Visited with Zotez. Comprehensive history can be found on other reports here, but in a nutshell it's a former RAF Reserve Terminal that was built in 1939 to supply Kerosene to Farnborough Airport (IIRC) until closure in 1995.
I had a great time doing this, but I hasten to confess it wasn't quite as good as I was expecting. Had some interesting moments though; as we were pulling into Micheldever Station I'm pretty sure I saw some boys from Network Fail doing something at the tunnel portal, next to the terminal. Got off at the station, and we could hear a siren (alarm, not a police one thankfully) going off from the direction of the place, which worried me. Walked up the road to the site and we could hear it fading, so perhaps they were just testing it? Thankfully as soon as we made our way in the alarm was turned off. Excuse me for effectively giving away access, but it was great fun having to scramble down the chalk bank to the place and trying not to slip and fall! Being chalk it's more liable to slipping so I was so grateful it wasn't raining because it would have made it far harder and more unpleasant for us. From then onwards access was no problem at all, since the tunnels were kept open for ventilation. As soon as we were in it was clear that the place had been pikeyed to near every gram of copper, with all the easily accessible cabling cut away and robbed. There were a few signs that kids had been down as well, but to be fair they didn't totally ruin the place and leave rubbish and graffiti it. Whether Network Fail go there or not I don't know, but there were fresh tyre marks outside... luckily they'd left the tunnel portal when we got there (though we remained cautious; you would NOT want to get here, being so close to a live railway).
What I really loved about this place was the atmosphere though; being built entirely of solid concrete every breath would echo, and whenever you hit anything it would reverberate through the entire place. The acoustics were among the most amazing I have ever heard! These and the the thick layer of condensation on every wall, cold surroundings, pitch black surroundings, plenty of pipes and machines left in situ and small spaces made for a perfect atmosphere. Overall it was worth a trip for this alone! On the downside, given the sheer size of the actual place the areas that were explorable, including the long, dark tunnels were few and far between. Because of this it only took us around 2 hours to see it all. Disappointing.
But hey ho, here's what I got. I've got to say that it's probably among the most difficult places I've ever had to photograph!
Sad to say, the vast majority of the tunnels would end up at this.
Everything was made flameproof for protection in event of an explosion.
Enjoy,
Love TBM x
I had a great time doing this, but I hasten to confess it wasn't quite as good as I was expecting. Had some interesting moments though; as we were pulling into Micheldever Station I'm pretty sure I saw some boys from Network Fail doing something at the tunnel portal, next to the terminal. Got off at the station, and we could hear a siren (alarm, not a police one thankfully) going off from the direction of the place, which worried me. Walked up the road to the site and we could hear it fading, so perhaps they were just testing it? Thankfully as soon as we made our way in the alarm was turned off. Excuse me for effectively giving away access, but it was great fun having to scramble down the chalk bank to the place and trying not to slip and fall! Being chalk it's more liable to slipping so I was so grateful it wasn't raining because it would have made it far harder and more unpleasant for us. From then onwards access was no problem at all, since the tunnels were kept open for ventilation. As soon as we were in it was clear that the place had been pikeyed to near every gram of copper, with all the easily accessible cabling cut away and robbed. There were a few signs that kids had been down as well, but to be fair they didn't totally ruin the place and leave rubbish and graffiti it. Whether Network Fail go there or not I don't know, but there were fresh tyre marks outside... luckily they'd left the tunnel portal when we got there (though we remained cautious; you would NOT want to get here, being so close to a live railway).
What I really loved about this place was the atmosphere though; being built entirely of solid concrete every breath would echo, and whenever you hit anything it would reverberate through the entire place. The acoustics were among the most amazing I have ever heard! These and the the thick layer of condensation on every wall, cold surroundings, pitch black surroundings, plenty of pipes and machines left in situ and small spaces made for a perfect atmosphere. Overall it was worth a trip for this alone! On the downside, given the sheer size of the actual place the areas that were explorable, including the long, dark tunnels were few and far between. Because of this it only took us around 2 hours to see it all. Disappointing.
But hey ho, here's what I got. I've got to say that it's probably among the most difficult places I've ever had to photograph!
Sad to say, the vast majority of the tunnels would end up at this.
Everything was made flameproof for protection in event of an explosion.
Enjoy,
Love TBM x
