Prior to 2000 I was Security Force Shift Manager. I was given a bunch of keys and asked to discover what they opened in the basement of St. Andrew's House. To my complete surprise (and this was before the foot and mouth outbreak), I opened up a basement door that took me through a time warp into the 50's. The room contained hundreds of rubberised coats, Wellington boots and hats. It also contained foot and mouth outbreak checkpoint sign and trays to wash your feet in when leaving and entering check points. Considering ERAD had been at Pentland since before my arrival in 95 I can only guess as to how long that time capsule had been in place.
There is no doubt in my mind that such a state of the art, Art Deco building would have been the HQ of German occupying forces if we had not resisted the Axis forces in WW II.
Many people believe St. Andrew's House and especially the Governor's House to be haunted. I have worked extensively in both buildings and been there alone, and alone during the night. I regret I never encountered anything. The C1 boss of security one Sunday actually took a fire extinguisher off of the wall and went looking for intruders, such was his belief that there was someone in the building. Women would not want to be last out of the building, not because they did not want to set the alarm, but because they did not want to be alone in the building.
I am told that some security officers would not patrol certain areas during the night in St. Andrew's House because they felt uneasy or they were just plain scared. I would take new starts into the basement, and take them to where we thought the death cells had been. At this time it wasn't open plan down there but still individual cells. I'd put my torch out and let them experience the total pitch black in the supposedly haunted area. It separated the men from the boys so to speak.
Although I think many never went there again. It did feel like I had to consciously fight my own reluctance to go down there alone, but I feel I was challenging myself. Regardless of having encountered nothing, it was still spooky, but that's what I get for having an imagination.