General - Dudley underground buildings under castle hill

[Neil docker]

I found a way into the caverns today 28/06/15 would love to go down there its an opening next to this tunnel can't quite see it but it's there wasn't really dressed for climbing down there today :-)

 

[Oxygen Thief]

Thanks for that. What I don't understand is why you didn't use one of your pictures that actually shows the entrance?...

 

[Neil docker]

I was in a white t shirt and light grey bottoms couldn't get there without getting filthy lol but it's a big entrance will be going back there soon so will get better pics then just put a post up with all of today's pics

there's a few tunnels down there to explore

 

[Neil docker]

that's the best I can do for now I was hanging over a cliff

 

[bubblehead]

that's the best I can do for now I was hanging over a cliff

This is the entrance to a coal mine and is bricked up about ten foot in. Flooded cavern is the one on the other side of that basin.

The tunnel that is in the corner of the other basin next to the concrete steps is the wrens nest tunnel, which is also flooded.

Not tried to get into murder cavern which is facing the wrens nest tunnel and one you haven't pictured

 

[Dudley Canal Trust]

Hi
Afraid to say there is nothing interesting down there

Flooded mine goes back about 10 feet and is blocked by stone
Tipton mine is bricked over
Wrens nest and seven sisters is waterlogged and a small pump pushes out water you can see it just under the entrance
Murder mine is only about 6 feet back then a solid wall
Theres no tunnels of the main tunnel just the ones into the caverns were we do tours of on the canal boats you could go on a 45 minute trip to see all that is down there

 

[Dragon's Lair]

I don't think you can access the Stores Cavern from the canal tunnels. I visited the Zoo in October last year and took these ( sorry - poor quality - phone camera only)

This is as close to the entrance by the chairlift that I could get under the watchful eye of the zoo staff

Down the steps on the right is a gated entrance. The damp and musty draft emanating from it a dead give away as to what lies beyond!

Further along, back past the main zoo entrance is the 'Bat Cave'

Behind the info board it is just possible to see another gated entrance (This was the main entrance to the loading bay)

Sorry its really hard to see in the photo.

Further along again, opposite the Camels, in a wooded area you'll find this 'L' shaped construction.

This is the third entrance to the Stores Cavern. The end wall that is now bricked up used to house a large fan.

The Left hand 'branch of the structure

Close up of the left hand 'branch' of the structure

That damp musty draft again a give away as to what lies beyond.

Just outside the zoo grounds, this looks to me like it was likely to have originally been part of the shadow factory. The loading dock below the red and white barrier is in alignment with the 'Bat cave' which, as mentioned earlier was the main access for deliveries/ goods out.

As far as I know these are the only entrances to the Stores cavern. There was talk of a route through from another cavern, but I don't think this exists. Maybe someone can prove me wrong!
If I find out more, or get hold of the 1970's photos, I'll let you know

Cheers
Dragon's Lair

 

[Ste 830]

Well me and my friend was walking through the forest at the back of the archives and stumbled upon some thick steel bolted to the wall and a small door about 5ft away just wandering if that cud be the second entry way to the caverns

 

[Prisoner206]

well i did the easy thing and asked....

according to the zoo they are property of the council and they are the ones who arrange access

 

[Dragon's Lair]

Adding a bit of 'meat' to the rumours about the zoo dumping animal waste, dead animals and even a dead elephant down a shaft into abandoned limestone workings on the site, I recently found this. This does not refer to the 'Stores Cavern' but another section of the abandoned limestone workings.

Extract from 'Through Thick and Thin'
A 150th anniversary year history of
Johnson Poole & Bloomer
1844-1994
by SULA RAYSKA MA FRICS

"A collapse which will never be forgotten by Colin Knipe occurred at Dudley Zoo in 1977. It caused a large crownhole on land which was just inside the boundary of Dudley Zoo and immediately at the rear of Dudley College of Technology. He arranged to fill the hole with rubble and then sand and warned the Zoo that it would settle after very heavy rain and require topping up. Sure enough, several months later he received a phone call to say that the sand had sunk ten to fifteen feet. Colin went to see the Zoo manager to arrange for the delivery of more sand the following morning. While he was there making these arrangements the manager was called away to look at an ailing elephant which was causing some concern. The following morning while shaving at 7am, Colin heard the sad news on the radio that the elephant had died but had been given 'a decent burial' in the Zoo grounds. An hour later when he arrived to direct the first three lorries of sand to the hole, there staring up at him was the dead elephant, hastily tipped in upside-down and roughly covered with a few pieces of plasterboard. There was no way of getting it out and hasty consultations with the chief Ministry of Agriculture vet revealed that the elephant's stomach must be slit before burial to prevent a later explosion! Fortunately a local vet arrived to perform the unpleasant task and the elephant was then given its decent burial under many tons of sand.

This was not the only bizarre incident connected with the zoo that involved Johnson, Poole & Bloomer. Some months after the elephant's burial it was decided to explore the limestone caves so that their condition could be checked. After plotting the principal shaft's position from old records, Colin Knipe realised that it was a low mound in the zoo grounds. There was a small amount of brickwork exposed from which an area was broken out. Having cleared the debris away and removed the cast iron plates which covered the shaft, checks were made to ensure the air at the foot of the 100ft shaft was breathable. Colin was then slowly lowered on a bosun's chair. Near the bottom he could see that the ground was shimmering. As he got nearer he was very puzzled by this shimmering which he had not experienced before. When he landed he realised to his horror that he was standing on millions of maggots with thousands of cockroaches. He was surrounded by dead fish, bones and straw. He turned round and had the fright of his life as he came face to face with a dead tapir with white sightless eyes staring! The zoo had been using the shaft as an unofficial burial ground for some time. After telling the zoo authorities what they thought of them, Johnson, Poole & Bloomer set fire to the straw and allowed it to burn for three days. Then forty gallons of Jeyes fluid were poured down, followed by forty tons of sand. Only after that did anyone allow themselves to be lowered down again and they could then walk to the base of the previous collapse and smell the juices of the decomposing elephant. Eventually the whole cave was filled with sand by Groundworks (Dudley) Ltd under Johnson, Poole & Bloomer's direction. "

So looks like all those stories may have an element of truth afterall!

 

[dweeb]

Excellent!!!

Thank you for posting that!

 

[YamYam]

I've been an intermittent visitor to this site for a while now but never progressed to explorer unfortunately. However this thread did grab my interest being born and bred just down the road and then spending much of my early adult life in JB's!

Anyways, if anyone wants to get into the cavern to check out it's original(ish) state, better get in quick sharpish as I found some links which hopefully will be of interest and explain the possibility for the public to visit in future:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=voDzRJBSFWYC&pg=PA141&lpg=PA141&dq=the+cavern+stores+dudley&source=bl&ots=TYBAvzwXvI&sig=EGTIXfDWH8jbFj_hOz-P1_QV9Nw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQgIfqmYXNAhVkFMAKHdeJBwYQ6AEIVzAH#v=onepage&q&f=false - mentions the three access tunnels.

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2013/07/11/fossil-flavour-for-dudley-zoo-centre-plan/ - news story from a few years back hoping to include the Stores Cavern in a new attraction.

http://www.dudley.gov.uk/EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=277917 - Fairly recent conservation appraisal describing more the potential access points.

 

[lock1999]

I've been an intermittent visitor to this site for a while now but never progressed to explorer unfortunately. However this thread did grab my interest being born and bred just down the road and then spending much of my early adult life in JB's!

Anyways, if anyone wants to get into the cavern to check out it's original(ish) state, better get in quick sharpish as I found some links which hopefully will be of interest and explain the possibility for the public to visit in future:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=voDzRJBSFWYC&pg=PA141&lpg=PA141&dq=the+cavern+stores+dudley&source=bl&ots=TYBAvzwXvI&sig=EGTIXfDWH8jbFj_hOz-P1_QV9Nw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQgIfqmYXNAhVkFMAKHdeJBwYQ6AEIVzAH#v=onepage&q&f=false - mentions the three access tunnels.

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2013/07/11/fossil-flavour-for-dudley-zoo-centre-plan/ - news story from a few years back hoping to include the Stores Cavern in a new attraction.

http://www.dudley.gov.uk/EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=277917 - Fairly recent conservation appraisal describing more the potential access points.

 

[lock1999]

Read the bit about site works as I believe they refer to the cavern in question. Sounds very much like it from my 1970s memories.

https://www.rwe.com/web/cms/mediabl...isused-mine-workings-in-the-West-Midlands.pdf

 

[ecuas]

Gents - if anyone is still interested in these caverns I may be of help - I worked with Colin Knipe at Johnson Poole and Bloomer nad have had that story first hand on a couple of occasions. Also being a local geologist have an alternative interest in these tunnels - we are keen to get them reopened as a tourist attraction.