Brislington War Room, Bristol - May 2018

[WhoDaresWins]

Explored on a couple of occasions with @Seffy @tumbles @Disco Kitten & @tallginge - One time with my fisheye and then with my usual lens, hence the mix.​

First thing I want to say is that walking around this bunker was incredible. The sense of Cold War paranoia was palpable. In almost every room. Really enjoyed it and well worth the wait. Glad it wasn’t flooded at the bottom either.​

The explore:
A few of us have been wanting to get into here a long time however previous recces in the past few years have failed due to it being completely covered in ivy. A few months back I had a few days off work so nee afternoon I walked into the site towards the back where the bunker resides. As I approached I was amazing at how much of the ivy was now gone. Both doors were completely free from it. The first one, more blatant, was locked so I walked around the back and was met by about 8 people smoking. Right outside the door! It was now the official smoking area. So a daytime mooch wasn’t so great anymore.​

Nonetheless, this set things in motion. We wanted to return to investigate for access. After a few visits we were in.​

History:

Brislington War Room, sometimes known as Bristol War Room, was constructed during the early 1950’s and completed in 1953, designed to protect the functions of regional government from an atomic bomb and to co-ordinate civil defence. It’s a rare survival of a purpose-built war room, built to the two-storey semi-sunken design, the only other remaining unaltered example of which is Reading War Room.

This was the war room for Home Defence Region 7, which covered Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Bristol along with the other war rooms was replaced in the early 1960s by Regional Seats of Government which were better equipped to cope with the hydrogen bomb (the detonation of the Soviet H-bomb in August 1953 was the catalyst for this change in strategy). Some of the war rooms like Reading and Cambridge were integrated into the new Regional Seats of Government buildings; however, the example at Bristol was rented by the Home Office to Avon County Council, who used it as their County Borough Control until 1981. It was at this time the Home Office increased the rent and the County Council refused to pay. Since that time it has been partially de-stored (that is, has had removable equipment taken away), racking has been inserted into a number of the rooms on the upper floor and it has been used for document and fire extinguisher storage.​

​

The pics:

The operations room:
The large map on the wall dates from about 1980, it shows Avon District Council boundaries and locates the county borough control, sub controls, sector controls and control posts. There are several signs relating to Exercise Square Leg and an alert state board to the right.​

A rather fascinating system for passing paper messages to the floor below still works perfectly. It consists of a wire basket and a system of ropes and pulleys for lowering the basket to the lower corridor. The basket locks in position in the upper room but can also be operated from below.​

All of the windows surrounding the operations room have curved glass windows (to prevent reflection).

Some of the other rooms:

In the signals room:

The chairs had some nice details on the back:

And finally, the blast doors:​

​

Thanks for looking​

 

[Speed]

An excellent explore, and report!

 

[raisinwing]

 

[tumbles]

Love the fish eye mate. Worth the persistence with this one!

 

[Els]

Proper decent that is.

 

[Will Knot]

Brilliant, nice report Well done.

 

[Stitch]

The man

 

[Elcamino;)]

Nicely done! Some splendid shots here

 

[mickeyaitch]

Explored on a couple of occasions with @Seffy @tumbles @Disco Kitten & @tallginge - One time with my fisheye and then with my usual lens, hence the mix.

First thing I want to say is that walking around this bunker was incredible. The sense of Cold War paranoia was palpable. In almost every room. Really enjoyed it and well worth the wait. Glad it wasn’t flooded at the bottom either.

The explore:
A few of us have been wanting to get into here a long time however previous recces in the past few years have failed due to it being completely covered in ivy. A few months back I had a few days off work so nee afternoon I walked into the site towards the back where the bunker resides. As I approached I was amazing at how much of the ivy was now gone. Both doors were completely free from it. The first one, more blatant, was locked so I walked around the back and was met by about 8 people smoking. Right outside the door! It was now the official smoking area. So a daytime mooch wasn’t so great anymore.

Nonetheless, this set things in motion. We wanted to return to investigate for access. After a few visits we were in.

History:



The pics:

The operations room:
The large map on the wall dates from about 1980, it shows Avon District Council boundaries and locates the county borough control, sub controls, sector controls and control posts. There are several signs relating to Exercise Square Leg and an alert state board to the right.

A rather fascinating system for passing paper messages to the floor below still works perfectly. It consists of a wire basket and a system of ropes and pulleys for lowering the basket to the lower corridor. The basket locks in position in the upper room but can also be operated from below.

All of the windows surrounding the operations room have curved glass windows (to prevent reflection).

Some of the other rooms:

In the signals room:

The chairs had some nice details on the back:

And finally, the blast doors:

Thanks for looking​

Brilliant, thanks 👍👍

 

[Webbs0710]

Looks cracking, nicely done! Fair bit of that paperwork has gone walkies though unfortunately wouldn't be surprised if it's been sealed up at this point either, as somebody has had the access gate to the site off recently

 

[tumbles]

Looks cracking, nicely done! Fair bit of that paperwork has gone walkies though unfortunately wouldn't be surprised if it's been sealed up at this point either, as somebody has had the access gate to the site off recently

A lot of it was cleared out when the DWP vacated the rest of the site.

It’s now got security on site, but then people have had plenty of time visit it when it was wide open for nearly 6 months

 

[Bikin Glynn]

A lot of it was cleared out when the DWP vacated the rest of the site.

It’s now got security on site, but then people have had plenty of time visit it when it was wide open for nearly 6 months

recently then? I was there last yr & was open but had to climb the fence to get in.
Im very pleased if they have sealed it it really needs saving before some goon burns it out

 

[tumbles]

recently then? I was there last yr & was open but had to climb the fence to get in.
Im very pleased if they have sealed it it really needs saving before some goon burns it out

In the last month. The developers have ramped up work on site, two chaps routinely sat up front by the gate. The actual bunker itself is still open thou. Electricity ain't working inside anymore 🤭

 

[DustySensorPhotography]

Lovey place, well captured

 

[Seffy]

recently then? I was there last yr & was open but had to climb the fence to get in.
Im very pleased if they have sealed it it really needs saving before some goon burns it out

Honestly, place was wide open for a good few months! They now have a couple of guys parked outside the main gate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Talk about too little too late 😁