Inside at Last!

Because its all happening we had such big plans for when we finally had enough room to get in....some of its on video....but ultimately it all boiled down to who was in the right place at the right time... namely who was nearest the door - forget masks! Richard and Pete just happened to be nearest............ and we couldn't hold them back

The old padlock is still attached to the doors and I follow them with the camera.




The point of entry, looking back into the daylight.

The same view but from further inside the tunnel

Rudimentary wiring on the ceiling attaches to lamps that are rusted but still hanging.

Hi folks. Back at the keyboard. Just spent some time tidying up and trying to fence off the entrance for safety. We had to dig a good 10 foot deep hole, and the surrounding rock is very loose. I hope it doesn't rain. Also a few people came round to have a look. Right, where do I start. The tunnel (because that's what we now know it is) is definitely real. No photoshopping here

That's Mrs88 having a look down the other end above. It's over 8 feet in diameter, and around 60 odd feet long. Its completely underground, apart from the opening we dug. No there wasn't any vintage mercedes or luftwaffe uniforms. There were paint pots (well, tar pots infact). No carpet though! There was genuine german WW2 barb wire (as someone spotted). There was also various stuff we couldn't recognise. We haven't taken anything out, or gone through it with a fine tooth comb. There wasn't any gold bars visible to the naked eye , but then I put this into perspective by reminding myself that there is a 60 tunnel under the garden!

Oh, and did I mention there appears to be a false floor in part of it? !

This is the item that someone thought was a breeze block on the video. It is in fact some sort of pump up spray canister that can be worn on the back of the operator. We can't tell what was in it, and it seems to have brushes inside the drum?

It was found lying on a bed of what appears to be genuine WW2 German barbed wire.

Back to the floor - half way down, Richard notices that the floor is covered in sand (rather than concrete). We wipe it away to see that there appears to be a metallic floor underneath...?

This seems to have "cast" bumps on it?

Peter gives the floor a thud - we can't be sure, but sounds like a lid?

We start clearing the sand to see if we can find the lip ?

At this point we decide that we're getting a bit carried away, and that we should perhaps check the length of the tunnel first before ripping into things. Plus the floor would be easier to check later when a bit cleaner and not in such excitement (after all, its not like someone's going to tell me clear off for trespassing)

No idea what this is / was?

Clearing the Entrance

With the mini-hammer retired, diggerman got back to work...




Dave phoned at this point from the airport to ask about the Boulder. Rather than spoil his holiday, I lied that it was tucked up safe near the lawn and that would be there for him on his return.Richard spotting for today.

A moment after this picture, Richard shouts at diggerman to stop....


He's noticed a cavity opening up somewhere we weren't expecting.....In front of the tunnel entrance, under where the Boulder was keeping sentinel, we encounter a second obstacle!!!!!!! Richard tentatively investigates

It appears that the path of the digger is now blocked by a second new undergrown chamber, this time full of what appears to be water. A grapefruit sized boulder topples into the hole with a worryingly deep "Plop".

We set about debating what we've stumbled on now!

At this point I must admit I was slightly downheartened. Having destroyed the boulder in order to crack on, the thought of having broken into an old septic tank or the drains was sickening.However, after prodding around inside the not-so-smelly-at-all water with a long stick, we found that the chamber was only about 4ft square. Looking at the old photos, and knowing where the house drains were, we decided that what we had inadvertently broken into was most probably a water tank for the tunnel, which would have allowed a tap to be located at the entrance - well, sounded sensible to us. Diggerman said "lets cover it up and press on" and we agreed, noted where to avoid any digging for the rest of the day.

The whole of the area around the entrance is full of broken rocks that had fallen from the quarry overhead. Diggerman drove in to push a few to the back

Now we can start going down.

We finally smell victory !!

See a video as we get near to gaining access here...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vt_XJPC6ekI

Goodbye Bob!

The guys arrive at 8.00am on Sunday morning. I'm hoping we won't wake the neighbours.

A big tractor for pulling a big rock?

Many of you will be wondering over the plight of our rotund friend, the Boulder. I'm afraid the news is not good. After much umming and arhhing, we decided that the "Ball of Doom" would be broken up and removed. If anyone is interested I have the bits, some still relatively huge, others very very tiny .There was a brief moment once the "mini-hammer" had been attached to the digger arm, and we found that the air pressure was not working, that we almost thought we heard a sigh of relief from the big old rock, but once the valves were opened, there was no turning back. Like a dentist attacking plaque, diggerman turned up the music, aimed, and got to work....

I actually took a video of the "primary cut", so you can see the wrath of the mini-hammer in action, http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=afY0vMU9qtU .

The tractor earns its keep...

Mini-Hammer Arrives

Right. Some updates. It was a lovely day, so breakfast at the pier for starters :)

I've just been on the phone to Dave. He's been rigging up a video camera on a pole set-up as suggested. Not sure if it will work, but he's coming back in a moment to try.

I'm also fairly convinced that I want to try to keep the boulder, although some more heavy machinery arrived several minutes ago....






(the name on the side of that thing must be ironic, no?)

The guys that delivered the hammer drill said that they too might try to save the boulder if it were them. One also said that it may be worth a bit of money. Only trouble is they too reckoned i'd need a bigger digger / crane if I wanted to save time in moving it . Its a dilemma, break it and go into the tunnel, or risk delaying things? I'm thinking that maybe some more shrubs can be sacrificed to the left of the thing, and roll it into a new position that way?



In order to reach the tunnel entrance, I need to either move or pulverise the boulder (marked B above).

I'm told that to purchase a boulder like it would be very expensive. That together with a wave of nostalgia is suggesting I should try and keep it. However, to move it safely, I'm told I realistically need a bigger digger. Unfortunately, the one i've got is about the biggest one that I can fit in the entrance to my house and up the driveway!

Furthermore, we discussed the possibility of excavating the area marked red on the diagram, and rolling the boulder there. The diggermen said that because the area marked blue is essentially loose rocks, any excavation of the red area may well cause the whole of the blue area to collapse

In fact, they advised that digging down to the floor level of tunnel may precipitate the same result

What we've decided is to try one last time to move the boulder. If we can't it'll probably have to be "minimised".

We'll then clear gently to allow enough room for someone to go inside the tunnel entrance and do a recce. If it is structurally sound and large enough to make it a worthwhile space, then we'll weigh up what to do about access and any shoring up issues.

However, perhaps the biggest blow to the project is that Dave won't be able to make it tomorrow, and has in fact excused himself for several days Some might think it is because Dave, a notoriously modest guy, has decided to shun his unexpectant thrust into the limelight with his pole and light. The reality is that he is off on a quick pre-arranged holiday

Not to worry, there will be others in attendance with heavy plant.

What do people reckon? Keep the "Temple of Doom" Momento or not? I've not dared look at the cost of all this!

First Video Inside

Dave arrived after the mini-hammer with his video camera charged. He tied it to some rope incase it slipped, and after dropping the light bulb into down through the crack again, tried to get some footage of the inside of the bunker.

The hat he's wearing is actually quite cool, its a hard-hat disguised as a baseball cap.He shot some with the bulb, and some with "night vision".






Then he went off to edit it and later on posted it up on youtube.

By this stage Dave was gaining quite a cult following with posts on the pistonheads thread appearing along the following lines:-

"Any hat that Dave wears is cool IMO. After all - he's the man with the light gaffer taped to the end of the pole "

"I'm really falling for Dave now, is he single?"

"Every one should have a friend called Dave - they're the human equivalent of a Swiss Army knife!!"

All this, together with the passionate argument that raged on Pistonheads in favour of keeping "Bob the Boulder" or destroying "him", saw the creation of a Face Book Dave / Boulder Appreciation Group. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21945437174

In the meantime, Dave uploaded the first video of footage of the inside of the bunker and posted it on YouTube http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_JixNMedjhU or watch in Video Bar opposite.

Breakthrough

On Friday night my mate Dave turned up and we resolved to try and have a look into the bunker through one of the cracks.







We couldn't see much, so we cobbled together a "specialist" light, dismantling a lamp and taping the bulb to a pole!






And so we were ready to get our first view of the inside!




Because of the angle of the entrance hole and the fact that the partially open door is in the way, we can't get the camera down anywhere near the floor yet

But we can position it looking along one side of the roof, and we can't see the end yet




I'm afraid that that's it for today folks. It was getting too dark to stumble around on those rocks anymore, so we covered the hole with a big rock again (just in case any inquisitive cats come exploring in the night) and headed back to base