RAF Saxa Vord RAF Saxa Vord was a radar station operated by the Royal Air Force . It was situated on the island of Unst , one of the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland . Its radar provided long - range coverage of the airspace to the North of Scotland . The station ' s motto " Praemoneo de Periculis " , Forewarn of Danger , reflected its role . The island of Unst has played an important part in the defence of the UK since the outbreak of the Second World War . By 1945 , there were two radar sites in existence — one on Saxa Vord hill , and the other at Skaw on the east coast . This latter is the older , being built in 1941 , and was part of the Chain Home radar network as part of the defences of the Sullom Voe flying boat base . Skaw closed in 1947 . Ten years later , 91 Signal Unit was formed , and became fully operational on 5 October 1957 . The present station was officially opened on 27 September 1957 as No 91 Signals Unit , and in 1960 was visited by Queen Elizabeth II . In the early days , the site was shared with the Royal Navy which worked in the Admiralty building . In the following years , RAF Saxa Vord was a vital part of Britain ' s air defence during the Cold War . During this period , there was a game of cat - and - mouse , originally with English Electric Lightning , then F - 4 Phantom and finally Tornado F3 . RAF Saxa Vord consisted of three sites : the domestic site , the technical site and the married quarters called Setters Hill Estate ( SHE ) . The technical site was originally home to a Type 80 search radar , a Type 14 standby reporting radar and a Type 13 height finder . The Type 80 was unfortunately lost when it was blown away in 1959 and rebuilt with the radrome being built in 1962 . In 1979 , there was a 649 search radar ( Type 96 ) and Height Finder 200 , and these were planned to be replaced by the Type 93 in the mid 90s as part of the new IUKADGE system . When The type 93 became obsolete a radical new method was tried . RAF Saxa Vord was a part of the Sector 1 of the UK Air Defence Region ( the RAF covering most of NATO Early Warning Area 12 , some 750 , 000 square miles ) . Sector 1 was the airspace north of the 55th parallel north . Being a Control and Reporting Post ( CRP ) / Reporting Post ( RP ) , it passed its radar picture and information ( along with RAF Benbecula ) to the Sector Operations Centre ( SOC / CRC ) RAF Buchan , which also received information from the Danish site on the Faroe Islands . It was also home to Shetland Radar , which provided a radar service to civilian helicopters transiting from Aberdeen / Sumburgh and Unst out to the oil fields . From around 2000 until 2 April 2004 , the station operated as RRH Saxa Vord , an unmanned Remote Radar Head operated from a parent station ( RAF Buchan ) . On 2 April 2004 , RAF Saxa Vord was upgraded from a Remote Radar Head to a full manned station , taking over control of the radar defences in the area . RAF Buchan will be downgraded to a Remote Radar Head . RAF Saxa Vord closed in April 2006 . RAF Saxa Vord was further north than Leningrad , and on the same latitude as Anchorage , Alaska . The station was named after Saxa Vord , which is the highest hill on Unst at . It holds the unofficial British record for wind speed , which in 1962 was recorded at — just before the measuring equipment blew away . Future . After much preliminary work over the previous 12 months , April 2007 saw the purchase of RAF Saxa Vord ' s Domestic Site , plus the road up to the Mid Site , by Military Asset Management ( MAM ) , a company owned by Highland entrepreneur , Frank Strang . Recognising that military bases tend to be situated in remote rural areas , and that their closure ( as a result of the " Cold War peace dividend " ) can have devastating economic and social consequences for local communities , MAM was established as a private sector business to transform closing bases into self - sustaining , profitable enterprises , encouraging and fostering economic regeneration in the process . Saxa Vord is being redeveloped into a new tourism venture : Britain ' s first " residential natural and cultural heritage activity centre " , all based on the fascinating and spectacular island of Unst . The concept is simple : to attract like - minded people from all over the world to stay at Saxa Vord , where they will enjoy unique insights into some of the North Atlantic ' s most iconic natural and cultural heritage . The first phase is complete , and Saxa Vord currently ( 2007 ) offers 20 self - catering holiday houses and a 16 - bedroom bunkhouse , together with a restaurant and bar . 2008 will see the launch of a new hotel , leisure facilities and a guided walks / evening talks programme . Local people are being employed whenever possible , and there is direct local involvement in the business . For example , Sonny Priest , owner of Unst ' s famous Valhalla Brewery , manages and supplies the bar at Saxa Vord , and is about to relocate his brewery to the site .