Wenallt AAOR Bunker, Cardiff

Riskybex · Apr 28, 2024

Anti-Aircraft Operations Rooms (AAORs) or Gun Operations Rooms (GORs) as they were known during the second world war owe their origin to the Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) organisation of the late 1930’s. (The name change occurred during the 1942 re organisation of AA Command with both titles being in common usage).

Later the former AAOR became the main BT war headquarters for Wales. The distinctive curved glass galleries were stripped out, and new dormitories, air conditioning, canteen etc., were installed in the 1970s but the work was abandoned before completion and the bunker is now disused although the adjacent BT radio site remains in service.

Unfortunately after the bunker became disused it was attacked by vandals and set on fire. The bunker remains but in a poor state.

BikinGlynn · Apr 29, 2024

Jees that one is well battered! such a shame

night crawler · Apr 29, 2024

Shame they did not burn themselves as well

Hayman · Apr 29, 2024

Just as non-arsonists cannot understand the minds of arsonists so arsonists probably cannot understand why non-arsonists get so upset about the burning of what to the firelighters is rubbish. John Betjeman had his battles with those that wanted to replace Victorian buildings with 1960s and 1970s brutalist modernism. Luckily for us, he won some of them.

TeeJF · May 1, 2024

Nice one! I'm saddened to see such an interesting structure blackened and burnt but it's still a real humdinger. The Maginot Line forts suffered arson big time - pykeys go in and angle grind the huge power cables which sets fire to the paper insulation. They bug out then come back a few weeks later to harvest the copper. We went into one particular fort twice twelve months apart and found this had happened in the interim., There was literally a wall of thick, black toxic smoke at the bottom of the ammunition entrance ramp which was impenetrable even though the fire had been out for a while - at 30+ metres underground there's sod all ventilation so the smoke just will not clear..