Hello lads, it's been a while since I last made a post on here. I've been focused heavily on work and haven't really had the time to do write-ups on here. I've got multiple reports to write, some from as far back as September, so expect a fair amount coming from yours truly over the next few weeks.
So, I'm gonna start off with this place - I am happy to bring you:
Another location with a view!
POOLE RAF FUEL DEPOT
(A.K.A 225 Depot)
THE HISTORY: Likely built sometime from 1936-1940 as a part of Britain's extensive underground fuel storage initiative, Poole RAF Fuel Depot (Apparently known as 225 Depot) was likely to have served the purpose of providing fuel supplies to nearby RAF Hamworthy, where seaplanes were on station during WW2. This depot consisted of multiple semi-buried fuel tanks holding thousands of tons of aviation fuel, utilising a small underground pump room to send the fuel down the pipelines to Hamworthy and other allocated bases, as well as a smaller bunker of unknown use (Likely for accommodation and command) further into the site.
The site was hit by an air raid during the war, which hit and destroyed one of the fuel tanks rated at 8000 tons, it can still be found at the north of the site.
This depot was also reportedly used during the Cold War, as late as the 1970s. When it was finally decommissioned, I don't know.
One of the bunkers has also seen use for regular storage by a local nature commission in recent years, and likely still is being used for it as of today.
THE LOCATION: Finding this place was fairly easy once we got through my absolutely terrible directions, you'd have to be blind not to spot this, I'd sum the location up as... convenient.
The bunker was in astounding condition as of when we went, minus a bit of rubbish and quite a considerable crack in the entry tunnel. There were lots of original features still intact: Lights, switches, electrical boxes, paint on the doors and doorframes and a few other bits, it was something to see.
There's also two small overground buildings on site, we got into one of them which contained a generator and enough electronics to power a small town, the other building was padlocked and seemed to be still in use for something.
Apart from that, the site on ground level has been used as a dumping ground, parts of it torn up (You can see a foundation/platform where something would have been) and left to overgrow, however some of that overgrowth has been cut recently by the looks of it.
Unfortunately the pump room remains sealed, however if you want to see what the pump room looked like, I will refer you to this report made in 2012: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/underground-fuel-storage-bunkers-poole-feb-2012.70618/
THE EXPLORE: So as I mentioned, my directions were terrible, which made the drive to this site pure suffering. However, we'd chosen a nice-ish day and had plenty of time, so this one was quite relaxed. As much as entry was a breeze, the overgrowth was absolute hell, I think the car having a head-on collision would've been less painful.
We spent quite a while on this site, looking at a lot of the intact features we found and generally admiring the nearby scenery. It was a nice, humble explore with a little bit of pre-planning and a few cuts by the brambles. I'd definitely go again if the pump room ever became open again by any stretch of imagination, but given how hard they've sealed the door, I doubt that'll be for a long time.
THE PHOTOS:
What we saw once we got through the overgrowth - A platform/foundation where some sort of structure would have been, you can see the bunker entrance in the centre right and the 'Engine house' as I like to call it, to the back left.
Looking towards the depot entrance, the other building (Which is padlocked shut) is visible, along with a very old lamppost to the far right. Note the corrugated iron stacked up on that platform, perhaps it was part of a former structure on it?
The bunker:
This bunker sadly isn't the one with the pump room. However, from my knowledge, this particular bunker was locked shut in the previous report done on this site back in 2012, so you can finally see what's inside. What this bunker was for, I cannot tell you, however a lot of the features point to something that was constantly manned, perhaps with accommodation. It potentially could've been for COMMS with the bases this depot supplied, but that's only a guess at best.
There are many intact features in here, despite this bunker being just a fairly small number of rooms.
It seems to have been used for storage pretty recently.
It beckons...
The first room upon coming in. With what seems to be a toilet at the back.
A little bit of vandalism in here. To the left is a small shaft with two water tanks at the top. A smashed up toilet sits behind those shelves. I bet I could still sell it for £25, what do you think guys?
The tanks.
The biggest room of the bunker. It's clearly been used for private storage, whether it's still being used for that now is another question.
The other end of the room. We attempted to open that green door at the back, but it's stuck shut. You can look through the peep-hole in it and see daylight coming through. I don't know where it leads. Perhaps the sealed building near the gate?
The more intact stuff I see, the bigger my boner becomes.
Time to get out.
The 'Engine House':
I know very little about when this was built and why to be honest. This doesn't seem like a WW2 installation to me, although I could be (And probably am) wrong. This building houses a sizeable generator which is in rather good condition, as well as about a million electrical boards. Someone's dumped a 1990s computer in here too, which seemed to interest my friends more than the other stuff in here.
Some very, very old Ammeters and Voltmeters.
Is it gonna go bang?
A note by an Engineer inside one of the electrical panels. I wonder if he ever remembered the fuses.
The pump room tunnel:
This is the site's second, bigger bunker, containing the pumps that would've sent fuel down the pipelines. It's been sealed since about 2013 I think.
We still had a look at the door regardless - It's still welded hard. A good report on what's inside is here: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/underground-fuel-storage-bunkers-poole-feb-2012.70618/
The welded assembly. It's probably VERY flooded behind that door.
Other photos:
TREES!
I forgot to wear my belt.
My mates looking at that dumped 1990s PC.
That's about it lads. I feel like this report is a little sub-par compared to some of my previous ones, however I'm sure I'll get back into it now that I've made my return. I look forward to your comments.
- Rainey
So, I'm gonna start off with this place - I am happy to bring you:
Another location with a view!
POOLE RAF FUEL DEPOT
(A.K.A 225 Depot)
The site was hit by an air raid during the war, which hit and destroyed one of the fuel tanks rated at 8000 tons, it can still be found at the north of the site.
This depot was also reportedly used during the Cold War, as late as the 1970s. When it was finally decommissioned, I don't know.
One of the bunkers has also seen use for regular storage by a local nature commission in recent years, and likely still is being used for it as of today.
THE LOCATION: Finding this place was fairly easy once we got through my absolutely terrible directions, you'd have to be blind not to spot this, I'd sum the location up as... convenient.
The bunker was in astounding condition as of when we went, minus a bit of rubbish and quite a considerable crack in the entry tunnel. There were lots of original features still intact: Lights, switches, electrical boxes, paint on the doors and doorframes and a few other bits, it was something to see.
There's also two small overground buildings on site, we got into one of them which contained a generator and enough electronics to power a small town, the other building was padlocked and seemed to be still in use for something.
Apart from that, the site on ground level has been used as a dumping ground, parts of it torn up (You can see a foundation/platform where something would have been) and left to overgrow, however some of that overgrowth has been cut recently by the looks of it.
Unfortunately the pump room remains sealed, however if you want to see what the pump room looked like, I will refer you to this report made in 2012: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/underground-fuel-storage-bunkers-poole-feb-2012.70618/
THE EXPLORE: So as I mentioned, my directions were terrible, which made the drive to this site pure suffering. However, we'd chosen a nice-ish day and had plenty of time, so this one was quite relaxed. As much as entry was a breeze, the overgrowth was absolute hell, I think the car having a head-on collision would've been less painful.
We spent quite a while on this site, looking at a lot of the intact features we found and generally admiring the nearby scenery. It was a nice, humble explore with a little bit of pre-planning and a few cuts by the brambles. I'd definitely go again if the pump room ever became open again by any stretch of imagination, but given how hard they've sealed the door, I doubt that'll be for a long time.
THE PHOTOS:
What we saw once we got through the overgrowth - A platform/foundation where some sort of structure would have been, you can see the bunker entrance in the centre right and the 'Engine house' as I like to call it, to the back left.
Looking towards the depot entrance, the other building (Which is padlocked shut) is visible, along with a very old lamppost to the far right. Note the corrugated iron stacked up on that platform, perhaps it was part of a former structure on it?
The bunker:
This bunker sadly isn't the one with the pump room. However, from my knowledge, this particular bunker was locked shut in the previous report done on this site back in 2012, so you can finally see what's inside. What this bunker was for, I cannot tell you, however a lot of the features point to something that was constantly manned, perhaps with accommodation. It potentially could've been for COMMS with the bases this depot supplied, but that's only a guess at best.
There are many intact features in here, despite this bunker being just a fairly small number of rooms.
It seems to have been used for storage pretty recently.
It beckons...
The first room upon coming in. With what seems to be a toilet at the back.
A little bit of vandalism in here. To the left is a small shaft with two water tanks at the top. A smashed up toilet sits behind those shelves. I bet I could still sell it for £25, what do you think guys?
The tanks.
The biggest room of the bunker. It's clearly been used for private storage, whether it's still being used for that now is another question.
The other end of the room. We attempted to open that green door at the back, but it's stuck shut. You can look through the peep-hole in it and see daylight coming through. I don't know where it leads. Perhaps the sealed building near the gate?
The more intact stuff I see, the bigger my boner becomes.
Time to get out.
The 'Engine House':
I know very little about when this was built and why to be honest. This doesn't seem like a WW2 installation to me, although I could be (And probably am) wrong. This building houses a sizeable generator which is in rather good condition, as well as about a million electrical boards. Someone's dumped a 1990s computer in here too, which seemed to interest my friends more than the other stuff in here.
Some very, very old Ammeters and Voltmeters.
Is it gonna go bang?
A note by an Engineer inside one of the electrical panels. I wonder if he ever remembered the fuses.
The pump room tunnel:
This is the site's second, bigger bunker, containing the pumps that would've sent fuel down the pipelines. It's been sealed since about 2013 I think.
We still had a look at the door regardless - It's still welded hard. A good report on what's inside is here: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/underground-fuel-storage-bunkers-poole-feb-2012.70618/
The welded assembly. It's probably VERY flooded behind that door.
Other photos:
TREES!
I forgot to wear my belt.
My mates looking at that dumped 1990s PC.
That's about it lads. I feel like this report is a little sub-par compared to some of my previous ones, however I'm sure I'll get back into it now that I've made my return. I look forward to your comments.
- Rainey
