bikes to Routemaster Buses to Napier Deltics and Western Hydraulics.However NOTHING beats the sound of a good ol' English Electric 12SVT attempting to start on a freezing cold winters day !!!!!
PS BLOODY HATE anything that goes NING-NING !!! (only railway enthusiasts will understand that !!)


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## hydealfred (Sep 6, 2010)

Now we are talking - English Electric diesels on a cold day - clag or what - uneven engine beats - absolutely brilliant. We need to be careful here Fluffy the non rail enthusiast will have no idea what we are talking about


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## fluffy5518 (Sep 6, 2010)

NUFF SED FRED !! Lets not talk SHEDS !!


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## hydealfred (Sep 6, 2010)

fluffy5518 said:


> NUFF SED FRED !! Lets not talk SHEDS !!



Quite like 66's


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## Caveman (Oct 26, 2010)

Getting back to the Aspidistra site in the Ashdown Forest at Kings Standing near Crowborough, it was a site for the re-transmission of information that emanated from in the Midlands at Milton Bryan in Bedfordshire. The generators on this site at MB were 3,000hp 16-cylinder Crossley Premier engines fitted with superchargers.

'Aspi 4' actually refers to a 50kw Marconi short wave transmitter.


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