Some Progress!

Well, the sun came out today, so I went underground. My nephew wanted to earn some pocket money, so I enlisted him to help clear out some of the more managable bits of stuff from the bunker. I hadn't been inside for a few months now, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Flooded? Overrun with spiders? Actually no.... it was nice and dry and relatively bug free.

We removed lots of the bits and pieces. There were lots of these little metal "caps". Anyone any idea what they might have been?


There were also quite a few of the old lamp shades on the floor, only one of which is still hanging.


This is the strange canister that appears to be designed to be worn on someone's back. Plant sprayer or bee fumigator (there's a beehive in the back too remember)?

Here's all the junk we removed....

There was a lot of this alloy-type tubing, which had "porcelain"(?) insulators attached to it? No clue as to what this might have once have belonged to. Anyone any ideas?

All this clearing enabled us to sweep up the floor a bit half way along. The concrete underneath the thick layer of dust and rust particles was smooth and dry.



A few more pictures of the tunnel from today:

I haven't really attacked the front yet. I need to deal with all the tangled barb wire in order to get to the floor underneath, and whilst I could laboriously cut it up into small pieces, I can't help but think that it would be easier to remove it in one tangle once the doors are fully open.

Tunnels for sale in London

The "Kingsway Tunnels" are currently up for sale in London. If you fancy an underground lair, and have around £5 million spare, then these could be for you.



Access to the mile-long system of horizontal and vertical shafts is through unmarked doors in the street on High Holborn, and the site is fully equipped with electricity, water supply and ventilation equipment - making it the perfect place to hole up and hide from 007, though aspiring Blofelds will have to provide their own white cat.

The Public Record Office used the tunnels for a while to store 400 tons of secret documents, before the complex was turned into a "trunk exchange" to connect long distance telephone calls in the days before the subscriber trunk dialling (STD) code.

It was built to hold 8,000 (!!) people during air raids, and in its days as an exchange housed around 80 workers, who enjoyed a canteen and recreation room - complete with snooker table.

More details here: http://www.24dash.com/news/communities/2008-10-15-For-sale-Secret-network-of-tunnels-100ft-under-London