That tunnel was lined out with white plastic sheet ready for a hydroponics farm. Along with the blue water pipe I bet they thought they had a nice private gaff.
The "LPTB" marking on the tunnel segment at19:25, stands for "London Passenger Transport Board" as London Transport was officially known at it's formation in 1933.
Okidoke This is quite impressive, but nothing compared to the hundreds of miles of identical tube tunnels that run under London, some of which predate this one by almost a century.
Stalagmite - if it tries real hard, it _might_ just reach the top. Stalactite - needs to hang on _tight_ or it will fall off. Just an easy way to remember them that my mother taught me when I was little.
I really enjoyed your tour of these tunnels. Many years ago, I worked at a place that was built on an abandoned Nike missile base. The job entailed lengthy idle periods, so if we didn't feel like playing cribbage, we would sometimes go exploring in the subterranean portions of the place. Much of it was flooded, but the part that was dry was still very interesting. We found containers of emergency food and water, toilet seats meant to fit on the cans of those rations once they were emptied (I think they were about 8-10 gallons), and even a radiation meter, which I still have. I just love exploring such places! I believe that I will subscribe.
Could it be that the shelters were kept in working condition during the cold war? And since the ventilation is running it seems that there is upkeep done until now.
Some of that was definitely 1980's. Some of the WWII bomb shelters were maintained and even expanded into the early 90's. I believe some are still maintained now.
History of Spiro International SA - It all started in 1952 in a moment of true inspiration It all started in 1952, when Erling Jensen and Leif Andresen - in a moment of true inspiration - suddenly saw the possibility of round ventilation systems; easier production, easier installation, easier sealing and easier maintenance. After the first euphoric moments, they found themselves back at square one - with a big problem. How do you design and produce a machine that turns sheet metal into round tubing effectively. Four years later their invention - the SPIRO® TUBEFORMER - was a reality. So was the Spiro® company itself. The SPIRO® TUBEFORMER revolutionized the production of ventilation tubing, leaving the square competition back at square one. Since 1956 Spiro® has developed and produced a number of important and patented sheet metal processing machines, each devoted to a specific phase in the production process of different ducts, fittings and tubes.
Very interesting. Good to see the tunnels are kept in relatively good nick although some of those bolts look like they need replacing. I suppose they have to keep it maintained to keep the integrity of the tracks and what not above and could fill it in but the cost would be exorbitant. Whoever's charged with maintaining it all has a big job on their hands
Peter Laurie’s book “Beneath the City Streets” mapped out many of the tunnels under London in 1970. Another journalist got into them in 1983 (Campbell) and managed to walk for miles under central London.
The plan with these shelters was that after the war they would be turned into operational tube tunnels with trains running through them (hence the construction type being identical to the rest of the tube network of the time). The idea was they would be express tracks. This is why they were constructed in line with existing tube tunnels but bypassing all the stations. A line of them were built but they were not connected to each other. Each shelter was built as twin tunnels but not broken through at each end to the adjacent shelter continuing along the tube line. I think this was a safety measure so that if anything happened (fire, bomb bouncing down the entrance shaft and exploding), the damage would be contained. The plan was that the upper floor would be broken out and hey presto, a tube tunnel. Then the ends would be broken through and connected and you end up with tube tunnels. Then just connect each tunnel to the existing system. This has never happened because there has been no interest in running express trains. But with the increasing load on the underground who knows what might happen in the future.
First of all you have to understand that although these shelters were built for later conversion after the war and thus built directly in line with where the proposed express tracks would eventually run, their footprint on the express track route in total, is very small. In other words, for them to be connected together and converted into tube tunnels that would be of any practical use (ie an express route that actually goes somewhere) would require the construction of additional tunnels extending them quite a bit further. Secondly with the addition of several new tube lines since the end of WWII, any advantage provided by an express route in their location(s) has all but been eliminated. But anything is possible, who knows what may happen in the future.
100% true @@cigpapers . I'm sick to death of politicians snubbing the British by inviting in millions of foreigners, together with their vile paedo cult, tribal disputes, hatred of us 'infidels' and potential for terrorism. It absolutely IS genocide, and is designed to be just that.
Doughnut, they're fire doors, didn't exist in the 40's. Also, suggestion here, to get a Co / Gas alarm detector , even with a ventilator pulling air out the tunnel, it could be pulling in anything from the other end.
Imagine you come up and discover they’ve pressed the button and the world is a nuclear apocalypse? These places were a lot safer than the garden Anderson shelters during the Blitz. I imagine some folks brought supplies of food, clothing, books, toys for kids and stayed down there for days at a time. Or even freakier, you emerge on the street into 1940 London after the first bombing.
If you guys ever come to San Francisco there are a ton of underground structures you can explore. Some are open to the public people don't know about them, some are hidden.
6:04 Written on floor "This is my home" and a few seconds later "Do not go beyond here"... uhhh... I would be reaching for a nice bat around about now..
Got in here under the cover of darkness over a decade ago. Nice to see it again. I still have the huge blueprint I took from the wall as maintenance work was being carried out.
A great vid! The LPTB stands for London Passenger Transport Board aka London Transport, who built these tunnels on behalf of the government. The 18 holes refers to the amount of holes in the particular cast iron tunnel segment. They came in different sizes and were indeed the same as used to build London Underground tube tunnels. By the time these shelter tunnels were built the blitz was over but they came in handy to use as barracks for the troops amassing for the D-Day landings, i know the shelters under Clapham were used for that purpose. As an ex tubeman i love anything to do with strange and generally unknown tunnels under London, there's quite a few on the Underground system that no passenger ever sees!
@@SubExploration I was one of the draughtsmen who designed and got them made at Shaplands in Devon. We did them all throughout the London underground at the tail end of the 80s thru to the early 90s, it was a huge contract. Loved the video, truly amazing stuff ;-)
LaZoucheCustomshop Even if the tunnels themselves are not in routine use the fire safety equipment has to be up to standard and operating correctly so that, if a fire does break out, it can be isolated and there is no risk of the smoke getting into public areas such as the Underground network. After King's Cross it was abundantly clear how much of a risk even a moderate amount of smoke is underground...
If you leave it to rot and flood, it will eventually collapse which will probably destabilize structures built above the tunnels. Maybe right now they won't fix the flooding issue but they have to be able to drain and fix it when needed. If everything would be flooded, there would be no way to find out if something is in danger of collapse or not. They could choose to fill in the tunnels with sand but that will be a really big job, possibly much more expensive than several decades of keeping up the bare minimum of maintenance. On the long term it may be the cheapest decision, but usually politicians aren't that eager to spend lots of money on projects that only benefits a city in the long term. The other possibility is that they want to be able to get the tunnels functioning in actual emergency service again.
mate the vent above your head at 3:49 has been recently worked on, the "uni-strut" holding it up is pretty fresh looking and its also poweredfrom an 3 prong industrial power point. almost like doing a refurb and get the air clean for future use, keep an eye on the place may find its got more works and security soon
Yeah I laughed at this, 'this thing making the noise is still working after all this time' haha they are thick as shit, mate it's called an Air Handling Unit and it's a retro fit probably fitted in the last 10 years 😆
Tights come down. That's how I was taught, only requires one repetition to set in most blokes brains lol. Around 13:20 with the metal plates in the wetter side tunnel, those might be sacrificial anodes, designed to corrode in place of the iron/steel. As the plates corrode they're replaced, much easier than replacement structural work. Used on dams and ships hulls usually, but if it was surveyed and marked as a known wet tunnel it's a possible structural mitigation.
Regarding the lower tunnel areas that are flooded - many/most large tunneling projects traditionally have a lower level or lower series of tunnels as they are bound to leak or suffer flooding at some point - so that the water collects where it is designed to be collected and pumped out. Sometimes there is what's called an adit level - a straight-ish tunnel designed to carry out water to where it can drain away naturally - onto a hillside miles away, for example. If you go tunnel exploring you'll need 'wet gear' every time. Underground = great fun :)
They didn't, these are cold war era bunkers. London didnt have the time to build bunkers like this in the 30's, so citizens of london sheltered in tube stations. Also the tech used in construction is much later than 30's.
Peter Zingler - Not True I’m afraid. Power is connected for regular safety inspections. They are all privately owned. Google ‘London deep level shelters’ for more information.
Peter Zingler you’re sort of on the right tracks. There are deep level tunnels which were for ministry staff evacuations and most really came into their own during the Cold War for telecoms cabling but never for mass shelters other than ops staff.
Wow just wow!!! I'm so bloody jealous! What an amazing place!! The ventilation was so loud I can't imagine how loud it was with everything else going on! Got to be one of my favourite places you have been to its truly beautiful
Yea I bet It's if another cold war starts or anything along those lines. After WW2 I think London's ready for anything. Kinda scary they think it is necessary to have these, clearly a sign at how stable the world really is
'Stanton' were a company that made industrial ironwork, including manhole covers; their most famous is one that you probably know, but didn't know you knew - the Stanton 'Warrior', from which the Bristol DJ duo 'Stanton Warriors' got their name. Great video of a fascinating site. Nice one, gents!
When my dad was in the Army back in the1950s he was recalled to the colours in 1956during the Suez canal crisis.He was sent to a camp called Gouch street it was part of the under ground network that was closed off and turned into a underground barracks.with a capacity of around10000 .there was kitchen and toilet facilities.would be interesting to see if any of it still there.
First time watching you and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it , I’ve watched a few now and I’ve got to say these vids are so exciting , I would love to do what you do here I’ve subscribed and will be looking forward to more vids Thank you for your effort and showing us what you found These are some incredible finds and footage
Shame the sump pumps failed in at least 2 places. I'm sure someone will be down there to fix them at some point. Great explore, and great history on these tunnels.
@@SubExploration Is there electricity going into that water? Seemed there were some electrical panels or wires and if the water got high enough it could become live? Or maybe I was mistaken with what i was seeing?
I surveyed a lift shaft in one of these in order to design a proposed new lift, but made sure to do the full tour while I had the chance! Also have detailed survey drawings of the whole site - didn't really need them for my work but my 'anorak' wanted them :-)
@@LysanderLH It was in the stairwell so size was seriously limited and probably why the farm moved as they had to have a firefighting lift which has to be acertain spec. Would have been two years ago now.
Mike Cox just out of interest and roughly, if you need to be vague, where did you enter the tunnel? You don’t have to answer that as i’m only trying to find out if it’s where I worked, which i’m now less certain it was. These may be the tunnels off Aldwych that MOD sold off some years ago. All ‘two-man lifts’ had stairs around the shafts(very unpleasant to hoik loads of stuff up when the lift was out), so you can see why it’s a bit confusing to judge some 30 years later.
@@LysanderLH I think this is one of three on a line (think North, Common & South) , I entered from the main road via the roundel. Look up Growing Underground, if this is the same shelter, the sheeting at one end was were they had the seed trays when they were there.
the only issue witth being in a tunnel during an air raid is if the entrance takes a direct hit then effectively you've got 8000 people in ready made tomb!
You definitely were not bluffing on this one being good !!!! I got the notification on my way to work , had to wait all day to watch . Definitely a gem !! And I believe that was a bilge pump not a air pump. The little dingus off the side is a float switch. Stay safe brother !!!!
so whats up with this place, its well preserved and they have replaced all the doors added walls lights etc whats the plan with it, also whats up with the fire damage at one part
Just as a comparison, we have similar tunnels in Sydney, Australia (but much less expansive than these), also originally air raid shelters from WWII that were accessed via tube stations etc and planned to expand the train network later but never did. Recent suggestions by the local Govt are to open them as trendy bar/restaurant sites. But so far nothing has progressed.
Theres so many idiot youtubers out there. you deserve a much bigger following educational and entertaining. I always get excited when I see that there's a new video from you thankyou
Thank you. Yes, you won’t be finding any "found dead body", "magic swords", "almost died", "chased by ghosts" or any of that rubbish on our channel. We just put these things out because we happen to have a genuine interest. If people choose to like our content, then that’s great but we're not in it for numbers. Honestly some of the ridiculous things I see people coming out with is just shocking. Honestly, "found alien arm"? Good god 😂
Stalagtites cling tight to the ceiling, stalagmites might reach the ceiling. What you were seeing were soad straws. Those exist where a single dripping spot happens whereas the other two occur at cracks in natural rock. If the dripping spot starts widening, it may begin forming other formations like stalag tites or flowstone or cave bacon.
You're a twit. You came and watched the video but you expected these guys to provide it to you free of charge, despite the time and effort they put in.
Guess you are new to YT...it's about making money. If these guys and the many other on YT can give us cool videos and make a living doing it more power to them.
Great video! Fun explore! Thanks! When I was a kid I was told an easy way to remember.... Stalagtites hang tight to the roof. Stalagmites might grow to the roof someday. Thanks again. Love your videos!
The slightly modern (1970’s) ductwork and fire doors indicates to me that maybe this could be like the abandoned but functional Cincinnati transit center. One of those “maybe we’ll need it later” kinda things.
Already has working ventilation and electric then it has toilets etc... How many homeless ppl could it accomidate by putting partitions and beds in them tunnels. Streets will look cleaner and homeless have a roof over there heads while they sort out a better future 😕
The homeless problem isn't just about roofs over heads. A lot of homeless are ex military with PTSD and others can't handle the attacks in existing shelters. A civilised country doesn't abandon its ex-services people to die on the streets.
the environment down there is not adequate and it's a massive health and safety nightmare; there exists ventilation but only circulates it in a small part of it, none of it goes to outside air so there's actually no fresh air; there's considerable water ingress in several places, there's no communications at all, there's no means of emergency escape, even the main stairs don't conform to current health and safety standards (as posted on the wall for visiting contractors), due to the nature of the circular tunnels it would be very easy to whack your head on one of the exposed tunnel sections, it's about 14 flights of stairs underground which could see someone with medical conditions injure or pass out due to the lack of fresh air and high dust content, finally these shelters are not abandoned but they are disused, they belong to someone and they can do with them what they may -- sorry to say but people who mention filling these war-time bunkers with homeless people are incredibly naive and disrespectful to both the history of the tunnels and homeless people, what you're suggesting is as good as burying them alive just so you don't see them on your streets
It would be really helpful if you got a mic. You keep turning away from the camera when you're speaking, and the echo in the tunnel, plus the air equipment made it difficult to hear and understand you.
Hi, just remember stalactites are the same as womens tights, they both come down. Don't blame me for that saying as I was told the same quite a few years ago lmao. Brilliant video, I love watching anything to do with tunnels/caves or basically underground stuff. Thanks for sharing. xx
You can be sure that this is no longer going to be made available to the general public in the case of an emergency. It would only be spillover for the connected... probably the lesser local government members. Higher ups would be at proper, well stocked planning stations.
0:15 spoiler alert - the tunnels are completely devoid of anything interesting, don’t bother watching this video. It could have easily been 4 minutes vs. 20+. Quite narcissistic of him to think we’d want to watch 20+ minutes of him walking and whacking on about nothing
This shows your government has always cared about you. From the 1940's to now. The Americans were told by officials to, "Hide under our desks in a crouched position with your hands holding each side of your head." I sure there are those that believe that would work. He what kind of Light was that again ?? It was impressive.
Yes but your countries population was far greater. I think the cost of providing such shelters would have been enormous. What the Olight SRII Mini? Yeah I did plug it a bit didn't I 😂
There's an entrance to a tunnel network in Kilburn. I saw some contractors working there once and tried to take a photo. They weren't happy and told me to leave immediately 🤔🤔
These look like the tunnels that were brought back in to use by London Underground, there a couple of deep levels to my knowldege in Clapham South London one of which now produces hydro grown vegetables, the other tunnels got turned into storage archives. Good videos bud
I wonder with that white sheeting strung up that maybe that tunnel was used for hydro vegetables or ………..some other plant that is illegal and requires lots of heat and smells real bad ……..yes you got it Brussel Sprouts lol . No I think you know what im really on about lol .
Many of these tunnels are being maintained ready for using as mass graves. If a pandemic, large scale terrorist attack or other disaster occurs they will be given their final mission - to keep contaminated and diseased bodies from the remaining population.
wtf, no. why would you need bunkers as mass graves? first of all... if you need mass graves just dig a hole , it's not that hard. this bunker is maintained as a, shocker, bunker. its a shelter.
Sadly very true @@floridaarmyvet3613. As Gaddafi said: "We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe - without swords, without guns, without conquests. The fifty million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades." He cited Albania, Bosnia and (soon) Turkey as muslim countries that will be running the EU, along with the massive population of paedo-worshippers already ashore and sapping the will of the natives. America and Canada are next, and unless people like Trump are taken seriously then it is only a matter of time before the USA has its second muslim president.
Interesting place the underground but I feel the video was more about the torch than the underground. That initial scene where you have 'Subexploration' sprayed on the wall looks like it was taken right out of the game 'Silent Hill', soooo eeerie
What a fun and educational exploration :) A bit of constructive criticism if I may? The in-built microphone in your camera is very weak, so sometimes I struggled to hear your voice or any ambient sounds. Your best option might be a clip-on mic, since you won't need to adjust it while moving and is very simple yet effective.
Great to see you go commercial and get more exposure. May mean you get authorisation to hidden places 👍. Keep up the good work. I found out about the deep shelters a while ago - one is at Chalk Farm, between Hampstead and Camden stations - most of them have been used for data storage, but a few remain open to the select few. Would be great to see some underground rivers/abandoned stations/sewer systems - Brighton’s Colossus of the south would be interesting. 😀👍
With the amount of underground tunnels in London, building Crossrail must have been a nightmare. It's like a maze down there.
Yeah i bet :-D
That's why you have maps and blueprints
24 minutes 22 seconds - the longest ever torch advert in history!
That tunnel was lined out with white plastic sheet ready for a hydroponics farm. Along with the blue water pipe I bet they thought they had a nice private gaff.
Brill. I did think there was something dodgy going on there. Not as empty down there as they thought it was
Look at the writing on the floor just before the sheets start.
06:00
@@TheFalseShepphard it says this is my home
The "LPTB" marking on the tunnel segment at19:25, stands for "London Passenger Transport Board" as London Transport was officially known at it's formation in 1933.
So that's where my bike is..
I'm continually blown away by structures people have built. Amazing.
Okidoke This is quite impressive, but nothing compared to the hundreds of miles of identical tube tunnels that run under London, some of which predate this one by almost a century.
@@spencerwilton5831 no doubt. I just mean that when I keep watching this exploration videos, I'm constantly left in awe.
Stalagmite - if it tries real hard, it _might_ just reach the top.
Stalactite - needs to hang on _tight_ or it will fall off.
Just an easy way to remember them that my mother taught me when I was little.
Not forgetting Stalagnates ;-)
Mites grow up, Tights come down. 😂✌
stalaCtite - ceiling
stalaGmite - ground
@Oliver Eales You're entitled to your wrong opinion.
I really enjoyed your tour of these tunnels.
Many years ago, I worked at a place that was built on an abandoned Nike missile base. The job entailed lengthy idle periods, so if we didn't feel like playing cribbage, we would sometimes go exploring in the subterranean portions of the place. Much of it was flooded, but the part that was dry was still very interesting. We found containers of emergency food and water, toilet seats meant to fit on the cans of those rations once they were emptied (I think they were about 8-10 gallons), and even a radiation meter, which I still have.
I just love exploring such places! I believe that I will subscribe.
That ventilation is modern spiral duct was not invented in the 40s
I was about to say the same.
Could they be keeping the tunnels somewhat repaired and ventilated. Just in case something happens that would make people need it for shelter again.
Could it be that the shelters were kept in working condition during the cold war?
And since the ventilation is running it seems that there is upkeep done until now.
Some of that was definitely 1980's. Some of the WWII bomb shelters were maintained and even expanded into the early 90's. I believe some are still maintained now.
History of Spiro International SA - It all started in 1952 in a moment of true inspiration
It all started in 1952, when Erling Jensen and Leif Andresen - in a moment of true inspiration - suddenly saw the possibility of round ventilation systems; easier production, easier installation, easier sealing and easier maintenance.
After the first euphoric moments, they found themselves back at square one - with a big problem. How do you design and produce a machine that turns sheet metal into round tubing effectively.
Four years later their invention - the SPIRO® TUBEFORMER - was a reality. So was the Spiro® company itself. The SPIRO® TUBEFORMER revolutionized the production of ventilation tubing, leaving the square competition back at square one.
Since 1956 Spiro® has developed and produced a number of important and patented sheet metal processing machines, each devoted to a specific phase in the production process of different ducts, fittings and tubes.
6:03 "This is my home" "do not go past this point" spraypainted on the floor, just gonna keep walking
You've got some big balls on you son
Very interesting. Good to see the tunnels are kept in relatively good nick although some of those bolts look like they need replacing. I suppose they have to keep it maintained to keep the integrity of the tracks and what not above and could fill it in but the cost would be exorbitant. Whoever's charged with maintaining it all has a big job on their hands
Peter Laurie’s book “Beneath the City Streets” mapped out many of the tunnels under London in 1970. Another journalist got into them in 1983 (Campbell) and managed to walk for miles under central London.
I love this tunnel. So much history. The photos at the end are always spectacular. Keep it up!
Thank you. Yeah we try to improve our photos with each trip out 👌
The plan with these shelters was that after the war they would be turned into operational tube tunnels with trains running through them (hence the construction type being identical to the rest of the tube network of the time). The idea was they would be express tracks. This is why they were constructed in line with existing tube tunnels but bypassing all the stations. A line of them were built but they were not connected to each other.
Each shelter was built as twin tunnels but not broken through at each end to the adjacent shelter continuing along the tube line. I think this was a safety measure so that if anything happened (fire, bomb bouncing down the entrance shaft and exploding), the damage would be contained. The plan was that the upper floor would be broken out and hey presto, a tube tunnel. Then the ends would be broken through and connected and you end up with tube tunnels. Then just connect each tunnel to the existing system.
This has never happened because there has been no interest in running express trains. But with the increasing load on the underground who knows what might happen in the future.
Do you know why they were never finished into tube tunnels? Im assuming they decided it wasn't work the money.
Looks like you've been reading the same material as me 😉
@@SubExploration any chance of the link for this. sounds interesting
First of all you have to understand that although these shelters were built for later conversion after the war and thus built directly in line with where the proposed express tracks would eventually run, their footprint on the express track route in total, is very small.
In other words, for them to be connected together and converted into tube tunnels that would be of any practical use (ie an express route that actually goes somewhere) would require the construction of additional tunnels extending them quite a bit further.
Secondly with the addition of several new tube lines since the end of WWII, any advantage provided by an express route in their location(s) has all but been eliminated.
But anything is possible, who knows what may happen in the future.
It's pretty obvious which one this is from the fire damage.
The device at 7:45 I believe is a sump pump for pumping water
I think you right as that was the strainer at the end
Yes I realised this when reviewing the footage 😂
@@zeberdee1972 Yup and the skinny tube with the bulb is the float switch.
100% true @@cigpapers . I'm sick to death of politicians snubbing the British by inviting in millions of foreigners, together with their vile paedo cult, tribal disputes, hatred of us 'infidels' and potential for terrorism. It absolutely IS genocide, and is designed to be just that.
@@cigpapers fuck off mate.
Doughnut, they're fire doors, didn't exist in the 40's.
Also, suggestion here, to get a Co / Gas alarm detector , even with a ventilator pulling air out the tunnel, it could be pulling in anything from the other end.
he already said that in a note you doughnut
incorrect apostrophes didn't exist then either
It's a retro fit you doughnut
Imagine you come up and discover they’ve pressed the button and the world is a nuclear apocalypse? These places were a lot safer than the garden Anderson shelters during the Blitz. I imagine some folks brought supplies of food, clothing, books, toys for kids and stayed down there for days at a time.
Or even freakier, you emerge on the street into 1940 London after the first bombing.
If you guys ever come to San Francisco there are a ton of underground structures you can explore. Some are open to the public people don't know about them, some are hidden.
6:04 Written on floor "This is my home" and a few seconds later "Do not go beyond here"... uhhh... I would be reaching for a nice bat around about now..
I'd use the bricks I just shat as a weapon.
It's a Bat-cave....this is where Batman lives when in London. xD
Norris Jinglewilly unfortunately I think you are right.. They all got old and their kids aren’t worth a carrot
@Matthew Cooper No only a ton of WW2 vets, but they're nobody's right? Clown.
Got in here under the cover of darkness over a decade ago. Nice to see it again. I still have the huge blueprint I took from the wall as maintenance work was being carried out.
Would love to know where this is 🙂
A great vid! The LPTB stands for London Passenger Transport Board aka London Transport, who built these tunnels on behalf of the government. The 18 holes refers to the amount of holes in the particular cast iron tunnel segment. They came in different sizes and were indeed the same as used to build London Underground tube tunnels. By the time these shelter tunnels were built the blitz was over but they came in handy to use as barracks for the troops amassing for the D-Day landings, i know the shelters under Clapham were used for that purpose. As an ex tubeman i love anything to do with strange and generally unknown tunnels under London, there's quite a few on the Underground system that no passenger ever sees!
They are Shaplands doors installed back in the 90s. Amazing that this is all still in use, why I wonder?
I did wonder that given the look of the door closers
@@SubExploration I was one of the draughtsmen who designed and got them made at Shaplands in Devon. We did them all throughout the London underground at the tail end of the 80s thru to the early 90s, it was a huge contract. Loved the video, truly amazing stuff ;-)
because the zombie indian apocalypse
LaZoucheCustomshop Even if the tunnels themselves are not in routine use the fire safety equipment has to be up to standard and operating correctly so that, if a fire does break out, it can be isolated and there is no risk of the smoke getting into public areas such as the Underground network. After King's Cross it was abundantly clear how much of a risk even a moderate amount of smoke is underground...
If you leave it to rot and flood, it will eventually collapse which will probably destabilize structures built above the tunnels. Maybe right now they won't fix the flooding issue but they have to be able to drain and fix it when needed. If everything would be flooded, there would be no way to find out if something is in danger of collapse or not.
They could choose to fill in the tunnels with sand but that will be a really big job, possibly much more expensive than several decades of keeping up the bare minimum of maintenance.
On the long term it may be the cheapest decision, but usually politicians aren't that eager to spend lots of money on projects that only benefits a city in the long term.
The other possibility is that they want to be able to get the tunnels functioning in actual emergency service again.
21:08... "That still works" That's some modern shit, why shouldn't it?
mate the vent above your head at 3:49 has been recently worked on, the "uni-strut" holding it up is pretty fresh looking and its also poweredfrom an 3 prong industrial power point. almost like doing a refurb and get the air clean for future use, keep an eye on the place may find its got more works and security soon
Yeah I laughed at this, 'this thing making the noise is still working after all this time' haha they are thick as shit, mate it's called an Air Handling Unit and it's a retro fit probably fitted in the last 10 years 😆
Tights come down. That's how I was taught, only requires one repetition to set in most blokes brains lol. Around 13:20 with the metal plates in the wetter side tunnel, those might be sacrificial anodes, designed to corrode in place of the iron/steel. As the plates corrode they're replaced, much easier than replacement structural work. Used on dams and ships hulls usually, but if it was surveyed and marked as a known wet tunnel it's a possible structural mitigation.
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
Regarding the lower tunnel areas that are flooded - many/most large tunneling projects traditionally have a lower level or lower series of tunnels as they are bound to leak or suffer flooding at some point - so that the water collects where it is designed to be collected and pumped out. Sometimes there is what's called an adit level - a straight-ish tunnel designed to carry out water to where it can drain away naturally - onto a hillside miles away, for example. If you go tunnel exploring you'll need 'wet gear' every time. Underground = great fun :)
It’s amazing that they built that place in WW2. Quite a feat of engineering!
They didn't, these are cold war era bunkers. London didnt have the time to build bunkers like this in the 30's, so citizens of london sheltered in tube stations. Also the tech used in construction is much later than 30's.
Guys those Tunnels will be used in case of war thats why they are still connected
Peter Zingler - Not True I’m afraid. Power is connected for regular safety inspections. They are all privately owned. Google ‘London deep level shelters’ for more information.
+Atheist Orphan ah okay makes sense then allthough my theory was based on war plans
Peter Zingler you’re sort of on the right tracks. There are deep level tunnels which were for ministry staff evacuations and most really came into their own during the Cold War for telecoms cabling but never for mass shelters other than ops staff.
Peter Zingler did you know that in ww2 the underground tried to get the government to stop people sheltering there in raids?
@@charlieday6747 A lot of that was because they were sheltering in stations which didn't offer enough protection.
You spent a bit to long focussing on that flashlight and plugging it but you did a good job here showing us these tunnels thanks.
Wow just wow!!! I'm so bloody jealous! What an amazing place!! The ventilation was so loud I can't imagine how loud it was with everything else going on! Got to be one of my favourite places you have been to its truly beautiful
Yeah the ventilation at that point was very loud. It would have extended throughout the tunnels originally i would have imagined.
12:11 ever stop to think it's a bit strange how good condition the concrete roof and red beams are in, hint it's not abandoned
Yea I bet It's if another cold war starts or anything along those lines. After WW2 I think London's ready for anything. Kinda scary they think it is necessary to have these, clearly a sign at how stable the world really is
@@stigerking9838 seriously dude these aren't ready to be used.
I heard electricity and water go well together!
'Stanton' were a company that made industrial ironwork, including manhole covers; their most famous is one that you probably know, but didn't know you knew - the Stanton 'Warrior', from which the Bristol DJ duo 'Stanton Warriors' got their name. Great video of a fascinating site. Nice one, gents!
Stanton is actually a place that the stanton ironworks took there name from stanton by dale is near ilkeston where im from justa fyi
Wow fellas, what a place. Thank you for the awesome video and pics, and thanks to the owners for letting you in for a look around.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and watching the video 👍
This feels like golden eye on N64 in real life!
Stephen mason.... so true😂😂👍🇬🇧
Was waiting to see an RCP 90 lying about. 😂
07:45 That is a submersible pump, for taking out water because the tunnel is below the aquifer water line!
This is an absolutely fabulous video with really interesting content. Keep up the good work lads.
When my dad was in the Army back in the1950s he was recalled to the colours in 1956during the Suez canal crisis.He was sent to a camp called Gouch street it was part of the under ground network that was closed off and turned into a underground barracks.with a capacity of around10000 .there was kitchen and toilet facilities.would be interesting to see if any of it still there.
First time watching you and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it , I’ve watched a few now and I’ve got to say these vids are so exciting , I would love to do what you do here
I’ve subscribed and will be looking forward to more vids
Thank you for your effort and showing us what you found
These are some incredible finds and footage
Thank you for checking us out 😁👍
There seems to be maintenance and some updating of materials in that place. Seems like they are keeping it up just in case it actually has to be used.
Shame the sump pumps failed in at least 2 places. I'm sure someone will be down there to fix them at some point. Great explore, and great history on these tunnels.
I'll have to grab some gear and go back for a swim 👌
@@SubExploration Is there electricity going into that water? Seemed there were some electrical panels or wires and if the water got high enough it could become live? Or maybe I was mistaken with what i was seeing?
Fascinating place! Very cool lights and ventilation still on! Stay safe and keep up the good work!
Thank you, will do 👌
I think this is one of the best video I've seen in a long time and is really neat thank God it hasn't been vandalized Real time history Sweet👍
Glad to hear that you liked it. Yes, lets hope it remains in this condition for many more years.
It doesn't look abandoned. Seems very well maintained for its age.
I surveyed a lift shaft in one of these in order to design a proposed new lift, but made sure to do the full tour while I had the chance! Also have detailed survey drawings of the whole site - didn't really need them for my work but my 'anorak' wanted them :-)
😂 i don't blame you for wanting to do the full tour.
There was one particularly rickety lift but the two man lift rarely gave any trouble. Which did you survey and when?
@@LysanderLH It was in the stairwell so size was seriously limited and probably why the farm moved as they had to have a firefighting lift which has to be acertain spec. Would have been two years ago now.
Mike Cox just out of interest and roughly, if you need to be vague, where did you enter the tunnel? You don’t have to answer that as i’m only trying to find out if it’s where I worked, which i’m now less certain it was. These may be the tunnels off Aldwych that MOD sold off some years ago. All ‘two-man lifts’ had stairs around the shafts(very unpleasant to hoik loads of stuff up when the lift was out), so you can see why it’s a bit confusing to judge some 30 years later.
@@LysanderLH I think this is one of three on a line (think North, Common & South) , I entered from the main road via the roundel. Look up Growing Underground, if this is the same shelter, the sheeting at one end was were they had the seed trays when they were there.
"Stanton" - Stanton Ironworks, Stanton by Dale, Derbyshire. "L.P.T.B." - London Passenger Transport Board (predecessor of London Transport Executive)
BEST PLACE TO MAKE A HUGE CROP
a huge crop of what magic mushrooms and I thought you meant pot lol
Andrew Kelley actually both would be nice
I'm not into that but you made me laugh
Thought exactly the same XD you could at least grow a million plants down there
I were thinking the same 😂
the only issue witth being in a tunnel during an air raid is if the entrance takes a direct hit then effectively you've got 8000 people in ready made tomb!
This is why it had 3 entrances that were far apart from each other ;-)
6:52 chair just chillin’. there’s always a chair just chillin’ 😂
You definitely were not bluffing on this one being good !!!!
I got the notification on my way to work , had to wait all day to watch .
Definitely a gem !!
And I believe that was a bilge pump not a air pump. The little dingus off the side is a float switch.
Stay safe brother !!!!
Yes I realised my misidentification whilst reviewing the footage 👍
Great to see, thanks.
One word of advice, get a decent torch mate!
Heres to a successful 2019.
It's easy to remember which is which.
Stalagmite has a G for ground and Stalactite has a C for ceiling. That's how I remembered it since kindergarten.
you could use a better torch
😂
That was a fantastic torch, when he turned it onbhigh....did not expect him to leave it on high all the time!!!
I would love for that torch to have the screw type light focus option to distribute the light as needed.
so whats up with this place, its well preserved and they have replaced all the doors added walls lights etc whats the plan with it, also whats up with the fire damage at one part
There have been plans to do several things with it over the years but interested parties kept pulling out.
@@SubExploration That's what she said.
Just as a comparison, we have similar tunnels in Sydney, Australia (but much less expansive than these), also originally air raid shelters from WWII that were accessed via tube stations etc and planned to expand the train network later but never did. Recent suggestions by the local Govt are to open them as trendy bar/restaurant sites. But so far nothing has progressed.
Enjoyed the video. The lightning made the tour a lot better that’s why we can film and view this type of documentary.
Wow what a great find... Great video lads 👍👍👍
👍 any time!
19:26
3 holes - length of metal section (3 bolt holes long)
LPTB London Passenger Transport Board (Underground tunnel sections)
Stanton - ironworks, manhole covers concrete bunkers (Stanton shelters) and ... well... apparently, tunnel sections.
Theres so many idiot youtubers out there. you deserve a much bigger following educational and entertaining. I always get excited when I see that there's a new video from you thankyou
Thank you. Yes, you won’t be finding any "found dead body", "magic swords", "almost died", "chased by ghosts" or any of that rubbish on our channel. We just put these things out because we happen to have a genuine interest. If people choose to like our content, then that’s great but we're not in it for numbers. Honestly some of the ridiculous things I see people coming out with is just shocking. Honestly, "found alien arm"? Good god 😂
@@SubExploration I found Jesus in a tunnel once...
@@SubExploration What would you to say if you did get chased by ghosts? (just asking ) 😄
Well of course an alien arm is shocking. Everyone would ignore that. An alien penis on the other hand I'd have right up my ass the moment I found it.
@@SubExploration Chiselhurst Caves.
Stalagtites cling tight to the ceiling, stalagmites might reach the ceiling. What you were seeing were soad straws. Those exist where a single dripping spot happens whereas the other two occur at cracks in natural rock. If the dripping spot starts widening, it may begin forming other formations like stalag tites or flowstone or cave bacon.
Did we really need a torch advertisement.
In return he gets a free torch probably.
Free market. They deserve to get paid for their troubles.
You're a twit. You came and watched the video but you expected these guys to provide it to you free of charge, despite the time and effort they put in.
Guess you are new to YT...it's about making money. If these guys and the many other on YT can give us cool videos and make a living doing it more power to them.
Don't watch it, simple really
New masonry in places and ventilator controller at 5:29 - looks like a renovation underway at 6:00 as well and various places throughout.
Unistrut holding the ventilators up as well, definitely not WW2 vintage.
Strange... no Starbucks! ;)
Great video! Fun explore! Thanks! When I was a kid I was told an easy way to remember.... Stalagtites hang tight to the roof. Stalagmites might grow to the roof someday. Thanks again. Love your videos!
The Rev. Bob Channel : With the greatest respect: 'tites come down,
'mites crawl back up!
Have you ever came across another person in your travels in these tunnels?
he met Lord Lucan
They could do with meeting someone who's done their research on the place.
wow they really jazzed up the tunnels by adding a door every 200 feet. I cant wait to buy one of your torches and go down there.
Not the place to have a light failure.
No different from being down the pit.
It’s ok. He’s got a torch I think! 🤔😜😂😂👊🤘😎
muppit666 do ya think it‘s good enough tho? 😄
The slightly modern (1970’s) ductwork and fire doors indicates to me that maybe this could be like the abandoned but functional Cincinnati transit center. One of those “maybe we’ll need it later” kinda things.
Already has working ventilation and electric then it has toilets etc... How many homeless ppl could it accomidate by putting partitions and beds in them tunnels. Streets will look cleaner and homeless have a roof over there heads while they sort out a better future 😕
The homeless problem isn't just about roofs over heads. A lot of homeless are ex military with PTSD and others can't handle the attacks in existing shelters. A civilised country doesn't abandon its ex-services people to die on the streets.
the environment down there is not adequate and it's a massive health and safety nightmare; there exists ventilation but only circulates it in a small part of it, none of it goes to outside air so there's actually no fresh air; there's considerable water ingress in several places, there's no communications at all, there's no means of emergency escape, even the main stairs don't conform to current health and safety standards (as posted on the wall for visiting contractors), due to the nature of the circular tunnels it would be very easy to whack your head on one of the exposed tunnel sections, it's about 14 flights of stairs underground which could see someone with medical conditions injure or pass out due to the lack of fresh air and high dust content, finally these shelters are not abandoned but they are disused, they belong to someone and they can do with them what they may -- sorry to say but people who mention filling these war-time bunkers with homeless people are incredibly naive and disrespectful to both the history of the tunnels and homeless people, what you're suggesting is as good as burying them alive just so you don't see them on your streets
It would be really helpful if you got a mic. You keep turning away from the camera when you're speaking, and the echo in the tunnel, plus the air equipment made it difficult to hear and understand you.
LOL.. there is a ton of shit that's not original... especially the ventilation.
7.42 not air filter it's a sump pump for water it's not a old 1 either so some 1 has tried to pump it out recently 100 %
Hi, just remember stalactites are the same as womens tights, they both come down. Don't blame me for that saying as I was told the same quite a few years ago lmao. Brilliant video, I love watching anything to do with tunnels/caves or basically underground stuff. Thanks for sharing. xx
See that's the kind of saying that makes you remember 😂👍
Beat me to it with your tights!
Stalagmites cause they hold on tight stalagmites cause they might reach the roof
@@SubExploration Lmao exactly ;) x
@@leeevenden6641 Sorry Lee. x
You can be sure that this is no longer going to be made available to the general public in the case of an emergency. It would only be spillover for the connected... probably the lesser local government members. Higher ups would be at proper, well stocked planning stations.
7:47 is a sub pump
I did consider this whilst reviewing the footage. I presumed it was a part of the air system as that also remains under the floor.
7:33 Stella 🍺🍺😜😜🇬🇧👍
The easiest way to remember...
Stalactite: Holds tight to the ceiling
Stalagmites: Might one day reach the ceiling
What an amazing place this is ;)
All those cinderblock bits looks recently added as well as that power box bit near the entrance
sweet i can charge my phone for free
The perfect place to put those green house projects right underneath the city. Put it back in use!
0:15 spoiler alert - the tunnels are completely devoid of anything interesting, don’t bother watching this video. It could have easily been 4 minutes vs. 20+. Quite narcissistic of him to think we’d want to watch 20+ minutes of him walking and whacking on about nothing
you could just as well have left your comment 😩
If it is the station i think it is, then i have been wanting to see this for a while.
Interesting!
This shows your government has always cared about you. From the 1940's to now. The Americans were told by officials to, "Hide under our desks in a crouched position with your hands holding each side of your head." I sure there are those that believe that would work.
He what kind of Light was that again ?? It was impressive.
Yes but your countries population was far greater. I think the cost of providing such shelters would have been enormous.
What the Olight SRII Mini? Yeah I did plug it a bit didn't I 😂
Thousands of homeless Londoners could live down there and would be happy to.
That’s a sump with the water , quite simply all the water fills the lowest level and it’s pumped out normal to see it full
BT actually own most of them tunnels
BT maintained much of the telecoms gear and infrastructure but they were MoD/govt property.
Hell yeah, I loved his music in the F&F and NFSU
Theresa May is a DJ.
News lads....MoD still own them, and maintain them...be careful...!
Most(?) leased or owned by document company(?)
There's an entrance to a tunnel network in Kilburn. I saw some contractors working there once and tried to take a photo. They weren't happy and told me to leave immediately 🤔🤔
@Glen W He's not allowed to remember.
Stop scribbling on your mate's face.
No one likes a bully.
These look like the tunnels that were brought back in to use by London Underground, there a couple of deep levels to my knowldege in Clapham South London one of which now produces hydro grown vegetables, the other tunnels got turned into storage archives. Good videos bud
Yes i am aware of those tunnels that you mentioned. Yes they would have been built in the same way.
I wonder with that white sheeting strung up that maybe that tunnel was used for hydro vegetables or ………..some other plant that is illegal and requires lots of heat and smells real bad ……..yes you got it Brussel Sprouts lol . No I think you know what im really on about lol .
@@zeberdee1972 I find leaf quite sweet.
Many of these tunnels are being maintained ready for using as mass graves. If a pandemic, large scale terrorist attack or other disaster occurs they will be given their final mission - to keep contaminated and diseased bodies from the remaining population.
When Islam is finally done taking over, the other religions will hide down in these tunnels to be safe!
@Go PackGo Makes more sense to burn the bodies;
fucking idiot, I bet you're much fun down the local pub
wtf, no. why would you need bunkers as mass graves? first of all... if you need mass graves just dig a hole , it's not that hard. this bunker is maintained as a, shocker, bunker. its a shelter.
Sadly very true @@floridaarmyvet3613. As Gaddafi said: "We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe - without swords, without guns, without conquests. The fifty million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades."
He cited Albania, Bosnia and (soon) Turkey as muslim countries that will be running the EU, along with the massive population of paedo-worshippers already ashore and sapping the will of the natives. America and Canada are next, and unless people like Trump are taken seriously then it is only a matter of time before the USA has its second muslim president.
Those segmented pieces that make the tunnel are interesting, all those bolts.
Recommend wearing headphones for all Subex’s videos
Too be fair I recognised my editing issues a couple of years back. Newer vids have better volume 👌
@@SubExploration Definitely mate 👌
@@SubExploration Still prefer headphones, though. Atmospheric 👍
The tunnels were used as a telephone exchange for several decades after WW2. I worked there for several years back in 1980's.
I don't think this is Holburn\Kingsway Exchange.
See brianartillery below.
as always, another fantastic video. keep up the fab work
Thank you sir 👌👍
All of those pre stressed concrete segments must have been really expensive to make. There must be a couple of million bolts.
Interesting place the underground but I feel the video was more about the torch than the underground.
That initial scene where you have 'Subexploration' sprayed on the wall looks like it was taken right out of the game 'Silent Hill', soooo eeerie
What a fun and educational exploration :)
A bit of constructive criticism if I may? The in-built microphone in your camera is very weak, so sometimes I struggled to hear your voice or any ambient sounds. Your best option might be a clip-on mic, since you won't need to adjust it while moving and is very simple yet effective.
This was shot over a year ago now. We have a better camera and microphones now 👍
Great to see you go commercial and get more exposure. May mean you get authorisation to hidden places 👍. Keep up the good work.
I found out about the deep shelters a while ago - one is at Chalk Farm, between Hampstead and Camden stations - most of them have been used for data storage, but a few remain open to the select few.
Would be great to see some underground rivers/abandoned stations/sewer systems - Brighton’s Colossus of the south would be interesting. 😀👍
You have named several that we are already working on ;-)
Soz, I meant Belsize Park 🤦♂️
Very interesting and no skeleton of lost explorer. Someone made a Bob or two supplying all those nuts and bolts.
I kept expecting to see a single red balloon everytime he walked into a room 🎈
lol
The systems have most likely kept up to date for emergency use in London as well as the fact they would have upgraded them for the cold war