Visited here with Pigeonboy one Evening. A little like Coulsdon Deep shelter, but a bit bigger and more complex.
History
The shelter is situated under a wooded and triangular plot of land, between 4-5 acres in size.
The land was requisitioned by Surrey County Council on 8 February 1941 for the purpose of building a shelter costing £26,658 (£1.3 million in today's money).
"The shelter is formed of a grid of tunnels bored and cut into the chalk and flint sub-strata and variously lined with brickwork or metalwork. There are two main ventilation/access shafts, one at the north-east and another at the north-west corner of the shelter (these have been capped in concrete for safety reasons), and a further shaft rises centrally from the north end (no visible surface opening).' There was also a metal-capped shaft at the south end.
The entrance tunnel and all tunnel intersections are brick lined and the remaining tunnels are lined with either open mesh or galvanised corrugated iron sheeting, supported on various types of steel-sectioned portal frames."
http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/AshleyRdShelter.html
More recently it was used by an airsoft war games company, then in 2013 it became a habitat for bats. After a few years of being left abandoned, vandalism and theft, the deep shelter is looking a little worse for wear.
The Explore
This was a nice little underground explore. We spent the best part of a couple hours photographing and lighting the tunnels. After about an hour we were interrupted by the sound of teenagers by the entrance.
We had grand plans of trying to scare them, but it never happened as they didn't even venture inside!
That's no fun :apthy:
The tunnels are pretty empty apart from a few random bits of junk. Evidence of the airsofting is everywhere as those little white .20 gram bb's scatter the floor and are embedded in every bit of soft wood you can find.
Bet it made for a fun CQ airsoft arena!
Photos
History
The shelter is situated under a wooded and triangular plot of land, between 4-5 acres in size.
The land was requisitioned by Surrey County Council on 8 February 1941 for the purpose of building a shelter costing £26,658 (£1.3 million in today's money).
"The shelter is formed of a grid of tunnels bored and cut into the chalk and flint sub-strata and variously lined with brickwork or metalwork. There are two main ventilation/access shafts, one at the north-east and another at the north-west corner of the shelter (these have been capped in concrete for safety reasons), and a further shaft rises centrally from the north end (no visible surface opening).' There was also a metal-capped shaft at the south end.
The entrance tunnel and all tunnel intersections are brick lined and the remaining tunnels are lined with either open mesh or galvanised corrugated iron sheeting, supported on various types of steel-sectioned portal frames."
http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/AshleyRdShelter.html
More recently it was used by an airsoft war games company, then in 2013 it became a habitat for bats. After a few years of being left abandoned, vandalism and theft, the deep shelter is looking a little worse for wear.
The Explore
This was a nice little underground explore. We spent the best part of a couple hours photographing and lighting the tunnels. After about an hour we were interrupted by the sound of teenagers by the entrance.
We had grand plans of trying to scare them, but it never happened as they didn't even venture inside!
That's no fun :apthy:
The tunnels are pretty empty apart from a few random bits of junk. Evidence of the airsofting is everywhere as those little white .20 gram bb's scatter the floor and are embedded in every bit of soft wood you can find.
Bet it made for a fun CQ airsoft arena!
Photos
