Cold War Nuclear Bunker!

ped

ped

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ped--excellent photos! We really took that stuff seriously in the 50s and 60s--lots and lots of money spent on those kinds of things--thanks for posting...also glad to see the OM1 and 1.2 out and about...
Paul
 
Thanks for sharing! Neat stuff.

When I was visiting Russia earlier this summer, I almost had a chance to pop into a bunker underneath what used to be an avionics factory, now turned general-usage industrial park. However, one of the complex's tenants wasn't too pleased as I approached the door/stairway down into it...
 
Wow! This is one topic that caught my eye instantly!

How deep do these bunkers usually reside? 50m underground?

Also wanted to emphasize the use of B&W in this situation. Normally I would prefer colour shots, but in this case, I must say it suits the mood well!(makes me wonder how colour shots would fair...)

Keep them coming!
 
Thanks guys yes I love anything like this and couldn't wait to check it out!

Colour would have been interesting but I don't usually use colour film. I was thinking about bringing my R-D1 but to be honest there was such a small group on the tour that taking too many pictures would have been a bit rude perhaps and I'd have missed some of the information the guide delivered.

That said, I'd love to go back again and have a free reign to explore and photograph, maybe with a tripod. Maybe it's something they could accommodate on quieter days. I might ask.

I'm quite pleased how the pics came out considering I was pushing the film to about 800 and using 1/15 shutter speed for most of them.

Cheers

P.s here's the page about the bunker http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/york-cold-war-bunker/
 
BNLee said:
How deep do these bunkers usually reside? 50m underground?
Click to expand...

Actually the majority of the bunker is above ground, because it's built into a huge mound of earth. You go up the stairs then down into the bunker but once you're down the stairs it's disorientating because you are in fact just back at ground level. The deepest part (the ops room) is one floor below. We couldn't go there due to flooding damage and mould in certain areas yet to be cleared.

In actual fact, the bunker wouldn't 'work' in terms of protection or prevention, and the Royal Observer Corps and the volunteers knew it; they were more of a PR exercise and that makes the dedication of the volunteers even more impressive.
 
The York bunker is probably unusual in that it is semi-buried. Most were underground, but not terribly deep, at least not in the UK. Those that were deeper often re-used pre-existing facilities e.g the quarry complex at Corsham or expanded others e.g. Dover Castle.

The web site of the specialist study group 'Subterranea Britannica' (www.subbrit.org.uk) will provide more information on UK bunkers.

Regards

Andrew More
 
andrewmore said:
The York bunker is probably unusual in that it is semi-buried. Most were underground, but not terribly deep, at least not in the UK. Those that were deeper often re-used pre-existing facilities e.g the quarry complex at Corsham or expanded others e.g. Dover Castle.

The web site of the specialist study group 'Subterranea Britannica' (www.subbrit.org.uk) will provide more information on UK bunkers.

Regards

Andrew More
Click to expand...

Thanks for the extra information.

One aspect I found interesting was the apparatus used for locating the point of impact. A pinhole camera is set up with a 360 view, one hole facing North, one East, and so on. The bright light from an explosion produces a mark on the paper which is then used to determine height and distance which is then plotted on the boards in front of the chairs in picture 1, the numbers corresponding to different camera locations.
 
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