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Underground (Miscellaneous: Tunnels, Roads, Bunkers Etc.)

Good stuff. As a young boy I lived in Malta, just south of Valetta. Went back for a holiday a few years ago and visited the famous Hypogeum (had to book my ticket a couple of months in advance).

http://heritagemalta.org/museums-sites/hal-saflieni-hypogeum/

An amazing place! Sadly you are constrained to the tour guide's route though. A few feet to the left of our path, I caught a glimpse of a ladder leading down into a large hole/tunnel with some illumination down there, but the public is not permitted to visit the lowest level. It is rumoured that a whole labyrinth of tunnels spread out extensively under Malta from here and there is a legendary case of people disappearing down there back in 1940.

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2004-04-11/local-news/The-Mystery-of-the-Hypogeum-65879
 
A thriller novel I've just started reading - The White Road by Sarah Lotz has a very creepy and claustrophobic opening sequence set in a cave. It rang faint echoes of something I'd read a few years back and, after a little digging (no pun intended), I found it. It was bumped by Creepypasta some time later, but the original Ted's Caving Page "blog" is here and I can recommend it to all fans of underground Fortean tales!

http://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/page1.html
 
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Been into the public areas of those and other cave systems but never
fancy diving through or squeezing through the smaller passages,
I remember 2 or 3 potholers loosing there lives like this, one got
stuck and though they had metal brackets made to hook over his
shoulders he was head down, they could not get him out and
they ended up concreting him in, safety must have improved
as you don't hear about things like this often now.
Think they still have a open day at Gaping Gill were you can be
winched down once a year but it's not for the faint hearted.
 
There is nothing that would induce me to go potholing.
 
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The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. The part where the dwarves help the children escape, I had to stop reading and go calm down for awhile repeatedly.
 
Just been reading about the tunnels under Black Mountain in Queensland, Australia. The stuff of horror stories.

The Kuku Nyungkal people of the region have long shunned the mountain, calling it Kalkajaka, meaning “the place of the spear” and sometimes translated simply as “The Mountain of Death.” Aboriginal tales tell of the mountain as a haunted place, home to various evil spirits and demons lurking within, which are said to hunger for human souls, one of which is the spirit of a wicked medicine man called the Eater of Flesh. Stories tell of any unfortunate to approach the mountain being dragged to their deaths within its bowels by spectral hands, and shadowy ghosts are often allegedly seen here.

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/12/the-mysterious-black-mountain-of-queensland/
 
Just been reading about the tunnels under Black Mountain in Queensland, Australia. The stuff of horror stories.

The Kuku Nyungkal people of the region have long shunned the mountain, calling it Kalkajaka, meaning “the place of the spear” and sometimes translated simply as “The Mountain of Death.” Aboriginal tales tell of the mountain as a haunted place, home to various evil spirits and demons lurking within, which are said to hunger for human souls, one of which is the spirit of a wicked medicine man called the Eater of Flesh. Stories tell of any unfortunate to approach the mountain being dragged to their deaths within its bowels by spectral hands, and shadowy ghosts are often allegedly seen here.

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/12/the-mysterious-black-mountain-of-queensland/
A prime candidate for an expedition!
 
There's a nice cavern not far from where I live, discovered by some curious spelunkers -

cavern5.jpg

cavern1.jpg

cavern4.jpg

cavern2.jpg

cavern3.jpg

it's fun to see, but so wet in there that I always feared plummeting to my death, never to be found again.

A couple of years ago while I poking around in the rock garden, I discovered a small opening in the ground ("ground" meaning a big slab of rock) I decided to remove the accumulated silt and see how far down it went. It's just big enough for my arm, so I stuck my arm in nearly to the shoulder but couldn't find the bottom. Then I went in with a stick and nope, still no bottom. :eek: It's really narrow though, so there's no way to see anything. One day I plan to use some fishing line and a weight and see if I can measure the depth.

It would be neat if it were an opening into another cavern. At this point though, it's just a mysterious hole in the garden. :)
 
There's a nice cavern not far from where I live, discovered by some curious spelunkers -

View attachment 4329

View attachment 4327

View attachment 4328

View attachment 4330

View attachment 4331

it's fun to see, but so wet in there that I always feared plummeting to my death, never to be found again.

A couple of years ago while I poking around in the rock garden, I discovered a small opening in the ground ("ground" meaning a big slab of rock) I decided to remove the accumulated silt and see how far down it went. It's just big enough for my arm, so I stuck my arm in nearly to the shoulder but couldn't find the bottom. Then I went in with a stick and nope, still no bottom. :eek: It's really narrow though, so there's no way to see anything. One day I plan to use some fishing line and a weight and see if I can measure the depth.

It would be neat if it were an opening into another cavern. At this point though, it's just a mysterious hole in the garden. :)

You may have disturbed a sleeping monster...
 
A secret bank vault has been dug up at a Plymouth building site
By WT_Herald | Posted: April 01, 2017

Construction teams working on the huge Oceansgate marine industry centre have unearthed a bank vault, the ruins of hotels and houses, and even a horse's skull – all dating from when Devonport was Blitzed.
Workers from Midas are just two months into the 11-month project and have dug up a host of archaeological treasures.
The area was bombed during World War Two and then the ruins were bulldozed and levelled and turned into a car park.

But in January 2017 work began on the first phase of the Oceansgate marine hub, and that meant digging foundations for two rows of industrial units and a three-storey office block.
That was when the discoveries were made.

Workers unearthed the vault of a bank – with the bomb-buckled metal bars, door and roof still in place.
They also found the basement of a hotel, with fireplaces so the rooms above could be heated.

There is also a row of house foundations, all the properties lost in the Blitz.
And pre-dating all that, there are at least two wells, possibly 400 years old.

Items dragged from their grave include a soldier's helmet, old bottles and lamps and even a horse's skull, possibly a war horse victim of Hitler's Luftwaffe.
The Midas team is on alert for other finds now too, as the project develops.
They have already removed dozens of disused pipes and cables, mostly not marked on any map, which were buried in the days before health and safety was a watchword.

But they are confident there are no unexploded bombs, though small incendiary devices could still be buried, because the area was surveyed by a radar scanner before construction commenced.

Stuart Wilkes, Midas' senior project manager, said: "We've looked at all Ordinance Survey maps and brought in a company using ground-penetrating radar.
They have already removed dozens of disused pipes and cables, mostly not marked on any map, which were buried in the days before health and safety was a watchword.

But they are confident there are no unexploded bombs, though small incendiary devices could still be buried, because the area was surveyed by a radar scanner before construction commenced.

etc...

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/wor...ine-hub-site/story-30237284-detail/story.html

Several photos on page.
 
If it was near me I'd go. I went to the one in Kelvedon Hatch which is well worth a visit.

Why don't don't you leave a review on their site - I notice there aren't any.
I must do that if I remember tomorrow.
 
Kitley Caves - the great lost tourist attraction and why it closed
By EMooreHerald | Posted: April 09, 2017

Almost 20 years ago one of the Plymouth area's most loved tourist attractions temporarily closed - and it has never reopened.
Kitley Caves were a cherised landmark in the woods at Yealmpton.
A mecca for school trips and archaeology geeks alike for two decades.
But they closed to the public in 1999 and have remained cordoned off ever since, with little prospect of ever reopening.

So, what went wrong?

The historic caves and grottoes along the Yealm estuary were home to Bronze Age and Stone Age artefacts.
Later, green marble was quarried there - some of which has been used in London landmarks.

Since a Devon workman first blasted a hole and opened up the caves by accident, there have been a number of finds at the caves, including a 6,000-year-old human bone and a lion.
Most recently, a large bear tooth and three flints, possibly parts of arrows and knives, were found.

They opened as a tourist attraction in the 1970s, where visitors would take a self-guided tour from one side of the network to the other.
The two main chambers were known as Bob's Cave and No Name Cave.
But bosses decided in 1999 that not enough people were coming along and, after 114 years of being open, they caves were sealed up.

The Herald reported at the time how they were being closed because tourists are no longer satisfied with simply gazing at the wondrous activities of nature.
The stalactites and stalagmites, underground pools, tunnels and caves, where there are signs of prehistoric man, were just not enough for visitors who are used to hi-tech, high speed and high fun.
Owner Michael Bastard closed the caves to everyone except archaeologists and people keen to see the sites of their discoveries.
He said at the time: "I hope it's not permanent but it could well be."

During their last few years the caves had not performed sufficiently well to warrant opening them.
"Things have changed so dramatically in the tourist leisure market," Mr Bastard said at the time. "The caves no longer meet the needs of people who visit tourist attractions.
"Sunday shopping has been the biggest change, as well as a huge proliferation in tourist attractions. People come to the South Hams for fairly short periods and see perhaps two or three attractions.
"Kitley Caves just aren't on that list. Bigger attractions have more investment and appeal but a few years ago people were happy with small places that were natural."

Mr Bastard believed the only way forward was for the cave, along with 40 or 50 acres of nearby land, to be sold to a developer and turned into a larger site.
"If somebody had an idea for setting up a tourist attraction then Kitley Caves might be that location," he added.
"The days of having caves as the centre of an attraction are most likely gone forever."

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/kit...hy-it-closed/story-30259275-detail/story.html

Photos on page.
I'm surprised I've never heard of these caves before, despite having lived and worked in the South Hams or Plymouth when they were open. The caves still have several mentions on the web - this one has more photos:

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/mai...itley-caves-devon-june-08-a.html#.WOtEjKK1sdU
 
Inside the secret air raid shelter buried in a Plymouth garden
By RDoddHerald | Posted: April 22, 2017
Video: 3m 7s.

Herald reporter Rachael Dodd is given a guided tour of one of Plymouth's many, underground air raid shelters.
Just eight inches under the surface of a garden in Devonport, a remnant of Plymouth's war-time past is lying in the earthy darkness.
Air raid shelters provided scant, but precious protection when bombs rained down on Plymouth during the Second World War. This one has, remarkably, remained intact.

Community-led history group, Hidden Heritage, have allowed The Herald access to the shelter to commemorate the 76th anniversary of a devastating air raid on April 22, 1941 which killed three people inside.
Their bodies, sadly, were not recovered for several weeks and when they were finally removed, the need for shelters was so great that the section was simply bricked up and the shelter remained in use until the end of the war - at times filled with a maximum of 300 people. :eek:

Providing this exclusive tour is Paul Diamond, founder of Hidden Heritage. "I've documented around 30 shelters in the Plymouth area so far," Paul says, "I'd say there are around 20 left."
Entering through a manhole cover and crawling for a foot or so, the access tunnel opens to reveal a corrugated corridor so long and dark the torch light can't penetrate it.
The temperature is slightly lower down here and the air is filled with a pervading dampness which clings to the rusting joists and collects in droplets on the walls.

The ceiling is buckled in places, rubble lies on some of the floors, shattered light bulbs twinkle in the light, wooden toilet seats crumble on square buckets (known as thunder boxes), and everywhere there is the strongest sense of the last person out, closing a door half a century ago and never coming back.

etc...

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/ins...mouth-garden/story-30281330-detail/story.html

Article includes many photos.
 
Kitley Caves - the great lost tourist attraction and why it closed
By EMooreHerald | Posted: April 09, 2017

Almost 20 years ago one of the Plymouth area's most loved tourist attractions temporarily closed - and it has never reopened.
Kitley Caves were a cherised landmark in the woods at Yealmpton.
A mecca for school trips and archaeology geeks alike for two decades.
But they closed to the public in 1999 and have remained cordoned off ever since, with little prospect of ever reopening.

So, what went wrong?

The historic caves and grottoes along the Yealm estuary were home to Bronze Age and Stone Age artefacts.
Later, green marble was quarried there - some of which has been used in London landmarks.

Since a Devon workman first blasted a hole and opened up the caves by accident, there have been a number of finds at the caves, including a 6,000-year-old human bone and a lion.
Most recently, a large bear tooth and three flints, possibly parts of arrows and knives, were found.

They opened as a tourist attraction in the 1970s, where visitors would take a self-guided tour from one side of the network to the other.
The two main chambers were known as Bob's Cave and No Name Cave.
But bosses decided in 1999 that not enough people were coming along and, after 114 years of being open, they caves were sealed up.

The Herald reported at the time how they were being closed because tourists are no longer satisfied with simply gazing at the wondrous activities of nature.
The stalactites and stalagmites, underground pools, tunnels and caves, where there are signs of prehistoric man, were just not enough for visitors who are used to hi-tech, high speed and high fun.
Owner Michael Bastard closed the caves to everyone except archaeologists and people keen to see the sites of their discoveries.
He said at the time: "I hope it's not permanent but it could well be."

During their last few years the caves had not performed sufficiently well to warrant opening them.
"Things have changed so dramatically in the tourist leisure market," Mr Bastard said at the time. "The caves no longer meet the needs of people who visit tourist attractions.
"Sunday shopping has been the biggest change, as well as a huge proliferation in tourist attractions. People come to the South Hams for fairly short periods and see perhaps two or three attractions.
"Kitley Caves just aren't on that list. Bigger attractions have more investment and appeal but a few years ago people were happy with small places that were natural."

Mr Bastard believed the only way forward was for the cave, along with 40 or 50 acres of nearby land, to be sold to a developer and turned into a larger site.
"If somebody had an idea for setting up a tourist attraction then Kitley Caves might be that location," he added.
"The days of having caves as the centre of an attraction are most likely gone forever."

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/kit...hy-it-closed/story-30259275-detail/story.html

Photos on page.
I'm surprised I've never heard of these caves before, despite having lived and worked in the South Hams or Plymouth when they were open. The caves still have several mentions on the web - this one has more photos:

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/mai...itley-caves-devon-june-08-a.html#.WOtEjKK1sdU
I don't understand why people don't still want to see this site. And I am entranced that someones' family name is Bastard.
 
I was told many moons ago that every important building in London
have a funk hole leading down to the tube encase the excrement hit the fan
no idea if there was any truth in this.
 
Another claustrophobic mine exploration...
Watch as Geiger counter goes berserk after explorer enters radioactive Cornish mine
By HannahCL | Posted: May 03, 2017
Video: 4m 19s.

A team of explorers unearthed Cornwall's radioactive past after venturing into just one of the county's mines that was excavated for uranium in the 1800s.
Although last mined in 1893, Wheal Edward near St Just is still radioactive to this day and sent the team's Geiger counter "berserk" as it measured the uranium radiation.
Overshadowed by Cornwall's famous tin mining history, the county had once produced more than 2,000 tons of uranium.

Now, more than 120 years after the mine was closed down, exploring team the Carbis Bay Crew ventured inside. The team refer to themselves as a group of cavers, mine explorers, divers and climbers and have completed a number of explorations around Cornwall. Most recently they filmed this amazing video inside Porthtowan's forgotten tunnels.

At Wheal Edward, the team faced radiation as well as vertical cliffs to access the mine entrance and squeezing into the narrow opening.
As the team made their way along the mine shaft, the cameraman can be heard saying: "The Geiger counter is going absolutely berserk!"

Ben, one of the team members who explored the mine, said that a number of radioactive minerals could be seen on the walls underground.
He said: "It was worked for copper and other minerals and uranium secondary minerals were also found and mined there. You can still see the minerals on the walls today. In fact in the video you can hear us talking about carbonite and uraninite. There was quite a large amount found. They are highly radioactive."

The team measured radioactive spikes higher than 70 microsieverts per hour in some areas of the mine. To put that figure into perspective, according to blacksmith institute Pure Earth, you are exposed to about 100 microsieverts per hour when you undergo a dental X-ray and about 10 microsieverts per hour in an average day.

Ben said that although the radiation levels were higher in the mine, the team was not in any danger.
He added: "When you go down into these places, there is a risk and you need to understand how the radiation plays to your exposure. The Geiger counter we use measures in micro Sieverts, which can tell you the dosage of radiation that you will be getting.
"In places, Wheal Edward was very radioactive and there is a marginal risk. But it is very marginal. You get more exposure to radiation on a transatlantic flight to New York."

The video was posted on to the group's Facebook page which can be seen here.

etc...

http://www.cornwalllive.com/watch-a...cornish-mine/story-30307578-detail/story.html
 
Another claustrophobic mine exploration...
Watch as Geiger counter goes berserk after explorer enters radioactive Cornish mine
By HannahCL | Posted: May 03, 2017
Video: 4m 19s.

A team of explorers unearthed Cornwall's radioactive past after venturing into just one of the county's mines that was excavated for uranium in the 1800s.
Although last mined in 1893, Wheal Edward near St Just is still radioactive to this day and sent the team's Geiger counter "berserk" as it measured the uranium radiation.
Overshadowed by Cornwall's famous tin mining history, the county had once produced more than 2,000 tons of uranium.

Now, more than 120 years after the mine was closed down, exploring team the Carbis Bay Crew ventured inside. The team refer to themselves as a group of cavers, mine explorers, divers and climbers and have completed a number of explorations around Cornwall. Most recently they filmed this amazing video inside Porthtowan's forgotten tunnels.

At Wheal Edward, the team faced radiation as well as vertical cliffs to access the mine entrance and squeezing into the narrow opening.
As the team made their way along the mine shaft, the cameraman can be heard saying: "The Geiger counter is going absolutely berserk!"

Ben, one of the team members who explored the mine, said that a number of radioactive minerals could be seen on the walls underground.
He said: "It was worked for copper and other minerals and uranium secondary minerals were also found and mined there. You can still see the minerals on the walls today. In fact in the video you can hear us talking about carbonite and uraninite. There was quite a large amount found. They are highly radioactive."

The team measured radioactive spikes higher than 70 microsieverts per hour in some areas of the mine. To put that figure into perspective, according to blacksmith institute Pure Earth, you are exposed to about 100 microsieverts per hour when you undergo a dental X-ray and about 10 microsieverts per hour in an average day.

Ben said that although the radiation levels were higher in the mine, the team was not in any danger.
He added: "When you go down into these places, there is a risk and you need to understand how the radiation plays to your exposure. The Geiger counter we use measures in micro Sieverts, which can tell you the dosage of radiation that you will be getting.
"In places, Wheal Edward was very radioactive and there is a marginal risk. But it is very marginal. You get more exposure to radiation on a transatlantic flight to New York."

The video was posted on to the group's Facebook page which can be seen here.

etc...

http://www.cornwalllive.com/watch-a...cornish-mine/story-30307578-detail/story.html

They'll find blind mutants down there.
 
Few details, but an interesting watch. Chap films himself exploring an underground safehouse/bunker.

Wow - power was still switched on! In Russia, by the looks of it.
 
Here's another bunker, designed for PM, cabinet, civil servants, security services etc. It's massive, could accommodate 4000 people & had 10 miles of tunnels. In use from 1961, decommissioned 1991. Lots of photos & videos at link. Not visitable as it's on MOD land.

Situated in Corsham, Wiltshire. Burlington Bunker
 
Reminds me of the first episode of Blake's 7.
 
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