This is not the most interesting to be honest, but it's on my doorstep, and little known about, so thought it was worth a look.
The entrance faces an unclassified back road, the entrance being red brick hidden behind brambles etc.
A house has been built on the ground above the shelter since it's construction, and when this was built they filled some shafts that where accessible from above, as can be seen in the pics. The main entrance facing the road has been filled with soil too, but this was subsided a little and you can access - a little tight though!
Very little history about this - I could not find anything on the internet at all. There are roumers of an underground tunnel in this vacinity between this area (church and air raid shelter) and the local RAF base at the bottom of the hill, and also the local 'Heanton Court'. Not sure how true that is - I really can't find any references!
Took me a while to get in, and as I was wiggling like a worm a car drove by - they must have seen these legs wiggling half way up the hedge! Surprised they did not stop!
I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D5000 with a couple lenses, but I could not stomach taking this into the shelter
This was more of an exploratory visit, but to be honest there is little worthy of returning with a decent camera ![Frown :( :(](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Still, I got in, and did not expect to get as far as I did, so here is a few pics!
A quick sketch of the layout:
The entrance (can you spot it
):
The tight squeeze over the mounds of mud! You can see the concrete lintels of the roof:
The entrance corridoor with three doors to the right, with what appeared to be a toilet at the end:
Evidence of some electrickary:
Ventilation:
Strange hole between two of the rooms - almost like a serving hatch![Eek! :eek: :eek:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Water on the floor in most rooms:
Evidence of the access shafts being filled with soil and rubble:
Two of the rooms:
One of the access shafts from above filled with rubble:
The room between the two access shafts from above - half filled with soil:
Plenty of these scary spiders!
Secret lemonade drinkers?
Wonder where Keith and Pam are? Doesn't strike me as 1940's![Tongue :p :p](/styles/smilies/tongue.png)
Hope you don't find this report to bland and boring - It was not quite as exciting as I thought it may be!
Heanton Punchardon Air-Raid Shelter
The entrance faces an unclassified back road, the entrance being red brick hidden behind brambles etc.
A house has been built on the ground above the shelter since it's construction, and when this was built they filled some shafts that where accessible from above, as can be seen in the pics. The main entrance facing the road has been filled with soil too, but this was subsided a little and you can access - a little tight though!
Very little history about this - I could not find anything on the internet at all. There are roumers of an underground tunnel in this vacinity between this area (church and air raid shelter) and the local RAF base at the bottom of the hill, and also the local 'Heanton Court'. Not sure how true that is - I really can't find any references!
Took me a while to get in, and as I was wiggling like a worm a car drove by - they must have seen these legs wiggling half way up the hedge! Surprised they did not stop!
I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D5000 with a couple lenses, but I could not stomach taking this into the shelter
![Gay :gay :gay](/styles/smilies/gay.gif)
Still, I got in, and did not expect to get as far as I did, so here is a few pics!
A quick sketch of the layout:
The entrance (can you spot it
![Big Grin :D :D](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/xenforo/biggrin.png)
The tight squeeze over the mounds of mud! You can see the concrete lintels of the roof:
The entrance corridoor with three doors to the right, with what appeared to be a toilet at the end:
Evidence of some electrickary:
Ventilation:
Strange hole between two of the rooms - almost like a serving hatch
Water on the floor in most rooms:
Evidence of the access shafts being filled with soil and rubble:
Two of the rooms:
One of the access shafts from above filled with rubble:
The room between the two access shafts from above - half filled with soil:
Plenty of these scary spiders!
Secret lemonade drinkers?
Wonder where Keith and Pam are? Doesn't strike me as 1940's
![Tongue :p :p](/styles/smilies/tongue.png)
Hope you don't find this report to bland and boring - It was not quite as exciting as I thought it may be!