The Pink Bunker

(Disclaimer: Joking aside, I fully understand the risks/dangers involved in these adventures and do so in the full knowledge of what could happen. I don't encourage or condone and I accept no responsibility for anyone else following in my footsteps. Under UK law, trespass without force is a civil offence. I never break into a place, I never photograph a place that is currently occupied, as this would be morally wrong and intrusive, I never take any items and I never cause any damage, as such no criminal offences have been committed in the making of this blog. I will not disclose location or means of entry.  I leave the building as I find it and only enter to take photographs for my own pleasure and to document the building.

If you live in the UK, there's a good chance that you live within ten miles of an old nuclear monitoring bunker. It doesn't sound plausible, and if you don't believe such a bold statement then that's fine. Nevertheless, here's a blog about one. These little nuggets of history are scattered all over the country, and owe their existence to the Cold War. The Cold War wasn't really a war at all, but an era of tension between  various countries after they all got their hands on nuclear weapons and nobody felt particularly safe.

In the UK, over a thousand identical subterranean bunkers were built for the purpose of monitoring nuclear activity and communicating their findings across a network, and also ensuring the safety and survival of those working here by doubling up as living quarters. I'll add a diagram that I found online so that you can get an idea of it.

(Picture not mine, obviously.)

So they were basically a defensive precaution, and most of them can still be found to this day. Some have been demolished, and a lot of them are locked, so they're a gamble to travel out to. The ones that are open are seldom in good condition, but occasionally I do get lucky. But I'm easily pleased. I'll document it regardless of how awful it is or isn't.

Check out this bunker!

The only means of entry is a fifteen foot ladder. As you've probably gathered, the hatch itself wasn't connected to the hinges and could literally be lifted off and propped next to the external features. It's also worth noting that most of these things have an external step to facilitate access to the hatch for people who aren't that tall, but in this case it's been removed for some reason. You can even see where it would have been on the top photo. For me personally, this wasn't an issue. I'm a giant. I can be halfway down this thing and you'll still be able to see my forehead. It's really annoying in public toilet cubicles because when I stand up from the throne, the person in the cubicle next to me can just see my head and I end up on Crime Watch. But that's another story.

Obviously when dealing with an underground facility that hasn't been maintained in over a decade, one might have second thoughts about descending. Unfortunately my curiousity is seldom overidden by my survival instinct. Nevertheless, it's probably a good idea to tell someone before you go into one of these. There's not going to be any phone signal down there.

This particular bunker was built in 1961, and it was one of the longer lasting of its kind. Many were decomissioned in 1968, but this one was still in use right up until 1991. Following which it became derelict, and then at some point somebody decided to paint it pink.

It has a weird balance of pastels and grunge. Kinda like a Poppy video. But truthfully, I love this bunker. In fact, such an unexpected colour scheme sums up exactly why I love them. In spite of being built identical, history has given them all different stories.

I do wonder what the agenda was with painting this pink though. I doubt any landowner thought "I'll paint this pink to make it original for imbeciles on the internet." No, there was clearly a plan for this, but it's not been fulfilled.

Of the bunkers original features, the hand pump at the bottom of the shaft can still be seen, although it's in bad shape. The triangle on the wall is where a sign would have adhered to the wall, warning people to mind their head as they ascended the ladder.

Of the non-original features, we have this mattress. Now, if you've been following my blogs for a while you'll have seen a bed in one of these things before. This isn't what they typically look like! This bed was clearly moved down here after the bunkers closure in 1991, and the big giveaway is, of course, the fact that it's pink and white, just like the walls. This looks like a little girls bedroom, albeit trashed, and fifteen feet underground in a field, exactly the opposite location that you'd expect to find a little girls bedroom, unless she was related to Josef Fritzl.

Also, it seems that there was a fire down here at some point, although it's not been as bad as some. I've been to a few of these places that are little more than burnt out husks.

The ceiling tube would have been for inserting a "fixed survey meter," which would have been entered into the hole via a telescopic rod. It would come out on the surface, where it was protected by a polycarbonate dome, and it was basically for counting the particles produced by radioactive decay.

There's some childrens shoes down here. This is getting creepier.

Now onto the best part of any abandoned or derelict building, the toilet.

In a nuclear monitoring bunker, the toilet is basically a bucket with a seat in a cupboard, which would probably be loads of fun to lug up the ladder to empty out. It's still in better condition than the toilets in some pubs and clubs.

But let's take a moment to appreciate those who worked here. It was a defensive precaution in a scary time, when people were seriously planning what to do in the event of a nuclear apocalypse.

The living quarters in these bunkers genuinely disturbs me, because it's a rather cramped space to share with another human, and in the event of a nuclear blast, one would be stuck here with them and a bucket toilet. It doesn't exactly sound fun. But even though the cold war never escalated to the point of actual war, these people still stepped up and fulfilled their role.

It's just a shame that these relics are rotting away in fields when they should be preserved and appreciated.

That's all I've got for today. Next blog will be a pub. An actual abandoned one, not a closed-for-lockdown one. It's been hard to tell lately! In the meantime, follow my Instagram, Like my Facebook and Follow my Twitter!

Thanks for reading!