'Just tunnels!' The Plymouth Underground Ext

[fluffy5518]

..............'and down these stairs are the tunnels of the Plymouth Underground Extension.Built between 1942 - 1944 these formed part of an extensive protected communication network at a number of establishments around the country.They housed Radio,telephone,telegraph and voice frequency connections direct to a series of important locations in the UK.You're welcome to go down and have a look around but there's not too much to see now because thy're just tunnels !!'..................
JUST TUNNELS !!!,JUST TUNNELS !!! What about the smells,the shadows,the rotting wood,decaying brick and crumbling concrete,the light,the dark,the pitch blackness,the dripping water,the damp,the humidity,the eerie stillness,the electrical hum,the puddles,the cavens,the cross passages,the strange forgotten rooms...................THESE ARN'T JUST TUNNELS !!!!!!!
The stairwell,looking down.

Into the narrow,lit spine passage.

The main corridor with cross passages.

Modified sections leading to generators,fuel tanks and fire fighting all installed in the tunnels.

Abandoned WWII areas showing some of the cavenous type rooms and small cross passages.

Narrow emergency exit/vent tunnel.

What a truly fascinating place,full of history and ghosts of our past,much like the underground working at Dover.Hopefully me old buddy Newage will provide us with more piccies and a report on the entire visit to Mount Wise.Hope you enjoyed these !!!!

 

[night crawler]

Now I see what you were taking on the other side of the door. Take it you were down with Newage on the photo's I saw on Flickr. Nice shots give an atmosphere to the place

 

[fluffy5518]

Thanx Mr Crawler !! Yes it was an organized visit to Mount Wise at Plymouth but the main buildings were HEAVILLY modified in the early 1990's and are now far too modern looking for my taste- even if they are (sort of) derelict !!!!

 

[smax man]

great pics

i did not know about them but if you could pm me with more info i would love to go have a look some time

thanks

 

[dangerous dave]

guess this was part of the tour on tues of mount wise complex

 

[mk1kebab]

guess this was part of the tour on tues of mount wise complex

There was a tour on tuesday?????!!!! arrrrhhhhh man I missed it again!!! If anyone is organising a trip I would be grateful to come along, or if someone could pm me info on who to speak to? I am desperate to get down here!!

 

[fluffy5518]

Hi all;
Guys,this was part of an organized tour by Sub-Brit.It is definately worth joining as they organize a few trips each year (most of which are free) and some of which are virtually unrepeatable without some bloody good contacts on the inside !!! This was a tour of Mount Wise and included the tunnels of the Plymouth Underground Extension.Not only did we get a guided tour but we were then left alone to do as we wished for the best part of 4 hours !!! Great stuff !!!

 

[smax man]

thanks for that will have to have a look into that

 

[Badoosh]

Cracking place isn't it! Nice pics fluffy. Should have got in touch & we could have shown you some other stuff whilst you were down here.

 

[King Al]

Looks like a great explore, cool pics fluffy

 

[Lost Explorer]

Wow! It's always amazing to think what might be below you when you are walking!

 

[fluffy5518]

Thanx again guys !!
Unfortunately it was only a flying visit Badoosh,just literally enough time to visit Mount Wise then back home again and that was 14hrs !! HOWEVER !! Thanx for the invite i dont think it will be too long before we visit Plymouth again !!

 

[Newage]

A few more pictures

Hi All
As Fluffy said the place is fantastic, I know there is another thread on DP so I'll try and add a few more
of the unusual pictures.

First off was a blocked side passage (Well not blocked off enough) you can just see the entrance hole
on the far right. The passage links back up with the main entrance passage about 60 feet along in a kind of "U" shape.

The next few shots are of the Blagdon boad yard entrance/exit

As Fluffy said before the WW2 passages found a new use in the cold war era, with generators and other equipment added to the tunnel system, one thing you need is fuel and lots of it.

And on the other side of the hatch is a massive fuel tank.

Next door to the fuel tank is the number 1 generator room. As you can see the diesel engine lives inside this blast door protected steel box.

The last 2 shots are of the two air vent passages, the first on the left is the passage that leads to "Richmond Walk" and the second is the air vent passage that leads to Blagdon yard.

Thanks for looking, I'v put up all the pictures from our day down in Plymouth on my FlickR site if you want to see any more please feel free to go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/newage2/sets/72157622794757295/
and have a look.

All comments are most welcome.
Cheers Newage

 

[fluffy5518]

oi !!! Get orf me thread !!!

 

[Timmy]

some great snaps going on there!

as some one said above... its striking to think only a few meters below you there is tunnels that have and was used in the wars that almost destroyed plymouth but they still remain for many to see! i for one will be up for going down there... (hint hint... badoosh )... just have to repair my bikes engine to be able to travel around again

 

[fluffy5518]

A-ha !! Back again !!!
Thought a quick map of the tunnels would be appropriate here.!!
I did read (maybe on an earlier thread here) that there are approx 2 1/2 miles of 'em.!!!!
Anyway this is the Sub Brit map (shamelessly ripped from their web site)

Basically the entrance from Mount Wise is at the bottom.
All the tunnels to the RHS of the main corridor are abandoned,
The set of tunnels at the top of the map 32-37 etc are all blocked off,with 36 and the exit to Hamoaze House backfilled.
All the tunnels/passages to the LHS of the main corridor were in use until recently and house various machinary.
All the LHS entrance/Vent tunnels are open (obviously gated/grilled over)
The strange section at bottom left has obviously been walled off and new tunnel lining added as there was no evidence of it.
Neither did i notice the 5000 gall water tank room !!!
The toilets at 41 do still exist,

.....and Newages side tunnel is the dog leg section at bottom middle.

 

[steve_o]

Heres a shot up towards the water tank Bud!

Not a room as such, just kinda shoved up in a hole bored out the rock. It was up the very rusted ladder,

 

[Grumpy]

Yep ! I was on this trip too! I would have been up that ladder if the bottom 3 or 4 foot hadn't been missing!

 

[Lightbuoy]

Fantastic set of photos chaps -these combined with the history and map makes for great viewing -cheers!

 

[NickCatford]

Unfortunately it will not be possible to organise any further trips to Mount Wise as it is being further stripped in January and coverted into a secure data centre.

This trip was arranged at very short notice. I would have preferred to have gone in the new year which would have allowed us time to advertise it to more people but the owners said it would have to be before Christmas so my hands were tied.

Having said that, 40 people managed to get to Plymouth midweek at short notice for an 11am start which I thiink is pretty good going. Quite a ot of people came from the London area and a couple from Manchester.

Nick