Tales from Watnall Hall

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Alder grove catkins haiku

on February 15, 2023

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Vibrant red catkins

The alder grove by the brook

Faces in the trees

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The ha-ha of Watnall Hall

Watnall Hall in 1955, tucked into the hillside, viewed from near the Rolleston graves in the parkland above. Anyone walking on the grassy fields above Watnall could be forgiven for thinking they are in the spacious grounds of a country house and that is because they are. The fields, now usually grazed by cows, used to be called Watnall Park, a name that's sadly fallen out of use. It was the parkland of Watnall Hall, the home of the Rolleston family. We can still find a few clues to its former parkland status including a curious feature called a "ha-ha".

Wartime Watnall - when the young heiress of Watnall Hall served at RAF Watnall

I discovered the nugget of an intriguing RAF Watnall tale at Sir Lancelot Rolleston's 175th birthday ceremony held at his Watnall graveside on 19th August 2022. I was chatting to his great-niece Georgina who co-incidentally has her birthday that day too. She told me that her mother, Elma Rolleston, had actually been posted to RAF Watnall during WW2 around 1941. Georgina did not know what her mum had done at Watnall though. Curiosity piqued, I began investigating and discovered that she had been recruited into a select branch of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and worked deep underground in one of the two large bunkers at Watnall. Sworn to secrecy by the Official Secrets Act , many did not share their stories or details of service throughout their lives. Exactly what Elma Rolleston did remained a state secret for many years after the war. Since that information has now been de-classified everything can be revealed.... Artist's impression of the Operations Roo

Wartime Watnall - Cold War National Service memories

c.1960 - RAF Watnall band practise in the subterranean telephone exchange (PBX) When WW2 ended and the Cold War with the Soviet Bloc began, the continued need for robust air defence of the UK meant that RAF Watnall, a key hub of the country's early warning radar systems, was retained. However, it was no longer staffed by the wartime WAAF girls but by young male National Service conscripts.

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Alder grove catkins haiku

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