# Underneath Bristol Temple Meads Pt2 Arch 68



## fluffy5518 (Jun 13, 2010)

Hi again;
Here is part 2 (probably of 4) showing the unseen side of Bristol Temple Meads Stn.This part concentrates on the emergency exit from the main stn (arch 68) up to the incline tunnel to the old Buffet Stores area under the stn buffet on plat 3. !!!
So first off is the view from inside the emergency exit tunnel looking out onto the streets of Bristol.Just to the left-although out of shot-is the entrance to the area that contains the air raid shelter.Whilst to the right is the entrance to the Great Hall,an area yet to be explored.!!





Now towards the air raid shelter,this was obviously converted from a disused side tunnel sometime in the early 1940's and is situated off the main passageway in a large room.! 





As you can see it isn't a large affair and definately wouldn't shelter the entire workforce of the station at that time........so the question is,is it the only one ?














The view the opposite way from the first picture of the emergency exit tunnel.As can be seen the tunnel divides here.The route to the left climbs to meet the passenger subway under plat 3 and emerges to normality at the rear of the public toilets (thru alarmed doors !!!).The route to the right continues towards the large storage areas for food and drink that have probably been disused since the 1960's.




Further into the RHS tunnel-still fully lit because it is still an emergency exit from plats 9/11.




The passageway continues towards the entrance to the Buffet Stores,however,for a distance of approx 100ft it is paralleld by another tunnel.Here is the main tunnel.




......and here are views of the parallel route.








As can be seen at the far end the by-pass tunnel ends with a wooden partition.I have absolutely no idea on the purpose of this tunnel.!!
At the partitioned end,looking in from the branch tunnel leading to the Buffet stores area.



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And finally two shots of the incline tunnel to the buffet stores still with narrow gauge track in situ to allow wagons to be winched up the steep incline.








Well thats it for this time !! Except to add that whilst setting up the camera n tripod for the first picture in the main tunnel of this section at 0200hrs, for some unexplained reason all the lighting in our section of the tunnel went out.Leaving us in an area of darkness but with light,probably 25yds away, on both sides.The strange thing was that operating the switch by the side of us turned them back on.-and there are no timer or remote switches in these areas,just one as you enter and one as you leave each section !!!!


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## godzilla73 (Jun 13, 2010)

Very smashing Fluff - that wooden partition is a conundrum though. Why on earth would you construct a partition like that particularly when you have to poke a whole in it to put the piping through? I take it you took these on a break from work??
GDZ


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## night crawler (Jun 13, 2010)

Brilliant stuff as we expect from you Fluffy.


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## fluffy5518 (Jun 14, 2010)

Godzy !!! You're back !!!! Hope the holes (sorry i mean Hols) were good !!
This visit was organized by a friend of mine who used to work on the platform at BTM.Railway staff get no special perks on exploring bits of this or any other stn,we are all treated as potential terrorists,loony-toons or tory voters.!!
As for the mystery parallel tunnel my only thought would be for a maintenance area for the narrow gauge wagons-but that is assuming that their actually was a narrow gauge system,because the only track remaining is the bit in the photo's.!!!
### A word of warning here - NEVER ASSUME because you'll usually make an ASS out of U and ME !!! Yes i know its old BUT it's still relevant !!!!


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## sqwasher (Jun 14, 2010)

Really intersting views fluffy! Nice one!


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## tommo (Jun 24, 2010)

more fantastic work, nice one


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