Stockport Chestergate Air Raid Shelters - 5/03/2008

[chinchilla]

I know the Chestergate Air Raid shelters have been done before, but oh well, something easy as my first post :)

On the 1st Wednesday of the Month an extended tour is conducted in the evening which allows you to access areas that are normally closed. I went on one of these armed with my trusty Canon EOS 20d and 17-85mm lens. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to use a tripod - so for the tunnels that are normally closed I had to use the flash, but there was a enough light in the "refurbished" tunnels to hand hold without a flash.

All in all an excellent tour.

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Entrance to one of the many toilets.

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The sawn off remains of the original seats.

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Remains of the original benches.

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This sign is apparently an original.

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Imperfections in the sand stone.

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Chemical toilets - the sewers don't go all of the way back, so some of the toilets are chemical. I bet emptying these were fun.

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A gas mask for babies - you put the entire baby in.

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The medical area - the only part of the shelters which are "done up".

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ARP etched into the sand stone.

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The zinc galvanised beds are in excellent condition compared to the steel ones.

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One of the original light fittings in the ceiling.

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Apparently the remains of a fuse box.

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The air raid siren that came off the nearby police station.

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