Burlington. Does it really need an introduction? Does it really need another report? Probably not, but fuck it you're going to suffer my take on the place, because personally I can never see enough pictures from here and well, it's been a while since I posted anything.
There are some places you see photos of and you never think in a million years you'll ever get to see them. You have a go but you're no where near in reality. You put it out of your mind and pretend to yourself that it doesn't really matter, that it's going to be fucked inside by now or stripped out or belled up etc. etc. Even if that thought is temporary, we all do it, I guarantee you. If you don't, you're probably lying to yourself.
I cannot claim to have found the way into here, in reality I was a mere tourist. Credit goes to fb for that and a chance conversation at the Browns meet which re-kindled a lust for this place. So on a whim and with what was in reality very little information, myself and Frosty headed down the M4 corridor once again with a ridiculous amount of kit not really sure what we would be facing or even precisely how we were going to do it.
The M4 gets no less boring no matter how many times you drive it, which in the past few months has been far too many. I really dread to think how many thousands of miles I've actually clocked up on it's tarmac.
It actually took us more than one attempt to finally get in here, the first time we were stumped the same as fb standing in the same place at some ridiculous hour of the morning glimpsing through a 2 inch gap that no matter how hard we tried we were never going to get past, at least for that night. We called it a night that evening and did some further research on the subject.
Fast forward a week and we repeat the same, absolutely dog tired after working all day, driving all evening and taking over 2 hours to even get into the place we finally set foot into the bunker. I almost kissed the floor, instead opting to give Frosty a really big hug despite him not being too keen on receiving it. I think we smiled all the way down the first corridor into the bunker proper, it was actually quite surreal.
You probably won't see any photos you've not seen before, but here are a few.
It's a slightly odd feeling being somewhere that you've read so much about, seen so many photos of and wanted to set foot in for so long. Will it live up to the expectation and anticipation of seeing it in the flesh? Are we really on our own down here? To start with you keep looking around you thinking some angry security guards are going to be running down the corridor behind you.
The telephone exchange is one of the highlights, it's all still there and for a geek like me it's pure porn really. I took way more photos of the 1980's racked gear at the back of the place than the 1950's switchboard that everyone photographs to death.
The telephone exchange even has it's own room specifically to power it with the hefty amount of DC current it required to run.
There's all sorts of noises in the place. It's being re-fitted for something, but for what use remains a mystery. New lighting graces the walls of the corridors, the place is clean and tidy, new drain pipes and corrugated plastic channel the water which endlessly drips into the place away from the main thoroughfares, but in essence the place is still as complete as you could wish for.
The stores are still crammed with all the items one would need in the event of nuclear war, although the pillows are looking a tad mouldy these days it has to be said.
When you think about going somewhere there's always that one thing you wouldn't mind taking home. I confess I seriously considered for a minute taking one of the big valves out of the PA. I didn't. But I will happily confess I did give them a tug to see if it would be possible. It isn't. I'd like to think this will be saved and end up in some museum somewhere, it probably won't. When they go through the place and start using it for whatever it is they're going to use it for, I have no doubt this magnificent amplifier array and all it's associated equipment will end up in a skip, that will be a sad day and I'll kick myself, hard, for sure.
The bathroom areas are amazingly clean still and there's plenty of them. This is one of the smaller ones, there are much larger ones. It's really notable how much more space there is in the mens facilities compared to the ladies and it does make you remember things have changed a lot in the last 60 years since the place was conceived. I have no doubt if there wasn't the need for secretaries and typists there would have probably been no ladies facilities in the place at all.
Oxygen Thief took a photo from here I will never forget, it was one of the pictures that made me want to visit this place more than most. Lampson Tubes are infact genius. A way of sending physical objects around a place using nothing more than compressed air, and this place has the daddy of all Lampson tube exchanges, it's a proper behemoth, I love it.
Do the kitchens need any introduction? I thought not. It's like stepping into a slightly more industrial version of your grandmothers kitchen with that piece of 1950's equipment that she's still using after all these years, after all they don't make them like they used to right?
Who says health and safety is a new concept?
Old post office issue poster.
Electric vehicle graveyard, this was a sorry sight really. There were a couple of others parked up the other end as well. They are using vehicles of some sort down here, you could see the tracks but where they're actually storing them is elsewhere in the Corsham Underground.
Generators, 4 of them to keep the place running and they were massive!
Just because I could.
I'm glad to say it was worth every minute of the many times we had tried different ways of getting in here and the trouble we had got into in the past to get to this point. Trying to get in here almost cost me my job at one stage 3 years ago, I'm really not kidding. We already wanted to go back the moment we were leaving, ideas were tossed around doing the whole day in there but food and water-less like noobs we were forced to leave. It was hard work, but worth it. We'll be back for sure.
If it wasn't for fb talking to me and Frosty at Browns we would never have even thought about the route in we eventually took, credit where credits due and it's well and truly due here.
Thanks for looking and reading.
Maniac.
There are some places you see photos of and you never think in a million years you'll ever get to see them. You have a go but you're no where near in reality. You put it out of your mind and pretend to yourself that it doesn't really matter, that it's going to be fucked inside by now or stripped out or belled up etc. etc. Even if that thought is temporary, we all do it, I guarantee you. If you don't, you're probably lying to yourself.
I cannot claim to have found the way into here, in reality I was a mere tourist. Credit goes to fb for that and a chance conversation at the Browns meet which re-kindled a lust for this place. So on a whim and with what was in reality very little information, myself and Frosty headed down the M4 corridor once again with a ridiculous amount of kit not really sure what we would be facing or even precisely how we were going to do it.
The M4 gets no less boring no matter how many times you drive it, which in the past few months has been far too many. I really dread to think how many thousands of miles I've actually clocked up on it's tarmac.
It actually took us more than one attempt to finally get in here, the first time we were stumped the same as fb standing in the same place at some ridiculous hour of the morning glimpsing through a 2 inch gap that no matter how hard we tried we were never going to get past, at least for that night. We called it a night that evening and did some further research on the subject.
Fast forward a week and we repeat the same, absolutely dog tired after working all day, driving all evening and taking over 2 hours to even get into the place we finally set foot into the bunker. I almost kissed the floor, instead opting to give Frosty a really big hug despite him not being too keen on receiving it. I think we smiled all the way down the first corridor into the bunker proper, it was actually quite surreal.
You probably won't see any photos you've not seen before, but here are a few.
It's a slightly odd feeling being somewhere that you've read so much about, seen so many photos of and wanted to set foot in for so long. Will it live up to the expectation and anticipation of seeing it in the flesh? Are we really on our own down here? To start with you keep looking around you thinking some angry security guards are going to be running down the corridor behind you.
The telephone exchange is one of the highlights, it's all still there and for a geek like me it's pure porn really. I took way more photos of the 1980's racked gear at the back of the place than the 1950's switchboard that everyone photographs to death.
The telephone exchange even has it's own room specifically to power it with the hefty amount of DC current it required to run.
There's all sorts of noises in the place. It's being re-fitted for something, but for what use remains a mystery. New lighting graces the walls of the corridors, the place is clean and tidy, new drain pipes and corrugated plastic channel the water which endlessly drips into the place away from the main thoroughfares, but in essence the place is still as complete as you could wish for.
The stores are still crammed with all the items one would need in the event of nuclear war, although the pillows are looking a tad mouldy these days it has to be said.
When you think about going somewhere there's always that one thing you wouldn't mind taking home. I confess I seriously considered for a minute taking one of the big valves out of the PA. I didn't. But I will happily confess I did give them a tug to see if it would be possible. It isn't. I'd like to think this will be saved and end up in some museum somewhere, it probably won't. When they go through the place and start using it for whatever it is they're going to use it for, I have no doubt this magnificent amplifier array and all it's associated equipment will end up in a skip, that will be a sad day and I'll kick myself, hard, for sure.
The bathroom areas are amazingly clean still and there's plenty of them. This is one of the smaller ones, there are much larger ones. It's really notable how much more space there is in the mens facilities compared to the ladies and it does make you remember things have changed a lot in the last 60 years since the place was conceived. I have no doubt if there wasn't the need for secretaries and typists there would have probably been no ladies facilities in the place at all.
Oxygen Thief took a photo from here I will never forget, it was one of the pictures that made me want to visit this place more than most. Lampson Tubes are infact genius. A way of sending physical objects around a place using nothing more than compressed air, and this place has the daddy of all Lampson tube exchanges, it's a proper behemoth, I love it.
Do the kitchens need any introduction? I thought not. It's like stepping into a slightly more industrial version of your grandmothers kitchen with that piece of 1950's equipment that she's still using after all these years, after all they don't make them like they used to right?
Who says health and safety is a new concept?
Old post office issue poster.
Electric vehicle graveyard, this was a sorry sight really. There were a couple of others parked up the other end as well. They are using vehicles of some sort down here, you could see the tracks but where they're actually storing them is elsewhere in the Corsham Underground.
Generators, 4 of them to keep the place running and they were massive!
Just because I could.
I'm glad to say it was worth every minute of the many times we had tried different ways of getting in here and the trouble we had got into in the past to get to this point. Trying to get in here almost cost me my job at one stage 3 years ago, I'm really not kidding. We already wanted to go back the moment we were leaving, ideas were tossed around doing the whole day in there but food and water-less like noobs we were forced to leave. It was hard work, but worth it. We'll be back for sure.
If it wasn't for fb talking to me and Frosty at Browns we would never have even thought about the route in we eventually took, credit where credits due and it's well and truly due here.
Thanks for looking and reading.
Maniac.
Last edited:
