Drakelow Preservation Updates

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Some more updates (Please view the Preservation Update section on the website for more info)

July 9th:

Tunnel 4 lighting...

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August 20th:

Generator Wire Tracing...

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September 17th:

Work Party, (Lights, Cleaning, getting rid of rotten structure ready for the rebuild)...

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www.drakelow-tunnels.co.uk

Thanks to everyone who helped out:)
 
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I can't believe people are so small minded and selfish that they mindlessly destroy all your good work. :(

Well I don't think they will be getting back in the radiator room, it's hard enough for us to open it with a key!
 
5th Nov.

Another update...

Today had me crawling along a cable gantry 13ft above a pool of diesel asking myself why I plucked the short straw!!

I was helping to install a fault/trip alarm for the generator that will sound incase of a fault. This should allow us to get to it and turn it off before any lasting or major damage is caused.

It looks pretty cool too!!


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_S7flW1eoI[/ame]
 
We finally got the Air conditioning working yesterday, all fans fire up and and there is even HEAT being generated!!

On the road to dryer pastures lol.


Today the Russians came to visit. They saw the article on the open day in the Daily Mail and asked to do their own news piece. It will be aired in Russia on Ren TV but we should be getting a copy of it so it will go up on the www.drakelow-tunnels.co.uk website in the near future. Here is some pics of them visiting and interviewing the caretaker...


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:)
 
You will all be happy to know that the mens toilets urinals now self clean!! There was a blockage in the pipe that has now been cleared.

As we didn't have any bleach to hand, I used some 30 years old Supplies Division liquid detergent to clean them up!! I get all the nice jobs :D

Also, we met a guy who worked there during the cold war. He is going to try and find a video of the day after the cold war ended when we got his home video camera and wandered round the complex filming as he went!

According to this guy (who worked in the communication department) this was before the MOD stripped the place of all items and they were sent off in skips to be disposed of!

Hopefully we should get the video on our website within a few weeks.
 
Really impressed with you and your fellow volunteers' hard work and care for this fantastic site - respect :cool:
 
Thanks Chris. It's like a ROC rennovation but on a massive scale lol.
 
My calculator just exploded trying to work out how many ROC posts you could fit into Drakelow :mrgreen:
 
well the would all fit in top of hatch to ground floor, I reckon you would fit over half of the countries stock of them side by side!
 
How about this for a rare video, I have been in contact with a local man who worked in the tunnels during the Cold War and in March 1992, whilst the MOD still owned the bunker (after the war ended), he made a home video of the inside during it's final days of use!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ewn8CG76E0[/ame]
 
How about this for a rare video, I have been in contact with a local man who worked in the tunnels during the Cold War and in March 1992, whilst the MOD still owned the bunker (after the war ended), he made a home video of the inside during it's final days of use!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ewn8CG76E0

Absolutely superb video! I really enjoyed that.I first went down Drakelaw late 90,s of course all the good kit had gone and it was showing the signs of no air circulating, heavy fungi build up and then not long after that
the metal miners pinched the wiring loom thankfully there was back up loom,to be honest without Paul Stokes and his dedicated team I dread to think what would have become of it.
His book is worth a read and does not cost a lot " Drakelaw Unearthed" if anybody has any problem obtaining a
let me know and I will point inthe direction.
 
Absolutely superb video! I really enjoyed that.I first went down Drakelaw late 90,s of course all the good kit had gone and it was showing the signs of no air circulating, heavy fungi build up and then not long after that
the metal miners pinched the wiring loom thankfully there was back up loom,to be honest without Paul Stokes and his dedicated team I dread to think what would have become of it.
His book is worth a read and does not cost a lot " Drakelaw Unearthed" if anybody has any problem obtaining a
let me know and I will point inthe direction.


Although Mr Stokes did have some kind of prevention on areas to save, their actual involvement of helping to renovate the bunker was almost non existent.

They were more into keeping the complex untouched and left as it was left in the early 90's (as with the video).

Unfortunately over the decades it has quite obviously degraded (mainly due to the electrics being cut in a break in, preventing the air conditioning working 24/7).

For 2 years we have been working every other week renovating areas, putting new bulbs in, fixing the air/con, fixing the heating, fixing the genny etc.

Paul Stokes was eventually turfed out of the tunnels after he was found to be giving people private tours without the owners permission and pocketing the money and not putting it back into the tunnels.

We have made thousands of pounds over the last two years through paranormal bookings and open days/music/film productions. All from our own effort to get the bunker back on track.

Every single penny has gone back into the tunnels renovation. We take nothing, zilch.

I appreciate what the 'friends of Drakelow' did to try and stop any further destruction, but the way they treated the owner wasn't exactly professional.

Paul Stokes's book is however annoyingly good and has been a great help to piece together different parts of its history.
 
Well it's 2014 and time for the latest Drakelow Tunnels update!!

Our first work party of the new year took place yesterday and we welcomed along 2 new volunteers to the group who helped the group pull through a new mains cable and do other electrical magicary!

They also helped to start the clearing of the BT communications room where we plan to make the areas safe (remove rotted beams, dry out, replace beams and replace false ceiling etc). We started with removing some rotted beams and tying up the air fans that were once held in place by the false ceiling.

With the new electrics going to the security hut at the entrance of Adit A, we are installing mains boards and other panels that will be used in the future.

The images below show some of the work done and the transformation of the newly finished store room, from empty to full and a secure place for us to keep the ladders etc so nothing goes wandering off around the tunnels and it takes us half a day to find it!!

https://facebook.com/SaveDrakelow

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