Chasing underground tunnels

I happen to have a book that mentions a somewhat more difficult, and certainly more risky, aspect to urban exploration, that the author refers to as Infiltration. That is, the explorer explores an active site rather than an abandoned one, and often utilizes either stealth or fast talking as a means of entry. Now this might sound unpopular and I want to get it clear- I'd never do this to someones home like, say, a TV license goon or a con artist (same thing, I know) however when one explores a corporate building it can be quite fun. I mean this is what I did when I went "beneath" the Rat Run. The Rat Run is ofcourse the rooftop path that goes from the building that used to be the Raven Hotel (currently Hawks Cycles and a charity shop) all the way down to the bottom of Pride Hill. So what I refer to as "beneath" is really indoors, but in the case of this infiltration it was the passageways of the shopping centers where one might meet staff and security guards, and it awarded me that delightful old creche beneath Pride Hill.

So there are benefits of infiltration. Of course I'd never do it to a residential property, and I'd never force entry, vandalize, or steal from the premises. So technically it's not that illegal if one just happens to stroll in to staff only areas and later claim they were simply lost.

To get to the point, I recently heard a delicious rumour about underground tunnels stemming from beneath a big corporate office building here in Shrewsbury. I won't say which one out of a lack of desire to demonstrate the ease of access to the general public. But I wandered up to the door to the building, intent on going in and heading straight for the stairs / lift, and heading down to the cellar. Sadly it wasn't to be. The door didn't open. And without any signs of life in the building I concluded that the offices were empty, and left it at that.

Then one day I saw someone leave. On closer inspection, the building was occupied, but could only be opened from within. "Customers" needed to be buzzed in, which would mean they were expected by the staff upstairs after being allowed access. I needed a story. I needed to fast talk my way past the buzzer in such a way that would not be too suspicious when I suddenly did not show up upstairs. It was no easy task- I have no idea what the company even does!

But I wanted to get to these tunnels, you understand. I am addicted to the adventure. If there were underground tunnels beneath this building, I would see them. I took to loitering outside the building waiting for someone to go in or out. Once the door was open, I planned on making some lame excuse to the person going in, that would award me access without staff expecting me in the floors above.
It wasn't as difficult as I thought. Someone left the building, saw me and said "Going in?" And I simply said yes, and they held the door open for me.

Now, there were passageways that were pitch black and ran underneath the neighbouring buildings, and also under the street, judging by sounds of traffic above.
They weren't the medieval tunnels of secrets that I've found previously, but the enormity of the area led me to believe there was more to it.

There were numerous doorways too.

All the doors were open, with the exception of one. The interesting thing being that this goes directly underneath a bank. Again, I'm not saying which bank, but it's both a disapointment and a relief that this is locked. I'd love to see if the passageways continue given how far they've gone already, but if it is a bank vault or something I'd rather it not be accessible to anyone casually strolling in, like Halifax in Oswestry used to be.

The tunnels weren't empty though. There were three separate rooms- one of which was right underneath the street, and they were full of photo opportunities.

The red button on a green box is an emergency stop button that automatically shuts down machinery should someone get injured.

The bizarre thing is that the contents suggest the area has a purpose- this isn't some random store room for junk. But the dust on every surface (except the shiny fire extinguisher) and the absence of lights contradicts that.

Most notable in this complex were two rooms full of bizarre machinery, the purpose of which I have no idea, but I'm sure it's probably surprisingly mundane in contrast to the chaotic designs. It would look amazing with a real camera, but my phone was adequate for now.

In the portion that went underneath the actual street were yet more random pieces of hardware.

 On one wall there was a shelf for holding documents, which was also puzzling.

 

 

And in one final small room were some old radiators propped up against the wall. 

And that was that, athough there is still a level of intrigue regarding the locked door beneath the bank.In regards to the tunnels themselves, they are considerably more modern than any other underground tunnel I've seen in Shrewsbury, but it is also surprisingly close to two other unexplorable tunnel openings, to the point that they could likely be connected behind the locked doors. But I'd definitely date all of these as late 20th Century. In terms of historic value it all depends how far back you want to look. 

I still enjoyed the adventure. 

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