THE PLAINS OF WOOMERA
~ Phil Underwood ~ © 2015

It’s 10,000 miles from Scratchell Bay where the cliffs of the white do shine
To the red red sand of Australia’s land where there’s a thing (??) opal mine.

We tested our rockets at High Down, and we all went out by air
Through Bahrain and Singapore, to Australia’s southern shore.
And the Plains of Woomera.

The sun beats down on the barren ground, as far as the eye can roam
“Black Arrow” she did stand on the native’s sacred land
Of the Plains of Woomera.

We could not launch when the wind blew up and the dust around did fly
The Aussies they did chaff : “did the wind blow out your match?!”
On the Plains of Woomera.

But the very next day was fine and clear and her engines roared with fire
And shining like a star she rose into the air
Above the Plains of Woomera.

The Government had said : The Project’s Dead – but we launched her anyway
And “Prospero” will orbit for a hundred years
Above the Plains of Woomera.

It’s 44 years since I stood there, and now I have returned
My spirit it does fly like “Black Arrow” in the sky
Above the Plains of Woomera.
My spirit it does fly like “Black Arrow” in the sky
Above the Plains of Woomera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVy6993jnI
sung by Phil Underwood, composer and folk performer. Dedicated to his father, John Underwood (1930 – 2014) “who helped pioneer British spaceflight …. and bluegrass music on the Isle of Wight” :)

“A song composed and played by me, Phil Underwood, December 2015. My father John Underwood was a senior engineer on the Black Arrow rocket programme which, despite successfully launching satellite Prospero into orbit in 1971, was cancelled. Black Arrow was tested at Highdown on the Isle of Wight and launched from Woomera rocket range in Australia. Dad and his colleagues appeared on BBC Television's flagship programme Coast in 2010. He was also a fine folk singer and morris dancer.   
I play his banjo in the video. Prospero still orbits.”


HIGH DOWN was the British Rocket Testing Facility, on the western end of the Isle of Wight, near the famous Needles. Whatever still remains now, is a National Trust precinct.
Most design and static test firing was done at High Down in the UK, and then transported and launched at Woomera, in South Australia (an enormous tract of land – 270,000 square kilometres in those days).   Geographically, the UK was less than ideal to do final launches and the two most likely places investigated for satellite launches were UIST ( islands in Scotland’s Hebrides), and, on the north coast of Norfolk. However, the closeness of the trajectories to the North Pole, and to the North Sea oilrigs,
(and to mainland Europe!), easily won the toss for the vast “Plains of Woomera” instead!!

Those with a yen for this interesting slice of history, and why it eventually stopped at both locations, should delve into this website : http://www.spaceuk.org/    Of course, it wasn’t just about the space race, the arms race was also intertwined……

Meanwhile, try this rocket tests clip from Woomera’s local museum : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x80sNNusBs&t=14s    And this one too, for some alternative shots of tests and collisions - and also the local Aboriginals :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5khcr8DO34

Here is the Dept of Defence explanation of Woomera’s history and its current purpose : https://www1.defence.gov.au/bases-locations/sa/woomera/about but checkout this 2010 story from the Australian Geographic magazine : https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/travel/travel-destinations/2010/05/woomera-nuclear-danger-zone/

Plenty more historical clips on-line.

[I didn’t mention that it was also a shame job Govt Detention Centre for a while too, for “unauthorised” refugees…… ] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woomera_Immigration_Reception_and_Processing_Centre

Finally, just came across the legendary adventurer, JACK ABSALOM! : “Red Dirt And Rockets”, 1993 – if you’re pushed for time, the Woomera segment starts at 22:20 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akQSZ071f2k&list=PLDa33Rs7vBKojDLOkDaCzfIns0g_n1DLL&index=6


Cheers, R-J