An unassuming field stuck in the middle of Cabrach seems like an unlikely place for a Cold War stronghold.
Nonetheless, it is the location for a nuclear bunker that once formed part of a network of listening stations across the whole of the UK.
Based near Inverharroch Farm, the bunker was a nuclear monitoring post and would have been used to monitor nuclear fallout had the UK become involved in such a devastating war.
One of 870 based throughout the UK, the post was manned by the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) – a group of volunteers who would dedicate their spare time to plotting nuclear bombs and planning what to do if a disaster unfolded.
There used to be ROC monitoring posts every 10-15 miles, with the site in Cabrach neighbouring those in Findhorn and Elgin.
George Anthony from Keith was a former group officer for the ROC and worked at the Dalmuir site. He explained what the organisation was tasked to do.
He said: “Ten thousand observers were part of the Royal Observer Corps around the country and I started out as an observer at a monitoring post in Drummuir. When I was promoted to Group Officer I looked after four posts in Moray.”
“If we came under attack, our job was to plot the flash going off and the pressure of the nuclear burst.
“Even in peacetime we had to take readings from instruments every five to ten minutes so each shift was very busy.
“There was no heating, though, and the only air was via a small vent and the access shaft, so you had to be hardy.”
Fellow ROC members from the region gathered in Cabrach yesterday for a sneak preview of the post before it is opened to the public on Saturday for the Cabrach Trust Open Day.
For one volunteer, Jimmy Green, the ROC was a good replacement for the Royal Air Force, which he discovered the could not join for health reasons.
He said: “I joined because of aircraft. I was always interested in aircraft. I really wanted to join the RAF but something went wrong with the tips of my fingers and I couldn’t handle anything.
“It was about three years before that cleared up and by that time the idea of joining the RAF had gone from my head, so I joined the ROC.”
Interested visitors will be given the chance to look around the bunker during the Cabrach Trust open day on Saturday, from 2.30-4pm.