It was inevitable that tragedy would strike . On October 31 , 1941 , three menblastingthrough the sandstone in Kingsford Country Park in Worcestershire , England , were caught as large chunks of rock rained over them . The explosions had caused portions of the cap to break down over their head . By the prison term rescuers cleared the scene , it was too late . All three were numb .
The unsportsmanlike and dangerous work ofexcavatingwell over a million cubic foot near Birmingham , England , take eight backbreaking months , and four more people would lose their life . But nothing slowed their progression . The site had been allow as a place to put up an aeroplane locomotive factory — one so well - disguised that it would be impossible for the German Luftwaffe flying overhead to distinguish it . recognize as the Drakelow Underground Dispersal Factory , it brim with natural action for twelvemonth before taking on a serial of progressively peculiar manipulation . With over3.5 milesof tunnel winding through the rock , it ’s become a relic of wartime surety — and for some , a place where the wraith of the labourer who perished sometimes devolve to make their presence known .
In 1937 and with the support of the Air Ministry , the Rover gondola companionship of Great Britain start out open up “ vestige ” manufacturing plant that provide the Bristol aeroplane fabrication plants with division for their Hercules and Pegasus engines . ( The label came from the idea they operated in the fantasm of the more accomplished and specialized airplane mill . ) When one of the plants was bombed in Coventry in November 1940 , it became clear that an additional , covert placement would be needed in Holy Order to add parts and take over production in case one of the other plants was compromised by a German assault . The British government selected Kingsford Country Park , an attractive forest which have a mass of sandstone that could potentially put up a blast from above .
oeuvre began in July 1941 . The government had take the prize engineering firm of Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners to plot the underground tunnel system , which draw in a grid radiation diagram to bid structural support in case of an attack . The four main tunnel were to quantify 16 foot wide of the mark and prey several ancillary chamber that made up an sphere around 0.6 miles broad and 0.6 miles long .
To accomplish that , workers would have to penetrate the sandstone . They used gelly , an explosive choose for crucify through rock’n’roll , to create the entrances ; after that , other explosive were used to carry on bore into the site .
The work was precarious , as evidenced by the three deaths just a few months into the project . Other times , it seemed as though the topsy-turvydom of the worksite lent itself to some unfortunate luck . Conveyor belts were installed to move the displaced earth . When two workers felt compel to ride the belt rather than walk out of the tunnel after a long day , they were unable to jump off and wander up being mutilate by the machinery . A adult female , Mary Ann Brettel , was run over by a dump truck . Eric Harold Newman , a security officer in charge of oversee provision , was also hit by a motor vehicle .
The workers in all probability breathed a sigh of alleviation when workplace finished in 1942 . From there , Rover move in hundreds of employee to work on the airplane engine section . It was a full , hustle factory encased in rock music , with no natural luminosity available and air supplied through ventilation system . To serve offset uncomfortableness during foresightful shifts , Rover offer a serial of agreeableness to proletarian . They installed a games room and a billiards table for recreation ; they show one field as a concert hall , where entertainer would execute ; a cake was localize up so they could unwind after their shift was over . Eventually , they used the loudspeaker system to shrill in music that helped diminish the clinical sound of machinery .
The end of the warfare in September 1945 brought a halt to yield , which restart only intermittently for tank engine and other projects over the next several long time . It was readable the effort of constructing and keep the tunnels should result in their continued occupation , but how best to make use of the distance was undetermined to debate . What can you do with a bomb - immune protection when no bombs are around ?
Initially , it was turned over to the Ministry of Works in 1958 and used as a store facility . With the advent of the Cold War , an obscured tunnel connection became attractive as a location of last refuge in the event of a nuclear attack , and a percentage of Drakelow was converted to a Regional Seat of Government in 1961 . In the 1980s , it was partially refurbished to include dorms and other accession to support a small government faculty in eccentric of a cataclysmic event .
By the time tensions allay in the 1990s , the British government saw no motivation to continue tending to the tunnels . The website was decommissioned and sell to individual owner in 1993 , who initially contrive on using the land as a residential and commercial property and seek to smash the net of tunnel . Lobbying by the fresh formed Drakelow Tunnels Preservation Trust helped bury those programme . The trust believe the tunnels were of historical significance , having been utilized during a war and remaining ready in the event of an unthinkable atomic disaster . And so the chambers remain standing , though perhaps not altogether empty .
In 1993 , a caretaker walking the footing of Drakelowclaimedhe hearda slow and tuneful song reminiscent of the 1940s . He searched everywhere for a possible generator of the music but institute nothing . The only matter capable of develop speech sound was the loudspeaker system system , which had n’t worked in years .
In 1996 , another watchman accompanied by safety dogs alleged his canine companions start out bark without incitement . Before long , a mist began to uprise in the tunnel . The serviceman searched for a possible fire in and out of the region . When he attempted to go back in , his dogs grizzle and hollow their feet in . They did n’t want to return .
Such stories have been enticing for paranormal enthusiast , who take guided term of enlistment of the tunnels provided by the trust . The country has also been the site of training for the military and law enforcement as well as some cinematography for movies and video . The trust is stillhopingto heave funds for further refurbishment study , but thus far it ’s been little more than painting .
Tourists at Drakelow today might see computers , radios , and other amenities put in during the Cold War panic attack of the 1980s . They may experience sudden drib in temperature or strange noise . If they think they smack something rum , however , it might not be their imagery . In 2016 , a caretaker wasconvictedof set aside bargainer to farm ganja in some of the tunnel .
