Background:
In 1955, an Isle of Wight company (Saunders-Roe) based in East Cowes was awarded a contract for the building of the Black Knight Sounding Rocket to study the effects of when a vehicle re-enters the atmosphere at high speed. Initially, this was to design a re-entry vehicle for the Blue Streak warhead, but the programme broadened out into a wider research programme after the cancellation of Blue Streak in April 1960.

Saunders-Roe built a motor test site at High Down on the Isle of Wight and used this site to test the kerosene and hydrogen peroxide liquid propelled Armstrong-Siddeley Gamma 201 & 301 engines.

Holiday Article:
It was the morning of Saturday (19th April 2003), and after a small diversion along the "Old Military Road" we ended up at Alum Bay. We parked up in the Car Park (£3 to park the car!!) and set out on foot along the cliff road towards the Old Needles Battery.
Just before the Old Needles Battery, you follow the road up and around the cliff. This West High Down.
You'll see a few old Gun emplacements from WWII and the Coastguard lookout (no manned anymore) on top of the cliff and as you follow the road over the top, you begin to see the remains of the concrete works of the old Saunders-Roe test site.
There is very little information on what is what or even where anything is, just a scanky old illustration on a notice board. For a bit more info, you must pay the entry fee into the Old Needle Battery to gain access to a photo and a few details about the Black Knight Rockets and the Black Arrow Rockets in the Rocket Information Room.

As you walk down, you see that there is very little left of things, but enough to give you an idea of that it was like back in the 50's.

I took a few photo' s..

Looking up towards the whole Test Site. West Pad to East Pad
West Pad During 1960's (It's a Black Arrow on the Pad) Photo taken from a photo from inside the Old Needles Battery Rocket Info Room, so copyright is not really known but I got permission from the young lady curator of the Old Needle Battery.	West Pad Now (2003)
East Pad "Looking Up" Now (2003)	East Pad "Looking Down" Now (2003)
There are more photo's in the Photo Album