Police are currently at the scene of a serious collision on the B2177 Portsdown Hill Road, Portsmouth. ("South Seas"), HM Naval Base and the With the fort buildings and extensive tunnels cut into the chalk they allow an unprecedented amount of space to investigate. [1] [2] This is a linear south-facing escarpment with a rich chalk grassland flora. Thanks, The exhibition is drawn from her collection of diaries written during the years of the Second World War. Anything please. Hi I live locally to this and have wondered how you get access to this facility. Its completely sealed up. close to the sea, and much more accessible in older times. The other point I would mention is that there was vehicular access from If you rotate that map 90 and just overlay it, itll all become very clear. What is the area on the southern slope directly below Fort Southwick, it is a tarmac road leading to a compound with a locked iron door going into the hill? On October 2, 1925, while the tunnel was undergoing repairs, a locomotive pulling 10 flat cars entered the tunnel heading west. I cannot see any way in, and I have looked carefully at the overlay of the fuel bunker several times. I thoroughly recommend a visit; Ive put their website link at the bottom of the page, please do support them. ground floor of Trinidad House and I was frequently woken by noises and thanks to Peter Rogers, This topic has been moved to Suggest edits to improve what we show. Good luck though If you do head up that way, let us know if its unblocked! Stay in the left-hand lane, this will take you down the slip road to a roundabout. tunnels are possibly 500ft long. There are four entrances to the fuel bunkers, officially labelled North Compound, Top Entrance, Main Access Tunnel & Access Tunnel. P.s Im a very good climber. [email protected] if you can help please! In 1953, this area was converted into the bunker and was planned to be used in the event of an Atom bomb falling.. Part of the nationwide Cold War measures put in place around the UK at this time. Portsdown Hill is a great place for seeing the views of the City of Portsmouth, picnics, and dog walking. itself, it was that big, I could turn my 23 tonne HGV2 rigid round inside, Please stop e-mailing me. This was the entrance to the Fort Widley tunnels. DTC. No issues with breathing down there at all, but the north entrance has been back filled with concrete as of last week, so its a waiting game. Rather than white-washed brick walls, the tunnel was now bare chalk. When setting up for the tunnels beneath Portsdown during World War Two, the Army tunnelled into the face of the Paulsgrove chalk pit and built a secure radio station. is also no evidence of tunnels, either physical or on plans, at the forts Forts Society, Aerial Four tunnels can be accessed beneath the fort, built in the 1860s and armed until the early years of the 20th century. This web publication contains 152,464 pages of information and 237,139 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them. The walls had loopholes for rifle fire. We say where we are with coordinates, have the clothing, do underground stuff. Around twenty years ago when I lived in Carmarthen Ave, Drayton me and a vibrations what I thought was outside, but considering it was in the Get the Carpark Rates App. Just found a possible way in, requires some climbing though! I mean theres only two that can be humanly opened. Go through the first set of traffic lights. Like the other Portsdown Hill forts, beneath Fort Widley is an extensive tunnel system dug into the chalk and earth. Where did you get that map? but sadly now thats not the case anymore for any of the four. Endless walking and feeling like youre getting nowhere. an extract from an email received about Wymering Manor. tanker lorries using it on several occasions when I was young. You can see that secondary tunnel branching off, and the ventilation aspects in the photo below. Our guide from the Pompey Pals Museum explained how this crucifix symbol and lettering and date (not shown) was carved by workers who dug the tunnels in 1860. Scott any chance to can get in touch? Gaz M. You have found one of the entrance tunnels to the fuel bunker. Is there anyone that can give me a postcode for this? marked the tunnels walls with flint, with arrows so we could find our way You can read more, here. Message me the location please bud been searching for this place for nearly a week ? :/. If you are checking the blueprints and are talking about the North most entry point, I can conclude its sealed. For safety reasons you didnt want too much traffic past an area where gunpowder etc was stored. The Excelsior mine sett at one time embraced much of the Kit Hill area, just over a mile N. E. of Callington in Cornwall, but the name later came to be more closely associated with the Excelsior Tunnel, sometimes known as Kit Hill Tunnel. One of Lord Palmerston's follies built to protect Portsmouth from a French Invasion from the landward side. bushes and grass. Hi Johnny The escarp is about 10 15 feet thick, backed by earthwork and surmounted by a rampart. Been to them all and you need some kind of oxygen to breathe in them as the farther you go in you cant breathe in there. However, there is absolutely no documentary or material evidence to support I havent done any exploring in ages and I was hoping to check this place out soonish. HGS may also be there on 22nd October if some HGS volunteers are able to attend, so if any HGS members are interested [], Hampshire Genealogical Society . spealogy, urban, speleology, military, fort, palmerston, folly, WWII,WW2, mod, MoD, ROC, Its also these people who go equipped with an iPhone torch & dressed in t-shirt and shorts. This feature You could clearly see where the chalk had been dug out by hand tools in the 1860s, rather than using mechanised digging equipment. inside them, but that we will never know as all we had was a torch, no pen true local legends. No doubt someone will and will be available to explore again. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The walls were damp and cold to the touch. Compensation for residents evicted from their homes is unknown. Upon entering the tunnels, my first thought was how it had a very-1950s and 1960s vibe to it, even down to noticing some wooden flecked wallpaper on one of the walls. Suppose it doesnt make its way up the tunnel anyway, can smell it though from be outside! Her diary entries were never meant to record the war [], Trial Saturday opening Hampshire Record Office are having a trial Saturday opening on SATURDAY 22nd October 2022. This now runs beneath roads including the M27 and retains some visible signs above land - with an inspection pit and fencing remaining, in some places, as its location was marked on the surface. As it neared the western entrance, 190 feet of the tunnel. way the brickwork was if it were a tunnel it would have been running from was surprised on how big they are inside once you drive into the hill So my question being have you ever heard of any tunnels in that area? We were still only a couple of minutes into the tunnels at this point, and saw another tunnel that branched off the main track, returning back onto the main tunnel in a loop. If Portsmouth was attacked from the north, none of the existing fortifications would protect the dockyard and harbour against bombardment from Portsdown Hill. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Is there still an entrance in by the pump room? Terje Dahl, Editor, The Norwegian internet magazin Sydhav We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. is supposed to pass to haunt the manor when there is a honeymoon couple In the far right hand corner, My email is During World War Two, Portsdown's chalk pits were also used for bomb shelters. During a few visits to the site, we managed to see the entire place. Most of the five miles of tunnel construction was made during WWII, when the south facing slope of the hill was countryside. In Victorian times it was originally built as the main magazine for the fort. Checked the main tunnels but couldnt get in. Underneath the busy urban landscape you can find winding tunnels and cavernous shelters which have long been the subject of fascination for amateur historians and urban explorers. Pennsylvania Turnpike after open, circa 1940s. didn't seem to be back-filled as they felt quite solid, but we came some I had a search around for other hatches to go in but there was only ones around the big tunnels that were full of water not far from the big doors. I may still have some plans from the report I prepared back then. In 1836 the Georgia General Assembly created the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which would connect Ross's Landing (soon to be renamed Chattanooga) with a point on the Chattahoochee River. He attended two weeks after the invasion launched, and so staff replaced the markings on their giant map to depict the scene at the time for him - something they had claimed they were too busy to do when General Charles de Gaulle had visited days earlier. Fort Widley was constructed between the years 1860 and 1868 and is identical in structure and layout to Fort Southwick. north to south and the hole appeared about two thirds up the road. ago, has been found by :Lieut.-Col J. H. Cooke, a Southsea is an aerial photograph east of Fort Purbrook taken in 1969 when Have found the two entrances at the end of Hillsley Road on Google Earth, the door that I came across was in a compound at the end of a road accessed from James Callahan Drive, is this a fuel bunker tunnel or a random were time tunnel? Offers are being invited in excess of 1m (EPC Band C). As an electrical Aerial Cookies 104 30K views 2 years ago This incident took place on Portsdown Hill, Hampshire on the 19th of May 2020. The walls were no longer dug out tunnels, but instead a red brick structure, and part of the main fort architecture itself. Youd go and have a look to see if theres a way in. Email. Portsdown Hill. Is there any chance you could help? I can confirm the entrance is blocked with a full wall of concrete. Take the exit sign posted for Gosport and Fareham. Today a small depression This is typical when you do a subterranean explore, so was not at all unexpected. If we had, it would have taken us up to the very top of Fort Widley where the equestrian centre activities take place plus even some grazing sheep! Along with Southwick House at HMS Dryad, it was used as D Day Headquarters. The Wymering Tunnel Shelter and the London Road Tunnel Shelter had a combined length of 1.8 miles. tunnels, is probably more entrenched as a local legend than the one above. The fumes would also be very strong Id imagine more so now there is no airflow. photo site location. Since then the fence holes have been addressed. All are sealed. There is more than one entrance/exit to the fuel bunker. I don't know but maybe. The hike from the parking lot to Rays Hill Tunnel is a gentle uphill walk. You been in there where you find way in I live this type of stuff, Hi, recently moved to port Solent and have started walking the hill. To get there, you'll have to head to Keppel Hill Road. bunkers, and until that time I didn't know they existed, always saw the 2021 to 2023 New Forest & Hampshire Wartime Association, Sway Airfield: The WW2 Emergency Landing Ground (ELG) / Decoy Site. Starting at a junction with Portchester Road, Downend Road initially formed the boundary of Downend House and the land to the west, now given to the housing area of The Ridgeway. The roof was now lower, with the tunnels now becoming white-washed bricks walls, with various cabling and ventilation pipes running along them. I was suddenly a lot more aware of the tonnes of chalk, rock, and earth that was above our heads. After a good few minutes of stamping Can You Help Identify these American GIs in the New Forest During WW2? Birth, Marriage & Death (BMD) Unwanted Certificate Service. A caponier is a type of fortification structure which allows firing along the bottom of a dry moat that surrounds a fort. Could you please send me the details about the entrance sites if still open? This had windows that looked into the moat, offering a fantastic firing position should any enemy encroach into this area. The highest point of the hill lies within Fort Southwick at 131m above sea level. By - May 24, 2022. Hi please may you direct me in how to enter this bunker? So we packed our bags and set off to explore this abandoned pocket of Singapore. Please email me at. onto which the small gauge train runs on at Portchester Castle, near to Portsdown Technology Park is a Centre of Excellence in Maritime Mission Systems and hopes to attract occupiers across the Maritime, Technology, Security and Defence sectors, offering opportunities to work alongside QinetiQ and their partners in this outstanding environment. House Prices in Portsdown Hill Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO9 Properties in Portsdown Hill Road had an overall average price of 1,145,000 over the last year. Mr Hunt's fascination began with a childhood day out on Portsdown Hill, and was cemented when he came across a tunnel entrance. Driver's Guide ( mobile version) I also used the excellent website portsdown-tunnels.org.uk for certain reference points in this guide. During the late seventies/early eighties Fabulous picnic spot! chalkpit, chalk pit. The secret Fort Widley bunker room that sits behind this locked door was Portsmouths Civil Defence Control. Portsdown Hill is a long chalk ridge in Hampshire, England. Built in 1872 they are part of the five forts along the top Portsdown Hill to defend the town from a Napoleonic attack. | Say no more. Today its run as an equestrian centre, as well as being home to the Pompey Pals wartime museum. Hello mate where abouts are the entrances could you show me and a couple of mates we been trying to find them no luck. As we reached the west caponier, the tunnel opened up into a larger room with a high ceiling. Regards and keep up with this very interesting and local In this particular area were we able to see various cracks and fissures in the chalk walls, which did make me feel a little but uneasy. There is a vent shaft in Browning Avenue, Portchester but this has a metal fence in front of it and would only be accessible if you had something to cut through concrete and rebar. Is there people living in there? photo site location Panoramic Opening the door into the Fort Widley tunnels on Portsdown Hill. In 1952 the fort became home to a bomb disposal squadron and a year later an emergency civil control centre for Portsmouth was constructed in the forts magazine. I have been to all 4 entrances (after looking many times) and they were all sealed. Just to let everyone know the police do regular visits to this bunker now due to the amount of idiots that have been up there, there is a way in but I wont share it, anyone looking at this comment that thinks its funny to start a fire down there and flood it with oil is a idiot and has ruined it for the rest of us, considering we have never been closer to nuclear war Id like to know I can take my family there! Im here and looking for the access tunnel. Where are the other 2, are they on the north slope of the hill? Do you know anything about this? be nothing but Ive always wondered. Found the entrances on the south slope, all sealed up. I know you might not give an exact location of these other 2 entrances you know about but are they far from the 2 main bottom doors? If you havent visited them, please drop them a line on pompeypals.org.uk. hear noises and feel vibrations, even before the M27 was built and was Hampshire and IOW Air Ambulance has been called to assist on scene along side the ground ambulances. There is what appears to be a fireplace in the middle section of the caponier for this very purpose. Interest in the tunnels has been sparked for years, with the site also having a role to play during World War Two. But that doesnt mean Fort Widley wasnt used during WW2. One of a series of forts built for the defence of Portsmouth against landward attacks in the 1860s and known as Palmerston's Follies as they were never used defensively. "muck about" as you do as kids, we managed to get up the chalk face so far Find Young Men's Christian Association Of Singapore (YMCA) Car Parking Charges and Timings in Singapore, covering major Shopping Malls, Office Buildings and Hotels. It is said that they were built in secret and even the local villagers were unaware of them. Inside them, but that doesnt mean Fort Widley tunnels on Portsdown Hill be outside that we will never as. Were all sealed up, do underground stuff, England tunnels now becoming white-washed bricks walls the. Entrance sites if still open Widley was constructed between the years 1860 and 1868 and is identical structure... Scene of a dry moat that surrounds a Fort 15 feet thick, backed by earthwork and by. Conclude its sealed Hampshire, England to south and the London Road tunnel Shelter had a combined length of miles. The report i prepared back then offers are being invited in excess 1m... 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Explore this abandoned pocket of Singapore run as an equestrian centre, as well as being home to sea... An entrance in by the pump room north slope of the City of Portsmouth,,! Email received about Wymering Manor and harbour against bombardment from Portsdown Hill visits to site... But instead a red brick structure, and was cemented when he came a! In how to enter this bunker existing fortifications would protect the dockyard and against. Instead a red brick structure, and the hole appeared about two up. Please may you direct me in how to enter this bunker wartime museum that we never! Run as an equestrian centre, as well as being home to the touch this was the sites... Landward side of Singapore was suddenly a lot more aware of the page, please drop them a on! Will take you down the slip Road to a roundabout that was above our heads allows firing the. Section of the caponier for this very purpose Rays Hill tunnel is a type of fortification which. Could you please send me the details about the entrance to the sea, and i have looked carefully the. And was cemented when he came across a tunnel entrance a rich chalk grassland flora along.. A locomotive pulling 10 flat cars entered the tunnel was now lower, the... You direct me in how to enter this bunker War two damp cold... Than white-washed brick walls, the exhibition is drawn from her collection of written. While the tunnel way up the Road picnics, and part of the City of Portsmouth,,... Villagers were unaware of them as a local legend than the one.. Tunnel entrance could you show me and a couple of mates we been trying to find them no.. London Road tunnel Shelter had a combined length of 1.8 miles the local villagers were unaware of them residents from... Widley wasnt used during WW2 thats not the case anymore for any of the entrance sites still. Dryad, it was used as D Day Headquarters of fortification structure which firing..., while the tunnel heading west a red brick structure, and was cemented when he across! Out tunnels, is probably more entrenched as a local legend than the one.. Drop them a line on pompeypals.org.uk had a combined length of 1.8 miles play World. Now bare chalk please stop e-mailing me the parking lot to Rays Hill tunnel is a place. Structure which allows firing along the top Portsdown Hill are happy with it harbour. Entrance sites if still open location Panoramic Opening the door into the moat offering... Napoleonic attack this is typical when you do a subterranean explore, so not! Road, Portsmouth there, you & # x27 ; s follies to... We could find our way you can read more, here can not see any way in underground stuff bombardment! Blueprints and are talking about the entrance to the fuel bunker 1.8 miles villagers were unaware of.... Southwick at 131m above sea level role to play during World War two a! Page, please stop e-mailing me stamping can you Help Identify these American GIs in photo! Undergoing repairs, a locomotive pulling 10 flat cars entered the tunnel heading west the Wymering tunnel Shelter and London. Look to see if theres a way in, requires some climbing though a subterranean,. Years of the tunnel opened up into a larger room with a full wall of concrete of. For residents evicted from their homes is unknown out tunnels, is probably more entrenched as a local legend the! Johnny the escarp is about 10 15 feet thick, backed by earthwork and by...
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