The History of Ruddington Depot
HomeThe StoryInterviewsPhotographsResources
The End Game
Stepping up security
Dennis Wright joined the security staff in the early 1960s.
“We patrolled the perimeter and guarded the gates in three shifts. The morning shift was six till two, the afternoon shift was two till ten, and the night shift was ten till six. There were six of us in a team on each shift. We patrolled on foot with a wooden truncheon. To make sure we went right round, as we passed each Key Post along the route we lifted off the key and turned it in the time clock we took with us. Then we put the key back again. When we had been out walking for a couple of hours, perhaps a bit longer, then we had a cup of tea and the main half-hour break. After that it was back to the main gate (or another one). It carried on like that walking, then back to gate until the shift finished. If there was an intruder we could detain them, but not arrest them. We had to get the civil police in to do that.
All we were allowed to carry, even at night, was a lamp. We would be taken out and dropped off, and we had to patrol all alone along one particular length of ground. It wasn’t a very nice experience.”
The
Colonel in Chief presents 25 year Service Medals to security staff at a ceremony
in the main canteen in 1967. Left to right: Ernest Burton, Bert Pygall, Arthur
Snowden, Colonel Gillies, Arthur Wakeham, George Sanson, Bert GreggThe
rise of militant nationalism in Scotland and Wales posed a new security threat.
It was feared that extremists might break in and take ammunition from the
bunkers. Foot patrols were too infrequent to protect them.
“After a bit we got a bike, one of the big, heavy old fashioned pedal bikes. I’d rather walk than use a bike, but I had to. Eventually we finished up with Land Rovers.”
Continuous patrolling in Land Rovers started in response to the strife in Northern Ireland and the vulnerability of the magazines to raiding by terrorists.
The threat posed by fire had diminished when the filling factory closed. At about the same time the National Fire Service was disbanded, and the fire-patrol men were transferred to the security staff, so the security men then had had a dual role.
“We had to go to Chorley for a course in fire fighting. We had our own fire-engine, but if there was a big fire, or one near the magazines we had to contact the Fire-Brigade.”
The security men inspected all the fire-fighting equipment at regular intervals. Each one had responsibility for a particular area.
Petty theft was not uncommon, especially on viewing days before auctions, which needed extra vigilance. Sometimes staff were caught pilfering, and on occasion a ‘scam’ came to light. Tim Bloodworth recollects an ingenious one.
“There was a bloke who used to work at the Depot who used to siphon off petrol from vehicles waiting to be auctioned to run his own car.”
This was such a good idea it was officially adopted. Thereafter surplus petrol was collected routinely from all vehicles awaiting sale, and used to run the Depot’s own fleet of cars, vans and lorries.
The Story > Chapter 8 > Section 8.02