Apart from the Mega Event, this was the only cache on "my must do list" whilst up in sunny Scotland. Why....Well back in the early nineties in my first career I was based at Pitreavie Castle. I have many many good memories of the 18 months that I was posted in this area and wanted to see what they had done to the place. My friend lived in the area for many years and had told me that Sky had built its headquarters there and that they had turned the rest into a housing estate once the base closed in 1996.
The cache site gave me quite a bit of information that either I didn't actually know or had completely forgotten about. If my memory serves me right the cache isn't located where the "Pit head" used to be but at one of the other shafts. I remember the pit head being just to the side and behind the "Castle". In front of that was the mess hall where we used to go for our scran (as the matelots called it) after trooping up all the stairs from the depths below. Often I remember going down first thing in the morning to start a shift in the dark and not come up again until it was evening and dark again. In the winter we often felt like moles as it would be days on end before we had the chance to go into proper sunlight. Might explain why I'm still not much of a sun worshipper.
I am happy to say though that the "castle" is still there albeit in the form of flats now. I'll bet there are nice carpets on the stairs to the attic and the walls are painted other colours than magnolia and that really grotty light blue which seemed to adorn most of the walls in the RAF. Our admin bods were based right up in the attic so after climbing all the stairs to the pit head, it didnt stop there. Who needed extra PT when you had all those stairs to climb, it was enough to keep you in the peak of fitness.
Pitreavie Castle
It was also nice to see that they had left the base of the flag pole in place. You can find this if you cross the road from the front of the castle.
Although it was a bit sad to see what they had done to the place and wiped out pretty much anything that you could have recognised of the place, it was really nice to go back again.
Pithead Site
We were accommodated across the Forth at RAF Turnhouse so continuing with our journey south, I just had to take a drive to see what had happened to that place. I was so disappointed when I arrived as the accommodation area - which housed the barrack blocks, mess hall and NAAFI bar and shop, had been bulldozed with most of the rubble still in piles and a huge wire fence around it. It seems like its been earmarked for development of business premises, I suppose ideal as its located near to the cargo area for Edinburgh Airport.
Accommodation Site
Across the road however are still the main gates which now has a commemarative plaque to all who served at Turnhouse over the years. In place is the guardroom on the right and on the left is the Admin offices.
Commerative Plaque
All that has really gone has been the picket posts on both sides of the road. Now that does make me giggle at the memories of guard duties on nights. We had to leg it across the road when a car came to go into the accommodation site, now me only being a slight little thing couldn't just push the gate post down, I literally had to jump and lie on the thing to get the gate lifted. Many many people used to take the mickey out of me for that one. We also used to carry round broom handles...can you just imagine the guards shouting...."Stop, or I'll whack you round the head with my broom"...I dont think so, they were having a laugh!!!!!
The old guardroom
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