At 2 am V was awake with backache when she heard the regular Ministry of Defence police patrol drive down the layby. She heard them stop, then two doors opened and shut. THis was followed by the inevitable powerful torch sweeping round the camp to check that all women were safely and snugly tucked up in bed. (What they don't realise is that the bright flashing ligh through chinks in the curtains invariably wakes wimms up - so the MoD plods have been seen when they think they're keeping "covert surveillance". She got out of bed to peep through the curtains when she didn't hear their vehicle move off. They were at the "office" caravan and were there for at least 15 minutes before leaving. We don't lock the office. We're an up front and open campaign and have got nothing to hide (well, it wouldn't be in te office!) The MoD returned two hours later (V. still awake with backache), stopped, got out and two minutes later drove off - presumably after returning the papers they took to photocopy. We trust this was an educational experience for them. The next day we discovered that the office window, smashed on two previous occasions, had been stoved in again ...

The lorry drivers who use the other end of the layby as an overnight park-up acknowledge that this is the safest lorry park in the country - thanks to our presence the MoD police patrol frequently throughout the dayand night, keeping us under surveillance. Some of the lorry drivers are actively supportive. They drop off pallets, etc. & some watch out for the Trident nuke warhead convoys on the A1, etc. Recently,some of the drivers said that if they visit the camp, the police ring their bosses and ask what they're doing here. Sometimes they ring their wives, too ...

It's TopSecret, Innit?? How do we KNOW that, when Steeplebush II OPerations Block Opened in 93/94, it was not used for the purpose for which it was built? During the early 90s the National Security Agency spies at this top secret, highly sensitive spy base were very careless - very, very careless, and the base was very, very, very insecure! They were silly enough to leave classified documents behind unlocked doors, where it was easily accessible and from where they were borrowed and returned. In 1993, Duncan Campbell made a TV programme, "The Hill", which went out on Channel 4's "Dispatches". It showed wimmin getting into the base and their revelations about what they found in there, and why the British public should be concerned about the spying going on. One of the documents revealed in the programme was a plan showing who and what were scheduled to transer into the different locations inside the new OPS block, Steeplbush II. Confirmation that there were no OPERATIONS going on in there, however, came from a different source ...

REPORT FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ("MARGARET"):
If you are wet, muddy, scratched (not to mention nettled), wearing dark camouflage and lurking around inside the base after nightfall, it's blatantly obvious that you shouldn't be there! However, on a nice, sunny afternoon, especially at shift-change time when there are lots of folk milling about inside the base and if you are squeaky clean wearing pristine white trainers with your pristine whie socks, pretty flowered leggings and you're carrying a little pink ruck-sack, and look as if you belong there, then it is unlikely the security guards will penetrate your super-cunning camouflage! Thus did "Margaret" penetrate the esoteric heart of the world's biggest top-secret spy base ... After jogging through the base, our heroine was somewhat gasping by the time she arrived at the security access to Operations in the foyer of Steeplebush II. Bravely she kept the welcoming smile on her (clean) face as she jogged through the main doors and smiled and waved to the 4 security guards on duty. "I'm just going to the caeteria!" she called gaily as she vaulted the barrier instead of keying in the cypher which would operate the turnstile, and she totted off round the corner to the right. Her diguise was so effective that she was not pursued!

Once inside the cafeteria our heroine continued to perform her role and jogged up to the counter where she requested a cup of coffee (in her best Scarlet O'Hara southern drawl). The nice young man on the counter showed her how to operate the coffee machine and then left her to it. What he didn't tell her was how to switch it off! The coffee was overflowing and he'd disappeared! In desperation she started to hit buttons - the coffee stopped flowing. Still nobody about - I regret to confess that she stole the coffee - anyway where would she get 25 cents from?

With the overflowing cardboard cup of coffee scalding her fingers, she jogged out of the cafeteria and into the ladies' loos, where she drank half her coffee, had a pee and freshened up before jogging out again. This time she continued down the long corridor, past the Director of Operations' suite of offices, past the OPS Administrative Staff Offices, past the OPS Technical Support Staff Offices and on into a vast EMPTY area, where there was nothing but some litter!

Desirous of exploring further, she tried all the doors and the one labeled "Alarmed" "Emergency Exit" opened. Out she trotted, carefully closing the door behind her (no alarm!) and discovered that she had come out through the grass "berm" and was trapped inside the double security fence - and the door she'd carefully closed didn't open from the outside! There was no alternative but to call for HELP! She scrambled up the grass banking and stood on the roof of Steeplebush II shouting "HELP!". Help arrived in the form of a Ministry of Defence constable on the outside of the double fence, who refused to believe that she had not cut through the fences and was in genuine need of rescue! Her confession that she'd gone all the way through Steeplbush II was never believed - it is impossible to evade such tight security!

See Yorkshire CND Menwith Hill website