chiselhurst caves group visit jan/2010 pic heavy

[tommo]

well this is one that i have read about and wanted to see for ages

so back at the arse end of 2009, i shot an email of to the caves requesting something different, not expecting to much they responded witht he offer of an extended group visit, behind the scenes do what we like tour

so i fired some more emails of and got a nice little group together, sorry for the couple i had hiccups with :banghead ( maniac) we arranged the time and date but forgot to get back to u on what to wear and kit needed, it wasnt easy keeping in contact with 20+ peeps,

but any way, spungletrumpet offered to let me share his ride, picking me up at 6.30 ish lol we headed over to the caves, must of been a good night before as i feel asleep on the way there :thumb

all meeting up at 10.00 in the car park, diehard cooking breakfast was so funny, it was nice to see 95% of who was invited turn up, it was a conversion of darkplaces,28days and derelict place guys, half had never meet the other half and some where new to us all, but saying that every one got on great and the atmosphere was really good, we even found time to lark about :crazy

taggin along was me, spungletrumpet,urbanjunkey,turker,pirate,datsun,evil genius,bonecollector, root,madrab,boxhead,walrus,maggot,milesfinch,petzl,brickman,diehardlove,coventry,bigherbie,canute,

not all where present in the group pic

heading in to the caves with our guide glenn, he gaves the best health and safety briefing to date " its dangerous " and thats was it, took all of 1 second and we where off,i think that and at the end was the only time i saw him, we where allowed to go where we liked basically as long as we didnt get lost and sort of followed him, so apologies for not hearing what he had to say, so some of the pics i havent got a clue where we where or what the history was in that part


some history of the site and form what i believe all that u read is not true, its not 20 miles of passages its more like 4 miles and a large section is used by a group that do alot of role playing games http://www.labyrinthe.co.uk/venue/ but it was basically londons biggest air raid shelter during ww2 as well as being saxon, roman sites the site is here http://www.chislehurstcaves.co.uk/ also some films where shot here over the years see below

Chislehurst Caves are a labyrinth of dark mysterious passageways which have been hewn by hand from the chalk, deep beneath Chislehurst. There are over 20 miles of caverns and passageways, dug over a period of 8000 years. The vast complex of caves are a maze of ancient mines originally carved out in the search for flint and chalk. They are divided into three main sections, Saxon, Druid and Roman. Each section was later connected by digging joining passages.The presence of chalk has been important to civilisations over thousands of years, and still is to date. Mining chalk provides Lime and FlintLime is the basic for plaster and whitewash paint, flint was used for manufacturing tools by early man and later for building. The mining activity is difficult to date however the mines appear on a charter circa 1250 and also in local church records of 1737.The last time the mines were known to have been worked was around the 1830's when the Saxon section was used by a flintmaker and limeburner.
The local railway made the mines more accessable in 1865, and this aided its formation as a tourist attraction. The caves also became the setting for several underground concerts in the early 1900's. During the 1914 World War the mines became part of Woolwich Arsenal, used as an ammunitions depot. A narrow gauge railway was installed to aid the transport through the passages. Up until the outbreak of the Second World War the mines were used by the Kent Mushroom Company.The war and the constant bombings over London turned the caves into a massive air raid shelter within easy reach from London and its main suburbs. The Caves are also used as a film location and have been used by the BBC and independent film companies. "Doctor Who and the Mutants" with John Pertwee, Insemenoid, Bliss, Neverwhere and Randall & Hopkirk (deceased) have all been filmed at the caves. Most of the subterranean scenes in the popular BBC series "Merlin" were also filmed here.

 

[tommo]

on we go

air raid shelter ticket office

map of the site showing all the different periods

tables of lanterns i think where used for the tours, but we where armed with about 20 tesco torches and a couple of scurions :thumb

stone carvings

stage area for all the entertainment

one of the 3 canteens on site

ww2 cinema for 200 peeps

another canteen

hospital

the first citizens advice bureau

 

[Foxylady]

Great site and history. Lol at all the mod cons and various things down there, though.
Looks like that was a good group visit. Excellent pics.

 

[AndyC]

I went there as a teenager. And would love to go again.

But what do I remember from that visit?

We went through a corridor (for want of a better word). This was in a group. Then the guide told us that had we spotted any glittery stuff on the walls in that section, that was from filming of Dr Who.

Oh thanks, I had not spotted the glitter, but was (and am) a Who fanatic. But never spotted it. Funnily as a teenager I was not bothered - as an approaching (or there) middle aged git I am.

Glitter is probably long gone. But some painted symbols on the walls I understand survive.

It was the Mutants (about 1972, not to be confused with some paperwork calling the first Dalek story The Mutants).

I'll get me coat.

Sorry, I'll get me anorak.

 

[the harvester]

Brilliant Tommo, you are a proper cave-hound, what a place to have a mooch, love it mate.

 

[tommo]

cheers all

they where filming some thing new when we where there so it was interesting to see all the lighting used and in place, but we never found out what it was they where making

 

[klempner69]

Very well presented report Tommo.

 

[djrich]

I've always wanted to go here, nice pics

 

[Evilgenius]

Top pics as always tommo, so regret not taking any now but hey.

The guide was a good laugh to, thought he was going to have a riot at one point with us all slying off on our own little adventures! lol

Great day, great company!

 

[Dieter_Schmidt]

Why does the chap on the extreme left, appear to be holding an AK47?

 

[diehardlove]

Why does the chap on the extreme left, appear to be holding an AK47?

id be more worried about the left with a lump hammer lol