# Ashley Rd Air Raid Shelter Epsom



## fluffy5518 (Aug 8, 2011)

Hi all !! This visit was an organized trip run by Sub-Brit and basically allowed you to have free run of the place between 10am and 3pm. The history of this shelter is rather sketchy but basically it was one of four shelters commissioned by Surrey council in 1939 and provided accommodation for 1500 members of the public. After the war it became derelict and was taken over by an air soft group within the last few years for their 'wargames' !!
They provided a generator for our use which meant that some sections were illuminated while others were in complete darkness. Anyway...............
Just inside the entrance is a curved tunnel with some stunning brickwork that must pre date WWII !!









Once inside the shelter itself there are three obvious types of construction. Unlined chalk, chalk lined with brick and Corrugated iron sheeting !! This is a brick lined section outside the toilet blocks.




Here we are at the entrance to the Ladies !! This area was apparantly a bathroom with the entrance to the cubicles on the right.




Into the Gents now still fitted with the original urinal




...and the many crammed in cubicles.




This is the wash area and before the vandals arrived housed a fair few sinks.




One of the virtually bog standard WWII tunnels of chalk and corrugated iron.




This is an unlined section showing wire netting above head height to catch any small chalk falls.




This section of Brick and corrugated sheet is in remarkable condition considering its 72 yrs old. !












This was and still is the canteen area.




Just a few random shots now. The unusual structures are wooden partitions put up by the air soft boys !!








Chains..........




All Clear !!!




Thanks for your time !!


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## gushysfella (Aug 8, 2011)

thank for posting thats sorted my need for brick arch porn this morning


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## night crawler (Aug 8, 2011)

Dam good show there Fluffy must have been a bit odd walking on all them airsoft balls though.


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## Janey68 (Aug 8, 2011)

Really enjoyed that thanku  brilliant pics


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## sYnc_below (Aug 8, 2011)

Looks very nice, better than I had expected TBH and top marks for not having a careless SB member wandering into any of your shots


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## Newage (Aug 8, 2011)

*Just a few more from me*

Was a good day, now using my 10mm to 24mm lens (I broke the last one) climing out of a water res just outside RAF Wroughton and a test of my new speed light flash gun.

Just a few ramdom pictures.









The main entrance way and a tight shot of the blocked emergency exit.

















More pictures over on my flickR page go to 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newage2/sets/72157627330473332/

Cheers Newage


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## fluffy5518 (Aug 9, 2011)

Nice one Oldage !! That flash gun seems to have perked you up a bit !! I must admit i am a bit sick n tired of going to sites that are covered in poxy airsoft balls BUT if it wasn't airsoft i suppose it would have been a secure storage site and then we wouldn't even get a lookin !! As regards not getting another SB member in the shots, it is difficault but having a rather large cockney gob does assist !! (In a polite way of course !!)


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## furstyferret81 (Aug 10, 2011)

Why do the airsoft guys get access to all the best sites!?


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## Els (Aug 15, 2011)

furstyferret81 said:


> Why do the airsoft guys get access to all the best sites!?



'Cos they pay and we (generally) don't.


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## professor frink (Aug 16, 2011)

Nice one guys, this is very local to me and I have been wanting to see this place for ages and the open day was when I was on holiday 

Nice pics guys and it looks better than I thought it would.


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## godzilla73 (Aug 17, 2011)

Yes - just like Frinky this is very local to chez godzilla and similarly I was gutted to have missed it. (Did get a look at some good Spanish Civil war forts though...) I can confirm that the Fluffy holler is very effective for clearing shambling Sub Brit members (including myself) out of the way. Sometimes you don't need it though, as one particular sub brit member who shall remain nameless has a particularly loud wheeze and can be heard coming some way off.....
Godzy


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## sYnc_below (Aug 17, 2011)

godzilla73 said:


> one particular sub brit member who shall remain nameless has a particularly loud wheeze and can be heard coming some way off.....
> Godzy



That person sounds very familiar, we gave said person a lift once then months later bumped into them somewhere else....heard them before I saw them


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## godzilla73 (Aug 17, 2011)

Yes - he just keeps turning up in the oddest places....!


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## sYnc_below (Aug 17, 2011)

godzilla73 said:


> Yes - he just keeps turning up in the oddest places....!



Sure does


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## godzilla73 (Aug 18, 2011)

very good hal...that even looks a bit like.... NO - WE MUST STOP THIS NOW BECAUSE IT IS VERY NAUGHTY AND WE WILL BE PUNISHED!!!!!!!! (note to mods - see, that was me self-regulating. News International might not be able to manage it, but DP members set ourselves higher standards dontcha know.)


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## sYnc_below (Aug 18, 2011)

godzilla73 said:


> that was me self-regulating



I should self regulate and remove the pic really, I just couldn't resist it


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