100 Places You Will Never Visit (13 page)

Menwith Hill is widely believed to form part of the fabled ECHELON global surveillance network. ECHELON is said to be able to “eavesdrop” on all types of modern communication, from telephone conversations to email exchanges. It is alleged that the network operates under the agreement of the governments of Britain, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. A 2001 report by the European Parliament into the alleged network concluded that Menwith Hill was its single biggest facility.

GOLF BALLS The radomes (a portmanteau of radar and dome) at Menwith Hill give the station the appearance of a huge golf driving range. There are now more than 30 such domes at the base, and the technology they contain is allegedly crucial to the smooth running of the purported ECHELON signals intelligence network.

While the gathering of such information to thwart terrorism or organized crime may seem attractive, many fear that other information gleaned can be too easily abused. Some have suggested it could be used for industrial espionage, while others are concerned about the implications for civil liberties. Several journalists have cited instances of American companies gaining commercial advantage over European counterparts, though none of these cases were ever conclusively proved.

Indeed, there has never been official confirmation of ECHELON’s existence. Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence insists that all operations undertaken at the base are “managed in a way that accords with the law, including the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998.” That, however, is insufficient reassurance for many of Menwith’s critics.

In 2007, the base drew further unwanted attention after the British government confirmed that it would be upgraded to provide early warning of missile attacks as part of a planned US missile defense system. Not only were peace campaigners enraged, but the scheme provoked ire from Moscow, amid claims that the system, aimed at intercepting incoming enemy missiles before they reach US or NATO airspace, breached arms control agreements. Some critics hold that the defense shield could prompt a new arms race. While Des Browne, the British Secretary of Defence at the time, insisted that there were no imminent plans for interceptor missiles to be based in Britain, opponents voiced fears that Menwith Hill could put the UK on the front line of a future war.

As the focus of so much speculation and public wrath (Menwith Hill has regularly been besieged by peace campaigners for decades), security at the base is tight. A perimeter fence is dotted with watchtowers and patrolled by guards and trained dogs, doing little to calm the righteous rage of those who consider the base to be a largely unaccountable US enclave on British soil.

In the popular imagination, this facility is filled with spies scanning our private conversations and intruding on the intimate details of our daily lives. Whether deserved or not, Menwith Hill has a reputation as the ultimate Big Brother, listening in on what everybody else is saying, but with not a lot to say for itself.

43 The Queen’s bedroom

Buckingham Palace

LOCATION Westminster, London, England

NEAREST POPULATION HUB London

SECRECY OVERVIEW High-security location: the private chamber of the Queen.

Buckingham Palace is the British Queen’s official London residence, and one of the most iconic buildings in the world. Yet despite attracting hordes of tourists, large swathes of the labyrinthine palace remain under the highest security and off-limits to the world at large. Most private of all is the Queen’s personal bedroom, once the scene of a notorious breakin.

Buckingham Palace was originally plain old Buckingham House, built as the London pad of the Duke of Buckingham in 1705. The location he chose had once been a mulberry garden where King James I had attempted to rear silkworms (unsuccessfully, as he had planted the wrong type of mulberry bush). The house took the fancy of King George III, who purchased it as a residence for his wife, Queen Charlotte. It only became a palace in the 1820s, after spendthrift monarch George IV ordered extensive renovations from the architect, John Nash.

George, though, would never live in it, and so Queen Victoria became the first monarch to take up residence when she moved in during July 1837. After the young queen married Prince Albert in 1840 and started a family, it was soon clear that the palace needed to be extended—a job that fell to the architect Edward Blore and his builder, Thomas Cubitt. Their greatest contribution was the addition of the East Wing, complete with the famous balcony from which the royals wave to their subjects at times of celebration. One such occasion marked the end of the Second World War, during which the Palace had received nine direct hits from German bombers.

Today, the Palace encompasses some 775 rooms, of which 52 are royal and guest bedrooms. When in residence (signified by the raising of the Royal Standard), the Queen and Prince Philip occupy a suite of rooms in the Palace’s North Wing. By rights, this should be the single most impenetrable part of the building. But being such a famous landmark, Buckingham Palace has tempted many to test its security over the years, from naked paragliders to undercover journalists, and from paternal rights campaigners dressed as Batman to Osama bin Laden look-alikes. One man found on the grounds in 1990 even ambitiously claimed to be Prince Andrew and that he was there to visit his “Mum.” But the most serious breach came on July 9, 1982, when the Queen found herself engaged in conversation in her bedroom for a good ten minutes with an intruder named Michael Fagan.

ATTENTION! A member of the Queen’s Guard on sentry duty at Buckingham Palace. The company is also responsible for guarding St. James’s Palace in London. Their famous uniform is recognized around the world, but despite their old-fashioned appearance, these are highly trained armed soldiers.

In fact, this was not Fagan’s first visit to the Palace, since he had successfully scaled the barbed-wire-topped perimeter wall several weeks earlier. On that occasion, on June 7, he had wandered around the palace unhindered, even stopping to enjoy some wine, cheese and biscuits. When he returned in July, he shinned up a drain pipe into the Queen’s private apartments. It was reported that his activities did trigger an alarm, but a palace employee assumed the alarm system was faulty. The armed police officer who should have been on guard outside her room was apparently out walking the dogs, and his replacement had not yet got to his position.

The first the Queen knew of a strange man in her bedroom was when she noticed the curtains twitch. Showing admirable calm, she proceeded to chat amicably with him as he walked across her chamber and perched on the end of her bed. After a while, he requested a cigarette but, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Queen did not have a packet to hand, so she requested some be brought in. This provided her with the opportunity to raise the alarm and a footman dutifully appeared on the scene, holding Fagan until the police arrived to arrest him.

Fagan was subsequently charged with civil offenses and spent several months in a high-security mental health facility. It was the first time that an intruder had made it into the private royal apartments since the reign of Queen Victoria (though during the Second World War the Queen Mother had stumbled upon an army deserter in her bathroom).

The incident brought the issue of the Queen’s security under blazing scrutiny, and the level of protection surrounding her became even greater. As well as armed guards throughout the Palace—presumably now issued with clear instructions on when they can take the corgis out—there are regular police dog patrols and a permanent detachment from the Queen’s Guard, instantly recognizable in their red tunics and bearskins. In 2004, Scotland Yard took over responsibility for security at royal sites from the security services. The same year, an electric fence was erected around the Palace, administering a shock strong enough to disable an intruder until they are apprehended.

44 MI5 Headquarters, Thames House

LOCATION Millbank, London, England

NEAREST POPULATION HUB London

SECRECY OVERVIEW Operations classified: home of the UK Security Service.

Thames House in Millbank, situated on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, is the imposing headquarters of MI5, the British Security Service. As the spiritual home of Britain’s community of spooks, its spectacular facade can be enjoyed by all, but its inner workings are destined to remain unknown to the vast majority of us.

MI5 is the popular name for the Security Service, which is responsible for the United Kingdom’s internal security, counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence activities. Falling under the jurisdiction of the Home Secretary, it was established in 1909 to counter infiltration of British organizations by foreign powers at a time when Europe’s nations were ferociously jockeying for power and influence. The service underwent a number of reorganizations in the lead up to the First World War, when it formally became the War Office Directorate of Military Intelligence, Section 5. Despite being renamed as the Security Service in 1931, the MI5 moniker stuck.

The Service played a vital role in countering espionage during both World Wars, in the interwar period and then in the Cold War. However, among its successes were notable failures, such as the one that saw the “Cambridge Five” spy ring passing secrets unhindered to the Soviet Union for years. From the late 1960s, the Service became increasingly active in counter-terrorist work as the Northern Irish Troubles flared. Despite relative peace in Northern Ireland in recent times, the growth of Islamic extremist terrorism (resulting in attacks on the London transport system in July 2005 that killed 56) has ensured that the Service has been busier than ever in the last decade.

MI5 was previously based in buildings on Curzon Street and Gower Street, but by the 1980s it was increasingly clear that these were no longer meeting requirements. Thames House, meanwhile, stood empty in Millbank, on a stretch of the Thames that extends roughly from Vauxhall Bridge to Parliament Square.

The Millbank area can trace its modern incarnation to the devastating Thames Flood of 1928. Amid the extensive damage caused by a disaster that claimed 14 lives, some 25 meters (80 ft) of the Chelsea Embankment was washed away. The area where Millbank stands today had hitherto been filled with run-down dwellings and warehouses.

One positive outcome of the flood was the area’s regeneration, spurred by the construction of assorted new office and apartment blocks.

Thames House was designed by Sir Frank Baines, and constructed during 1928 and 1929 on the corner of Millbank and Horseferry Road. Baines produced work in the imperial neoclassical style, and was greatly influenced by Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), the architect responsible for projects such as the Cenotaph war memorial in Whitehall, and much of the Indian capital, New Delhi. On the Portland stone façade of Thames House are patriotic sculptures of Britannia and St. George, created by Charles Sargeant Jagger.

Among the building’s early occupants were the industrial giant ICI and the International Nickel Company of Canada. Former Prime Minister David Lloyd George also had an office here. By the 1980s, the building housed ICI in one of its two main blocks and the Department of Energy in the other. After Thames House was sold to the British government in the late 1980s, it was earmarked as the new headquarters for MI5. Among the most significant changes made during an extensive overhaul was the addition of a new block that connects the two existing wings and lies behind the building’s iconic archway. MI5 eventually moved in during 1994.

HOUSE OF SECRETS The imposing Millbank entrance to Thames House shows evidence of the extensive development work undertaken in the 1990s, linking the main wings of the original building in preparation for the arrival of MI5.

While it is a less obvious citadel than the sprawling Vauxhall Cross building across the river (headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service involved in espionage abroad), Thames House underwent numerous structural alterations to improve security at an estimated cost of £227 million. The fabric of the building was strengthened to resist attack, and all windows have secondary glazing for bomb blast protection. Glass panels behind the windows in the lower floor make it impossible for anything to be left on the sills. Car parking is in a secure underground garage and there is an armed police presence, along with the expected array of surveillance equipment, secure entry systems and electronic defenses.

As MI5’s classified work carries on inside, there are those who fear that the activities commissioned from Thames House are not always in the national interest. For instance, in 2006 it emerged that the organization held 272,000 files on British citizens. Norman Baker, a Liberal Democrat MP, commented: “I don’t believe there are 272,000 people in this country who are subversive or potentially subversive. It suggests to me that there are files being held for not very good reasons.” The British public will probably never know one way or another.

1 CLASSIC BEAUTY A view across the river reveals Thames House in all its glory. John Mowlem & Co. undertook much of the original building work, using the plans of Sir Frank Baines. The company had previously worked on such notable projects as Liverpool Street Station and Admiralty Arch.

2 SPY TOWERS Situated on the opposite side of the river from Thames House, Vauxhall Cross is home to MI6. Sometimes referred to as “Legoland,” it is the modern face of the security services, while Thames House recalls an age of less brash architecture.

45 Whitehall tunnels

LOCATION Beneath the streets of Whitehall, London, England

NEAREST POPULATION HUB London

SECRECY OVERVIEW Existence unacknowledged: a network of tunnels built in the Second World War.

During the Second World War, London was peppered by bombing raids, and tourist attractions such as the Cabinet War Rooms show how the city rapidly developed a subterranean alter ego. Yet the existence of a tunnel network running between Parliament and Trafalgar Square and accessible to those who work in Whitehall, the heart of British government, remains an unconfirmed rumor.