RAF Harrowbeer Archives, Education & Heritage Centre

09/09/2026

Good evening crew, I've been asked to inform you by Michael & Lucy, that they will be CLOSED next Wednesday the 16th of September due to another commitment, they would like to apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.
They will be open again as normal on the following Sunday.

Kind Regards, Nev.

04/09/2026

Good morning Crew, welcome to our newcomers. I shared recently a post relating to the old Field Gun Runs the Competition that used to be run until 1999. Although it was a competitive race run normally between crews from Plymouth and Portsmouth , plus others from the Fleet Air Arm F.A.A. and Chatham , at such events as the Royal Tournament (now confined to history). The origin of the race stems back to the Boer War and the siege of the British Army at Ladysmith .It was during the second Boer War in South Africa, the legendary story tells of the siege of the British garrison in 1899. Surrounded & out gunned by the Boers , so in support of the British Army, the Royal Navy landed guns from HMS Terrible and Powerful to help in the relief of the siege. The Naval Brigade transported guns over difficult terrain and brought them into action against the Boers. The legend around this also state that one of these gun was carried for over two miles through rough terrain after a wheel broke. The siege itself lasted for 120 days until February 1900. (For further information on this please search the siege of Ladysmith). I have attached an image of the Gun on display in Devonport Park Plymouth, this Gun affectively a War Trophy as been on display since 1904 as a Memorial to the crew members lost from HMS Doris during the Boer War. At least one of her QF 4.7inch Guns was transported and used during the 2nd Boer war at Magersfontein 11.12.1899.
So, the next time you leave the Torpoint ferry & turn right at the top of Ferry Road, take a second to remember the Memorial on its plinth within Devonport Park.

Regards Nev.

30/08/2026

Good evening crew, after meeting the ROC veterans on Monday, I told you of our visit to an underground post. Well try as I might I couldn't find my images, but I knew a man that would. Thankfully "M" was able to produce his.
With the attached images I've attempted to give a cross section of what was taken on the day. Our visit to the Veryan post was back in 2009 Gulp! I will try & add narrative as normal, so please bear with me.

Regards, Nev.

30/08/2026

Hello Crew, do any of you remember seeing this. I watched this on more than one occasion in Devonport. Not competed anymore by the Navy. But if you visit Plymouth Hoe during Armed Forces Day local Children Schools and other groups compete during the day.

Nostalgic look back on when competition between Plymouth & Portsmouth was friendly but fierce .

27/08/2026

Good evening crew, well as the 40's weekend fades into the distance & we crash headlong into the "last Bank Holiday" before Christmas. I'd like to share with you images taken on Monday 24th,. not happy with being busy all weekend M & L played host to members of the Tamar Branch of the ROCA, Royal Observer Corp Association, who'd arranged for a talk from M about RAF Harrowbeer and the airfield. Sadly Gremlins again where at play, the proposed use of the projector and the pictures on it failed to load. M had to do his talk "A Cepella". I managed to join them after which I had the pleasure of chatting with the assembled.... Well, what an interesting couple of hours we spent, I think I/we learnt a lot about the ROC and what they would have done during a potential Nuclear Attack. (Truly scary how little protection they had) . After which they had a guided tour of the Archives outside displays, including a brief chat about the Lifeboat. That was difficult without the gear on deck. (It felt like I was sat on my hands, without my props to prompt me !)
The Archives hold a couple of ROC Uniforms within the collection donated from past members of the Group which were on display along with a cabinet/ case containing "Cold War Period" artifacts .
Michael was also presented on the day with quite an amazing piece of History, effectively the "Keys to the door". More on that later.
I've attached images for you to see, which includes one of the group who were happy for me to take it.
As normal I will add narrative as required.

Regards, Nev.

26/08/2026

Good evening crew, welcome. I've been asked by Michael & Lucy to inform you that they will be open this Bank Holiday Weekend, Saturday, Sunday & Monday . I will add the opening hours below.
They have also asked me to relay that this will be the last Saturday opening of the Season. They will return then to their normal Winter days of Wednesdays & Sundays.
We currently have a new selection of second hand books for your peruviol within a small Marquee in the Archives garden.

Finally, can we send a thank you to all who've joined us recently, if your local but haven't yet visited us, we will look forward to meeting you one day.

Opening Times.
Saturday. 10.00am -4.00pm.
Sunday. 11.00am -4.00pm.
Monday. 10.00am -4.00pm.

Regards, Nev.

25/08/2026

Good afternoon Crew, firstly can we say hello and welcome those who have joined us recently. Secondly please accept my apologies for this post as it may seem a bit of a "Plane Crash" in its delivery. I hope those of you that attended the 1940's weekend had an enjoyable time. Michael & Lucy, myself and our volunteers appreciate the effort involved in organising such events as we have done them in the past. Plus, for those of you that frequented the Tearoom for refreshments , M & L and their family appreciated your patience (what with the malfunctioning Coffee and card machines) which as you can imagine made serving you very difficult (but as the old moto said and in true Wartime Spirit "Keep Calm and Carry On".
Finally , a Thank you as been expressed from our friends & group members who's stalls with-in the Archives walls were kept busy, what with sales & commissions . Those attendees enjoyed themselves so much they want to do it all again next year.

I've attached photo's taken over the two days (by yours truly) , as normal I will add narrative as an explanation.

Sending a "MASSIVE" Thanks to all of you on behalf of M & L, the Tearoom Team, me & our Volunteers, plus all our friends & guests inside the Archive wall. Nev.

25/08/2026

Good morning crew, before last weekend slips into our memories I'd like to send thanks to Stephen & Clare and the RAF Harrowbeer 1940's team for putting on this ever popular event & to all of the exhibitors who took part out on the Airfield. We appreciate the effort involved in organising such a thing.
With that in mind, I'd personally like to thank everyone that ventured into the Tearoom garden, then stopped to chat with me.
Sadly, as always my time viewing the proceeding was limited to about ten minutes or so on the Sunday, which gave me enough time to see some of the Military vehicles on display & catch up with old friends. (sorry that both Stephen & Clare where busy). I have spent part of this morning viewing the event through the lenses of others, so keep posting !

Regards, Nev

22/08/2026

Good evening crew. Just a little post to say thank you to everyone that came in to say hello to me today. It was a pleasure to see you . I'll be there again tomorrow strutting my stuff, so if you're visiting the doo, please call into see me.
Regards Nev.

21/08/2026

Hello crew, I just had to share this one with you. For those that know, apparently according to "Legend" the Polish forces ( Air force personnel) hid Gold on a RAF Airfield somewhere, M's always been on the lookout for it! Well this little story goes some way to prove that a fortune could have been hidden somewhere. 🤔 You never know 😁

💷 A shopfitter renovating a store in Brighton, England ripped up a rotten floorboard and found what he thought was just a dirty block of wood — until he snapped it in half and a £1 note fell out. Underneath: roughly 30 wads of WWII-era £5 and £1 notes totaling £130,000, worth over $2 MILLION today. The shop used to be a high-end couture store frequented by Winston Churchill's own wife — and the family, who had Jewish roots, believes the cash may have been hidden by two brothers preparing to flee the N***s. Read the full story of the hidden wartime fortune here 👉 https://dailytopis.com/found-a-wad-of-world-war-ii-bills-worth-over-2-million/