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Underground 'Cold War City' For Sale

Hogwash McFly writes "A huge underground complex that was built as a nuclear refuge for the British Prime Minister in the 1950s has been put on the market. Code-named Burlington, the bunker now has a population of only four maintenance workers, yet sprawls over 240 acres and accommodates 60 miles of roads. Underground power stations supply energy for 100,000 street lamps and amenities include a railway station and a pub called the Rose and Crown. Among ideas suggested for the £5,000,000 bunker include a data centre, wine cellar, rave club or fifties theme park. It is not clear whether a tank for keeping laser-equipped sharks is included, however."

21 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Hydro Setup by Luke+Psywalker · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine the killer bud you could grow in that place.

    1. Re:Hydro Setup by zondance · · Score: 5, Funny

      We have that... It is called Seattle. :)

      Seattle Chronic Clan
      Zone Dancer

  2. too many ads by cacoe · · Score: 5, Funny

    as stated before, we really need to filter out these damned ad articles.

  3. Re:Canada has something like that. by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I recall some Canadian relatives discussing a bunker called the Diefen Bunker. I think they said it's a tourist attraction now. They give tours as if it were a museum.

    Good research.

    http://www.diefenbunker.ca/

  4. For the übergeek. by Psionicist · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think it's worth spending that money just so you can say you live in motherlands basement.

  5. I don't know about anyone else... by Manchot · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to turn in into my own British Bat Cave. Kind of like where a combination of James Bond and Bruce Wayne would live.

  6. Huh? by Chickenofbristol55 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do I get the "four maintainance workers" with the city? Is slavery illegal underground? Oh, and I welcome our new underground mole-people overlords (couldn't help myself)

    --
    public class null extends java applet { System.out.print ("Tabula Rasa"); }
  7. Formerly inhabited by Thatcher's unknown geek son by ChePibe · · Score: 5, Funny

    For a time, the massive bunker's only inhabitant was Margaret Thatcher's previously unknown geek son, who wasted away his days coding, playing D&D with his online friends, and playing scrabble against himself while sheepishly avoiding the opposite sex.

    He is noted to have posted on many USENET boards, "oh yeah? Well you should see MY mom's basement, where I live. It's soooo much cooler than yours."

  8. Re:Canada has something like that. by Luthair · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been there it was quite interesting. Apparently the start of the movie The Sum of All Fears was filmed there.

  9. Hmmm by TRRosen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorta makes you wonder what kind of place they replaced it with.

  10. Bullshit by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Informative

    > ...sprawls over 240 acres and accommodates 60 miles of roads...

    60 miles of 30 foot wide road covers 218 acres.

    > ...100,000 street lamps...

    That's 417 street lamps per acre, or one for every three feet of your 60 miles of road.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    1. Re:Bullshit by rubycodez · · Score: 5, Insightful

      you're also asuming the whole thing has one level? one description I read had that it was "catacombed with tunnels"

    2. Re:Bullshit by skatingloon · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, it's not bullshit. If it's the place I'm thinking of (I'm pretty sure it is), it's called Monkton Farely, and like one of the comments says, everyone in the town of Bath knew it was there.

      About 15 years ago, the place was bought for a nominal sum (5 million pounds is a hell of a lot more than they bought it for!) by a family who had the idea of creating a tourist attraction down there. They didn't do too well, but while they were in business we did manage to get down there. It was barely an 'attraction', but incredibly interesting, nontheless.

      It's a truly amazing place. A lot of the infrastructure was decommissioned, so we had to use hand lamps - it was pretty spooky since it's obviously completely dark down there, and your head lamp doesn't do a whole lot to penetrate into the deeper bays and tunnels. Some of the major tunnels are indeed 30ft wide, and the lights are actually low wattage bulbs strung along the way.

      One funny thing is that they stored a *whole lot* of ammunition down there just prior to D-day (I believe), and the only fire management equipment was a bucket of sand under each light - every few feet. I guess they figured that if there was a problem, all the fire extinguishers in the world wouldn't deal with it!

      The there are a few things I remember particularly: The built-in power plant, air conditioning system (three huge stations with 30 foot fans) and the indentations left in the concrete from the bigger ammunition.

      Apparently the train station intersects with the Box Tunnel outside Bath, Wiltshire. Every time I travelled from London to Bath I used to look out of the window of the train to see if I could see it, but no luck unfortunately. Apparently it's possible to find old quarry workings which lead you into the complex, but that sounds a bit dicey to me!

      Here's an article about it - I'm not sure if this was the original one, but it might give you a flavour of what it's like down there.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/the_exchange/connec t/bunker.shtml

  11. I searched Google maps... by chriswaclawik · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I just could not find an aerial photo! WTF!

    --
    A guy walks into a bar... well, I forgot the joke, but the punchline is that he's an alcoholic.
  12. Re:Very cool! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    The Times carried this story during the week with an excellent quote.
    Jock Fraser, chairman of Corsham Town Council, said: "For years the Government denied it was even there but all the talk in local pubs was that if anything did happen, we knew where it was.

    "The politicians might have built it for themselves but we were going to make sure we got there before them."

  13. Half-Life by xerid · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should make it into a real life Half-Life theme park. That would kick ass.

  14. Articel Update by gfordham · · Score: 5, Funny

    SOLD

    I hear some company by the name of, The Umbrella Corporation, just bought it.

    --
    When work feels overwhelming, remember that you're going to die.
  15. Image tour of Burlington bunker by Animats · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a tour. It's a huge installation. Not in bad shape for a bunker, but will need considerable work to be usable.

  16. Re:purpose of these bunkers by frogstar_robot · · Score: 5, Funny

    General "Buck" Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?

    Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

    Ambassador de Sadesky: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.

  17. Re:Very cool! by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I quite like the 50s theme-park idea myself. Well, my version is not so much a theme-park as an 'alternate reality experience'. The fact that it is isolated from the outside world is perfect for a 'blast from the past' opportunity, and already containing a lot of 50s equipment is a bonus.

    Imagine going on a weekend trip with your significant other and/or a group of mates. When you get to the bunker you are given a change of 50s clothes and assigned rooms. You are told that the year is sometime in the 60s and the that nuclear strikes have devastated England, forcing many underground. The country is at war, and some of our brave men are fighting on the Russian front. Reports of troop advancements are broadcast over the sound system, and even the 'Prime Minister', who is living in a secured section of the bunker, could broadcast morale-boosting speeches during your stay there.

    There could be a cinema showing old movies, and short propaganda films could even be appended. The article states that there is already a pub there - build a few more, perhaps even a 50s nightclub (cabaret?) and similar amenities. Basically, there would be the normal level entertainment found at any holiday camp, but with a twist - it's a different time/dimension and you are 'living there', wishing that the troops fighting alongside the Americans will come home safely, even though it's all fictional. Actors could summon people at random to perform 'important tasks' like tending to wounded soldiers fresh off a plane or manning a radio station.

    It could be like a LARP, but more mainstream and far less geeky, i.e. a theme-park that tells you it's not a theme-park.

    --
    Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
  18. Paintball by Literaphile · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Imagine the possibilities!