real time web analytics
Report - - Burlington - the city beneath a town - sept 2010 | Mines and Quarries | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Burlington - the city beneath a town - sept 2010

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
for me this is where it all start, about 5 years ago i got in to reading all about the corsham works and the underground city with its 70 years history, living local to this it always fascinated me, so after alot of reading and research i decided to get in to the whole underground exploring and this has bought me to the forums i am on now, a couple of years ago i took the plunge and got underground and havent looked back since, only to check on the ones following when i am leading lol,

there is nothing more frustrating than knowing about access to a place but with the logistics of family and work, the timing was always out and holes where to small over the last 9 months, so when a local passed on some info the other week we couldnt pass up the opportunity, calls where made, kit was grabbed and batteries charged, it was a school night so with time ticking we got on


visited with rigsby, vwdirtyboy and petzl and sorry for such a long report but it is a big place

history
Spring come about after isambard kingdom brunel decided to build box tunnel, after the excavations for the tunnel started around the mid 1800’s they ran in to the gold know as bath limestone, this had a spin off effect and lots of local quarry man soon come from all over to quarry the land of its ritches, the stone helped build many buildings over the years and was supplied to all the local towns and citys including bath, By 1885 there were 12 firms operating in the Corsham area, seven of which amalgamated under the Bath and Portland Stone Firms Ltd. which by 1900 were producing 3,000,000 cubic feet of stone a year, quarrying at box started around 1850 and finished around 1910, The advent of the Second World War signalled the most extensive phase of development within Corsham including Tunnel, Spring, Browns, Copenacre and Pickwick quarries. Operationally they functioned as separate entities but were dictated by the change in military threat with the Second World War, in 1930 the war office turned its attention to using the underground to store ammunition and shadow factorys so it was decided to locate the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s development works and the manufacturing of Centaurus engines below-ground at Spring Quarry, as well as the manufacture of undercarriages, gun barrels and turrets
This is where spring quarry sprung to life, the whole area undergorund was cleaned out of dead stone and convered at any expense, which at the time went well over budget and was short lived with the ending of the ww2 a couple of years later, but the whole enginnering side and the short time taken to convert was incredible, large canteens where created and many areas convered to machine shops and large stores, there is alot of evidence still to be found, the canteens with there legendary olga lehmann murals on the wall, alot of the old store’s shelving is still in place and also all the machine beds are still there, lights still hang from the quarry ceiling along with pipe work and all kinds of signs




many areas are sectioned of in to working areas
IMG_8302.jpg



one of the many motors and fans that did drive the air flow
IMG_8304.jpg



long passages leading all over the place
IMG_8306.jpg




IMG_8309.jpg




IMG_8320.jpg




Fire points all over the place
IMG_8318.jpg




Then the emergency exit C door from Burlington
IMG_8317.jpg




The entrance walkway to the old engine factory
IMG_8324.jpg




One of the old lifts
IMG_8323.jpg




Then we move on to one of the old canteens on spring, with the olga lehmann murals on the wall



IMG_8331.jpg




IMG_8328.jpg




IMG_8332.jpg




IMG_8333.jpg




IMG_8342.jpg




And the stage
IMG_8336.jpg




The second canteen
IMG_8376.jpg



Then it was over to east lung, the old workings


The sub station out side W door
IMG_8364.jpg





Old tool rack
IMG_8367.jpg




W door in to Burlington all locked up with cctv looking in on the door
IMG_8491.jpg




So we moved further in to east lung to the old sewage ejection area and the air shafts


IMG_8444.jpg




IMG_8427.jpg




IMG_8429.jpg




IMG_8445.jpg




Then we moved around the old air shafts and followed the new Burlington wall


This is where the old venturi tubes for the air flow would of been
IMG_8454.jpg




Then the old air tunnel connecting with a big air shaft
IMG_8395.jpg




Bottom of the air shaft
IMG_8384.jpg




Then we headed over to the west side offspring to the old generator and small stuff



The generator
IMG_8456.jpg




IMG_8466.jpg






IMG_8479.jpg



IMG_8478.jpg



We spend nearly 6 hours walking round this place and i could of done a good week just in here, there is so much to see, but like i said it was a school night and i need to get up for work in a couple of hours so of home we went, which wasnt easy knowing burlington was just through the door, but that will keep for another day
 
Last edited:

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
burlington

well the weekend was here and again the tribe of my self, rigsby, vwdirtyboy and petzl meet at the usual, plan of action this time...........burlington



Fullscreencapture07092010223948bmp.jpg



we made our way through spring and straight in for a full day exploring, first up was


IMG_8506.jpg


And the gents toilets, not the normal place u would go but for us it was the first port of call, and it was nice to see such mint but stained toilets, i am sure that if war did ever break out there would be a few shitting themselves in here ;)
IMG_8512.jpg




IMG_8514.jpg



IMG_8515.jpg



IMG_8516.jpg



IMG_8519.jpg



IMG_8520.jpg



IMG_8521.jpg
 

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
area 22: offices for commonwealth relations

Next up we decided to take a walk along second avenue and into area 22 the offices of commonwealth relations. Mainly a storage area now with a couple of beds made up and some unpacked 1961 rugs, lots of unpacked beds and chairs just sat there, but was nice with lights on and to see it so clean, our first taste of real burly



IMG_8524.jpg





IMG_8527.jpg



IMG_8529.jpg




IMG_8530.jpg




IMG_8532.jpg
 
Last edited:

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
area 14: offices of the war cabinet

next up we headed to area 14 offices of the war cabinet,we checked out all the rooms and had a little sit down in the map room, before looking round the prime ministers office and bedroom room 34 and 35( lost the pics on another memory card grrrrrrrrrrr)




pics form the subbrit mag in march ;)

IMG_7991.jpg
IMG_7994.jpg


room 53: war cabinet signal registry
IMG_8533.jpg



room 44: Map room
IMG_8534.jpg





IMG_8535.jpg




IMG_8536.jpg




IMG_8537.jpg




room 48: cabinet office conference room and waiting area
IMG_8539.jpg




room 63: war cabinet secitarial staff had this little box left in it with what looked like a milk jug
IMG_8542.jpg




IMG_8543.jpg




room 74: GCHQ communications
IMG_8545.jpg



strange names on the wall not sure if any one knows what they mean
IMG_8546.jpg
 

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
area 12: kitchens, canteen and dining

next up was area 12: kitchens, canteen and dining, now this was the bit i was looking forward to with all the reports form before and pics, its one of the nicest parts of burly, and we spent a good hour just in here looking round, larking about, was tempted to cook some grub up lol



seating for 4 please and make it snappy
IMG_8547.jpg





IMG_8551.jpg




IMG_8553.jpg




IMG_8567.jpg




IMG_8568.jpg




IMG_8572.jpg



[
IMG_8576.jpg




IMG_8581.jpg




IMG_8583.jpg




IMG_8587.jpg




IMG_8590.jpg




IMG_8593.jpg




IMG_8597.jpg




IMG_8604.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_8573.gif
    IMG_8573.gif
    6.4 KB · Views: 27

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
area 21:goverment communications

With the kitchens all rapped up we headed over to area 21: government communications
Its a shame this place is in such a bad state, lots of mess, mould and derelict brand new machinery, chairs in there original rapping never been taking out all jsut sitting there wasting away the amount our government wasted is beyond imagination, but still an interesting area to say the least




IMG_8609.jpg




IMG_8612.jpg




IMG_8618.jpg




IMG_8622.jpg




IMG_8624.jpg




IMG_8621.jpg


 
Last edited:

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
goods lift 1


Swinging past the bad parts with more mould we headed up to area’s 17: offices for minstery of aviation and also area 20: industrial laundry, not much in them to be fair mostly storage areas now for junk, we headed for goods lift 1 (GL1) this is the main entry for most from above ground including the IES how are cleaning the place up of aspestos



IMG_8664.jpg




IMG_8666.jpg




Vw playing on the carts lol
IMG_8670.jpg




IMG_8672.jpg




IMG_8673.jpg



 

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
area 19: the power house


Area 19: power house, wicked little place from the old period, 4 big generators, substations the works, this was another favourite and great to see it for my self, was expecting them to be the same as the monkton farligh ones



IMG_8685.jpg




IMG_8684.jpg




IMG_8681.jpg




IMG_8695.jpg




IMG_8710.jpg





IMG_8708.jpg
 

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
walk up to the north and back down to area 8

We then went up round the top to area 7 the kitchens, past area 1 the old gpo exchange and area 2 board of trade which was locked up, then down to here




IMG_8748.jpg




The PNCC entrance
IMG_8750.jpg




On to the public announment system
IMG_8774.jpg




IMG_8775.jpg




IMG_8773.jpg




IMG_8778.jpg




IMG_8770.jpg





The key room
IMG_8787.jpg




Public lifts
IMG_8758.jpg
 
Last edited:

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
the hospital


Passing the phone exchange we did the hospital first, luckly for us it was open and a great little explore on its own, laid out more like a museam now but with loads of great stuff left behind, the dark room is full of schematics and maps of the place



IMG_8809.jpg



IMG_8814.jpg




IMG_8817.jpg




IMG_8819.jpg



IMG_8825.jpg




IMG_8824.jpg




IMG_8827.jpg




IMG_8841.jpg




IMG_8842.jpg



IMG_8831.jpg



IMG_8833.jpg




IMG_8835.jpg
 

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
area 9: stores

after the hospital we walk back to area 9: stores, even though most of what would of be in here has now gone there is a little bit tucked away and u can get the basic idea of what the place would of been like, shelves every where with equipment, supplies and stuff just lined up ready to be used in gthe even of a war



IMG_8859.jpg




IMG_8863.jpg




IMG_8864.jpg




IMG_8867.jpg




IMG_8869.jpg




IMG_8871.jpg




IMG_8880.jpg
 

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
area 8: phone exchange

then finally we head to the old phone exchange area 8, luckly for us this was also wide open, i know that in the past this has been locked up, but it was great to see it for ourselves, it has taken some water damage over the years but the whole section of area 8 is amazing, files and books just sat there, cabinets full up of spares and this also had its own generator and battery back up, it was great to see very old stuff with slightly newer stuff all maintained by BT :thumb



IMG_8966.jpg




IMG_8967.jpg




IMG_8968.jpg



IMG_8984.jpg



IMG_8987.jpg



IMG_8997.jpg



IMG_9004.jpg



IMG_9006.jpg



IMG_9010.jpg



IMG_9012.jpg



IMG_9017.jpg



IMG_9018.jpg



IMG_9021.jpg
 
Last edited:

tommo

shire lad born & breeding
28DL Full Member
random stuff along the way

then to finish of here are a couple of random pics of other areas we walked round on the way back out



the museam of old quarry stuff
IMG_8883.jpg



IMG_8885.jpg



IMG_8886.jpg



IMG_8892.jpg



IMG_8889.jpg




old cart and service areas
IMG_8916.jpg



electric buggy service station and charging
IMG_8918.jpg



trucks just littered about, beoken and used for spares
IMG_8502.jpg




big air tanks
IMG_8931.jpg




old cement mixer i guess was used to help build the place at some point
IMG_8768.jpg




and on a shelf near the main working area is a humidity recorder
IMG_8906.jpg


and thats it, sorry for a large report but its not a small place, till the next time................ :thumb
 

Attachments

  • IMG_8756.gif
    IMG_8756.gif
    6.4 KB · Views: 28
Top