# Brinksway Air Raid Shelter, Stockport. June 09



## DigitalNoise (Jun 25, 2009)

Well, my week in Manchester was cut short unfortunately, but I wanted to make sure I did something worth the journey, so with some help from The new Mendoza and Chewy (thanks guys!), I managed to squeeze this place in before I left.
This place is becoming well known, with a few reports about already, so some may know the history. For those that don't...

The Brinksway shelters were dug between 1938-9 as a precaution in the run up to war and expected to hold four to five thousand people. The tunnels were dug into the red sandstone, originally with eight portals. These have all been sealed, but some genius found a way in. There are still hundreds of bunks lining the tunnels, many of these have already been broken down for scrap. The network of tunnels is huge, and it is easy to spend hours on end inside. Many explorers have mentioned bad air due to the lack of ventilation, but on my visit I felt no ill effects. For anybody that does, somebody has kindly painted arrows everywhere, all pointing towards the entrance, you can trust these, unlike in other places. Here's a plan of the shelter, although there are others floating about on the net...






Upon entereing the shelter it was incredibly humid, heavy showers added to this and I was worried how I would get any photos. It cleared up further into the shelter. 
There are a series of portals at the roadside, all bricked over.




Just inside the way in




First impressions




Mmmmmm, Mouldy.




The first features you come to are the toilets. These are a bit beaten, but most aren't as intact.




They were simply moulded ceramic pipes with a seat formed on top.




Some interesting deposits are forming on the walls









The bunks stretch for as far as the torch will shine




Partially scrapped bunks




The condensation was bad in places




One of the bricked up portals




Each portal had at least two layers of heavy felt curtain at the entrances to defend against gas attacks.




There were plenty of these lamps dotted around the place




Another blocked portal




And another. The piles of rubble would be the remains of the outer blast wall, swept in as the tunnels were bricked up.




More Tunnels




Some vintage rubbish




A bit of playing around


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## CHEWY (Jun 25, 2009)

Great pics DN 

Glad you managed to fit it in and you found the place ok


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## swedish (Jun 25, 2009)

alrite DigitalNoise, nice report love shots 6 & 7 an the shot of the lamp is really nice aswell. thanks for sharing


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## Krypton (Jun 25, 2009)

I can actually smell these tunnels from the office!


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## MaBs (Jun 25, 2009)

Looks like a really interesting site! Some really good pictures! 

There is one similar in Pontefract,Yorkshire


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## Badoosh (Jun 25, 2009)

Excellent pics DN, looks like a really good explore. Would love to do the Stockport shelters someday.


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## Darkness (Jun 25, 2009)

Nice one dude, as Badoosh says, great explore!
looks really interesting...


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## sqwasher (Jun 26, 2009)

Excellent stuff DigitalNoise, when freebird & i visited in March the air was pretty good down there too. I know what you mean about the posibility of spending hours down here-we did! Top job, great photos!


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## Goldie87 (Jun 26, 2009)

Good stuff, its a really cool looking place


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