Visited with Ella.
We were in the area so thought we would go and have a look. Took us a little time to find them as the pin we had was in the other side of the woods but once you see them you can’t miss them. There are three entrances but only one is open. Access is relatively easy and good lighting is a must.
The tunnels are very much the same, we had slight confusion over where we were going using a discarded football as a guide until we realised there were two footballs placed in two different alcoves that was causing our confusion. There is a pile of old seats and old wooden toilet seats, loads of golf balls and graffiti.
Residents of the tunnels include a mouse who was very shy and an abundance of these horrible big spiders that I’ve never seen before, most of which had egg sacks they were guarding. Because of these spiders I spent the explore walking around like I had shit myself. I used Google Lense to identify the spider and they are a Meta Spider and are quite rare, I’ve logged the sighting with the London Wildlife Trust after emailing them.
This is the article:
On our way out we could hear someone just outside the rear of the tunnels chatting as he was shutting the gates so had to spend a while waiting for him to go whilst praying the spiders didn’t come close to us. A nightmare for a couple of arachnophobes.
Still not sure if I lit the photos ok or not, I find underground hard.
History :
The tunnels were used by the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) Railway company when its offices were relocated to The Grove during WW2. Large undertakings in towns and cities were actively seeking alternative accommodation for their staff at the request of the Government.
In the 1940s, The Grove became the secret wartime HQ for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway - of great strategic importance, it was called simply ‘Project X’. The Local Defence Volunteers was formed, eventually becoming the Home Guard, which patrolled The Grove and surrounding roads from dusk till dawn. After Dunkirk, when an attack seemed most likely, they began patrolling with loaded rifles.
We were in the area so thought we would go and have a look. Took us a little time to find them as the pin we had was in the other side of the woods but once you see them you can’t miss them. There are three entrances but only one is open. Access is relatively easy and good lighting is a must.
The tunnels are very much the same, we had slight confusion over where we were going using a discarded football as a guide until we realised there were two footballs placed in two different alcoves that was causing our confusion. There is a pile of old seats and old wooden toilet seats, loads of golf balls and graffiti.
Residents of the tunnels include a mouse who was very shy and an abundance of these horrible big spiders that I’ve never seen before, most of which had egg sacks they were guarding. Because of these spiders I spent the explore walking around like I had shit myself. I used Google Lense to identify the spider and they are a Meta Spider and are quite rare, I’ve logged the sighting with the London Wildlife Trust after emailing them.
This is the article:
On our way out we could hear someone just outside the rear of the tunnels chatting as he was shutting the gates so had to spend a while waiting for him to go whilst praying the spiders didn’t come close to us. A nightmare for a couple of arachnophobes.
Still not sure if I lit the photos ok or not, I find underground hard.
History :
The tunnels were used by the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) Railway company when its offices were relocated to The Grove during WW2. Large undertakings in towns and cities were actively seeking alternative accommodation for their staff at the request of the Government.
In the 1940s, The Grove became the secret wartime HQ for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway - of great strategic importance, it was called simply ‘Project X’. The Local Defence Volunteers was formed, eventually becoming the Home Guard, which patrolled The Grove and surrounding roads from dusk till dawn. After Dunkirk, when an attack seemed most likely, they began patrolling with loaded rifles.
