Public urged to help locate hidden wartime 'Scallywag' bunkers

[bigeye]

I said Otty was nervous, not that Otty had started a full-on power swim from Teddington Locks to central London. Everything said so far may have been in the public domain, but let's not encourage those with snippets which are not public the opportunity to divulge them here.

It's been an interesting thread drift, but maybe we could head back to WW2 Aux Unit hides?

Point taken. However there must have been some such hides within London too?

 

[bigeye]

Bring it on Otty, I'm waiting for you:

View attachment 541829

BSA, Weirauch, Weirach, Feinwerkbau

 

[Bubbles_Barker]

BSA, Weirauch, Weirach, Feinwerkbau

Nearly....

 

[bigeye]

Nearly....

Left to right BSA Airsporter , Second is a Weirauch, the third a Diana Mod 50, and the last is Weirauch (although the stock looks 'after market' as the one of the chamber hinge pins is covered)

 

[Bubbles_Barker]

Left to right BSA Airsporter , Second is a Weirauch, the third a Diana Mod 50, and the last is Weirauch (although the stock looks 'after market' as the one of the chamber hinge pins is covered)

I prefer Original Mod 50...

But yes - a Mk6 Airsporter, HW80K, Mod 50 and HW35K. My fave is the 80K but the Mod 50 is a brute and the Airsporter is just as heavy.

 

[Turret_Monster]

Bring it on Otty, I'm waiting for you:

View attachment 541829

Save your ammunition. I've seen Tarka the Otter.

 

[Awol]

That's the one!
We also went to Dollis Hill to see the 'other' cabinet war rooms , the complex at Corsham and a number of other fascinating places.

My sister lives in Corsham, right in the centre of the sneaky bits on a piece of land that the MOD sold off about 20 years ago. Behind her house is a bit of woodland, also bought by a neighbour from the MOD, and that wood is stuffed full of the ruins of old red brick foundations and bumpy earthworks, not to mention a couple of padlocked square manholes at ground level.

I did wonder at the time about them, but now doubly so.

 

[Cutaway]

My sister lives in Corsham, right in the centre of the sneaky bits on a piece of land that the MOD sold off about 20 years ago. Behind her house is a bit of woodland, also bought by a neighbour from the MOD, and that wood is stuffed full of the ruins of old red brick foundations and bumpy earthworks, not to mention a couple of padlocked square manholes at ground level.

I did wonder at the time about them, but now doubly so.

Go get the kit before the fun police rob it.

 

[Slime]

My sister lives in Corsham, right in the centre of the sneaky bits on a piece of land that the MOD sold off about 20 years ago. Behind her house is a bit of woodland, also bought by a neighbour from the MOD, and that wood is stuffed full of the ruins of old red brick foundations and bumpy earthworks, not to mention a couple of padlocked square manholes at ground level.

I did wonder at the time about them, but now doubly so.

The Corsham and Box area are jam packed with underground sites.

You obviously have Corsham Computer Centre, but also the Burlington and massive RN Copenacre site.

For mental conspiracy theorists Rudloe Manor is also a magnet.
There was also the internal Box tunnel layout.

This Youtube video on CCC is one of my favourites. Not because the makers were remotely adult or professional, but because it shows just what a free country the U.K. is, and how it isn’t the ‘police state’ that people like those making the video often try to claim.

 

[bigeye]

My sister lives in Corsham, right in the centre of the sneaky bits on a piece of land that the MOD sold off about 20 years ago. Behind her house is a bit of woodland, also bought by a neighbour from the MOD, and that wood is stuffed full of the ruins of old red brick foundations and bumpy earthworks, not to mention a couple of padlocked square manholes at ground level.

I did wonder at the time about them, but now doubly so.

As I mentioned we covered Corsham in one of our Underground Britain series. Fascinating place. One of the crew pinched a MoD bakerlite telephone.

As someone else said there's still a classified Signals bit. One of the 'bunkers' was recently utilised by criminal types for growing weed. Plod raided the place and carted off a load of Chinese illegals. (these 'facts' might need checking)

*poorly edited

 

[Slime]

As I mentioned we covered Corsham in one of our Underground Britain series. Fascinating place. One of the crew pinched a MoD bakerlite telephone.

As someone else said there's still a classified Signals bit. One of the 'bunkers' was recently utilised by criminal types for growing weed. Plod raided the place and carted off a load of Chinese illegals. (these 'facts' might need checking)

*poorly edited

Yes, a local bunker was raided, and the illegal migrant workers were from the Far East, possibly from Vietnam (going from memory and without checking that).

There is an excellent book on Burlington by Nick Catford.
I went to a ‘talk evening’ on the subject and what was an amusing stand out point was how two young boys had wondered why there were large diameter pipes going into the ground near where they lived. They ended up going into the system and found the electrics were all live, so rode around on the conveyor system for many hours.

When they got back home one of them told their dad what they had found but the dad didn’t believe him.
The above was decades ago, and long before the arrival of the internet etc.

 

[bigeye]

Yes, a local bunker was raided, and the illegal migrant workers were from the Far East, possibly from Vietnam (going from memory and without checking that).

There is an excellent book on Burlington by Nick Catford.
I went to a ‘talk evening’ on the subject and what was an amusing stand out point was how two young boys had wondered why there were large diameter pipes going into the ground near where they lived. They ended up going into the system and found the electrics were all live, so rode around on the conveyor system for many hours.

When they got back home one of them told their dad what they had found but the dad didn’t believe him.
The above was decades ago, and long before the arrival of the internet etc.

Nick Catford was our guide for the Underground Britain series.

 

[Slime]

Nick Catford was our guide for the Underground Britain series.

He is the epitome of how explorations should be done imho, and a world away from some of the arrogant ‘truth seekers’ that infest youtube etc.

 

[Yokel]

Is there a collection of information on the remains of fortifications from the Second World War (which this thread is about), or indeed the First? Scally wag bunkers, coastal artillery, anti aircraft lookouts and gun sites, coastal lookouts, surviving air raid shelters, underground utilities or manufacturing, and things like that.

 

[QRK2]

As I mentioned we covered Corsham in one of our Underground Britain series. Fascinating place. One of the crew pinched a MoD bakerlite telephone.

As someone else said there's still a classified Signals bit. One of the 'bunkers' was recently utilised by criminal types for growing weed. Plod raided the place and carted off a load of Chinese illegals. (these 'facts' might need checking)

*poorly edited

The MoD sites started off as stone quarries and IIRC some (but not all) of the dodgy agriculture was in one or two quarries in the area that the MoD hadn't used.

 

[tiv]

My bold - not all they're cracked up to be, take my word for it. I used to have to leave my 4th Floor desk for a week every year and relocate to the bottom floor of PINDAR for some sort of NATO crisis exercise. Believe me, after a day or two the novelty of sitting in the PM's seat in the Government Emergency Rooms wears off and by the time you are ready to test the tunnel exit back to (I think) Kingsway you never want to do it again.

The look on people's faces when a mass of blokes in suits exits onto the pavement from a nondescript door was priceless though.

Around 1990 a mate booked us on a visit to the disused tube station at Down Street organised by LT, the booking fee was donated to some charity or other. We went in down the former emergency stairs and exit was by tube train. When we were ready to depart the guide contacted the control who instructed the next train to stop, aided by a red torch waived by the guide. The look on the passengers faces as we all came out from the drivers cab apparently in the middle of the tunnel was something to behold. Curiously this Hidden London tours: The secrets of Down Street Tube station – On the Luce travel blog indicates you now exit via the stairs.

 

[bigeye]

He is the epitome of how explorations should be done imho, and a world away from some of the arrogant ‘truth seekers’ that infest youtube etc.

Hear hear.. although he would admit to taking a few liberties with trespass rules (not law, as trespassing per se is not illegal)

 

[Cutaway]

The Corsham and Box area are jam packed with underground sites.

You obviously have Corsham Computer Centre, but also the Burlington and massive RN Copenacre site.

For mental conspiracy theorists Rudloe Manor is also a magnet.
There was also the internal Box tunnel layout.

This Youtube video on CCC is one of my favourites. Not because the makers were remotely adult or professional, but because it shows just what a free country the U.K. is, and how it isn’t the ‘police state’ that people like those making the video often try to claim.

My fok Marelize, there are some nutters around.

On the other hand at least your mal konts don't chop anyone up.

 

[tiv]

In case it's of interest some plans of the Box complex I came across on the net. Bottom right on the first one is the rail connection to the GW main line by the portal to Box Tunnel.

 

[jagman2]

Yes, a local bunker was raided, and the illegal migrant workers were from the Far East, possibly from Vietnam (going from memory and without checking that).

There is an excellent book on Burlington by Nick Catford.
I went to a ‘talk evening’ on the subject and what was an amusing stand out point was how two young boys had wondered why there were large diameter pipes going into the ground near where they lived. They ended up going into the system and found the electrics were all live, so rode around on the conveyor system for many hours.

When they got back home one of them told their dad what they had found but the dad didn’t believe him.
The above was decades ago, and long before the arrival of the internet etc.

I believe that was another nearby complex they were in at Monkton Farleigh, not to far away.
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