# 'Bunker B' - October 2014



## steve2109 (Oct 20, 2014)

03:30 and my alarm goes off, been along time since i got up this early after a sabbatical ! I stumble out of bed and my phone beeps, its OMJ saying the meet is delayed and not to rush, brilliant I need all the time there is to get sorted ! I finally leave the house and get a coffee and toasted sandwich and begin the drive to the arranged meet.... 'beep beep' its OMJ again saying the meet may be off but hints at a possible alternative.. 20 minutes later and the meet is indeed cancelled and i divert to Plan B...

Its pissing with rain when I arrive and meet up with Urban X, now wheres OMJ ? oh yeah he went the wrong way and got lost and is now hammering along to meet us (get an iPhone mate).. he finally turns up and we head of to the alternate, its a cold war bunker and radar station which may or may not be there (great first explore back!)..

We approach the site and slip through the fence like SAS operatives (well more like Argos operatives as I got caught on the fence and nearly fell over much to the mirth of OMJ and Urban X) and begin looking for a way in..

30 minutes later after hunting around we are squatting in a sealed up air shaft to avoid the rain with Urban X looking at his map and OMJ saving snails and woodlouse !

We decide to return to a building for last look for a way down and after a flash of genius by me (I moved a wooden board !) we see a long staircase heading down............

Beneath us was an awesome installation, 2 floors of cold war concrete, an old telephone console, wet feet and mutant frogs.....
















































































































It was a brilliant explore in great company and I only wish I had taken a flash with me as it was hard to get pictures to do the place justice...


----------



## UrbanX (Oct 20, 2014)

Awesome photos and write up mate! Way sharper pics than me! 

Here's my tuppence: 

There's a fairly nondescript field that used to be part of an RAF base which is now sort of semi agricultural wasteland. There's a few small brick buildings, and the odd bit of MoD concrete that gives that give the game away, but nothing too exciting here... 












UE-OMJ


But...

In one of those little sheds is a weird little hole...

Which leads to a ladder... 

Which leads to a stair...




Which leads to...

A massive f**k off nuclear bunker!




It's huge. 96 rooms set over 2 storeys. 

Ventilation fans. I could walk upright through the ducts: 

 

Not often you still see shower curtains still in situ 24 years later: 






A lot of the rooms were labelled with err.. military precision, so you knew exactly what they were. I love the font, it almost reminds me of the old art-deco cinema fonts: 



Said cloakroom: 



Selfie:



Power plant! 









Main control room (apologies for blurry photo, my torch batteries were failing and I couldn't get focus) 






I was amazed that 24 years after closing, the glow in the dark signs were still going strong! 



The stair atrium was deliberately huge. They obviously craned their big bits of kit down there. you can see the crane in this shot: 




And the signage here: 




Bottom of the stairs: 






Flooded corridor: (Yep I waded the 200ft up it, and back with no waders) 



Obligatory metal blast doors:



Obligatory Selfie:



Ooh, electrical amplifiers! 
I have a confession to make, when I'm home alone I don't Google porn, I look at stuff like this: 






Huge room, missing some flooring, I had great fun dancing across the beams: 



The signs above the doors were lovely and functional!



Then Mr 2109 found this, the telephone exchange. This probably gave more insight into the actual day to day atmosphere than any of the architecture. In the dark, my first thought was how much it looked like an upright piano. I was half expecting to see some brass pedals at the bottom of it: 






These notices read: 
_"Bomb Call Check List" 

"Ask the caller:
When will it explode?
What does it look like?
Where is it?
What type of device is it?
Why are you giving this information?
Who are you?
How many bombs are there?
Why was the bomb planted?"

"Note the following:
Private / public call box
Male / female voice
Old young sounding
Was the speech: Muffled
Disguised
Excited
Slurred (Drunken)
Was the caller using a prepared brief
Any speech impediment or accent"

"Background noise:
Music, traffic, talk, machinery, 
Children, typing, train, any other" 

"Was the caller:
Conversant with the: 
Station Environment
Procedures
Movements"

"Any other information"

* "NOBODY LEAVES THIS BUNKER ALIVE"* _

_"...Nobody leaves this bunker alive"_ - Pretty sobering: 

 

Round the back: (oddly, the workings of it are less complicated than the operation of it!) 



Again, the labels bring a sober reminder of the severity of the situation that this structure was designed for. We kind of become desensitised to labels like this from watching endless Hollywood thrillers. But when you take in the reality of the location, it really must have been a terrifying working environment. 



Groupie (Is that the name for a group selfie?) Steve2109, UrbanX, & UE-OMJ



Groupies on the stairs (just before leaving 



Thanks for looking, video to follow.


----------



## steve2109 (Oct 20, 2014)

Great stuff mate..


----------



## UE-OMJ (Oct 20, 2014)

Great photos there both, and great write ups - Steve, you had me laughing out loud with that 

No mention of my little £2 torch saving your day eh


----------



## steve2109 (Oct 20, 2014)

forgot about the torch !! it was awesome and has now become my hero...


----------



## UE-OMJ (Oct 20, 2014)

I'll sell you it - £10 ok?


----------



## steve2109 (Oct 20, 2014)

UE-OMJ said:


> I'll sell you it - £10 ok?




it was only £2 !!!


----------



## flyboys90 (Oct 20, 2014)

Wow! brill reports and images from both of you and good to see you back on the air Steve.


----------



## odeon master (Oct 20, 2014)

amazing to see in here, thats some telephone exchange ! When was this bunker last in use, did it close in 1991 when the early warning system was disbanded? 
Great post


----------



## night crawler (Oct 20, 2014)

Nice one guys


----------



## Big C (Oct 20, 2014)

Brilliant!!
Cheers for sharing this chaps.


----------



## oldscrote (Oct 21, 2014)

That's amazing chaps,thanks


----------



## outkast (Oct 21, 2014)

is the kettle still at the bottom of the stairs?


----------



## steve2109 (Oct 22, 2014)

outkast said:


> is the kettle still at the bottom of the stairs?



didn't see it, and if we had OMJ would have polished it and tidied it up !


----------



## outkast (Oct 22, 2014)

steve2109 said:


> didn't see it, and if we had OMJ would have polished it and tidied it up !



I left a nice little message in the thick layer of dust on it


----------



## Newage (Oct 24, 2014)

That's proper nice, that's got to be the best ROTOR bunker I'v ever seen.

Cheers newage


----------



## LittleOz (Oct 25, 2014)

Awesome stuff guys, thanks for sharing.


----------



## Snips86x (Dec 15, 2014)

What an amazing find and incredible well hidden!!


----------



## ninjastoz (Dec 15, 2014)

actually doesn't matter..found it


----------

