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Report - - Hougham Underground Dressing station, Dover - October 2015 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Hougham Underground Dressing station, Dover - October 2015

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The Wickerman

Nik24
28DL Full Member
Visited with Obscurity

This is one of Dovers last sealed underground shelters and has been forgotten since 1990 when the channel tunnel was built.
I spent a little time figuring out from the plans and old photographs against recent satellite imagery to pinpoint the entrance, then I had a nose up there and after beating my way through some pretty serious undergrowth I found a dip with a very out of place wire steel cage full of 1940's concrete - a gabion basket (they're usually used at road sides to support banks) slap bang where i figured the entrance would be.
So armed with a few tools myself and Obscurity went up there, and its literally couldnt have been easier - we spent more time clearing the undergrowth when in hindsight we should've just busted open the gabion - because when we did 10 mins of moving the rubble and voila! one tunnel entrance! im astonished its stayed sealed for so long given the ease at which it just fell open.
What greeted us inside was a very clean unmolested typically WW2 constructed tunnel - i made a reference to the channel tunnel earlier as this was underneath the 'topsite' for the construction of it and was subsequently used by the fire brigade for breathing apparatus training - we found a few relics relating to such along with the makeshift lights hung all the way through the tunnel.
As this was essentially an underground medical facility for Hougham gun battery the main entrance has a long shallow (13 degree incline) slope presumably for ease of access with stretchers etc, further into and the main nice aspect of it is the 297 foot long main section - its dead straight and stands out as a unique feature unlike most of the other shelters in the area, further round there's another section and another access slope - this time with a small set of steps on one side and a slope on the right which would have been used with a winch system from the top of the tunnel.

Great little explore and definitely put a large grin on our faces for the right of of the day - probably due more to the sheer ease it opened!

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sirjonnyp

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Mint pics and nice one on finding this place, don't think I've heard of it before.
 

Oxygen Thief

Admin
Staff member
Admin
Funny, I was reading about this place and looking at the plans just a couple of weeks ago. It's very well preserved really.
 

The Wickerman

Nik24
28DL Full Member
Thanks for the positive comments guys, was a nice little explore - nice to finally see inside and scrub it off the list
 
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