Secret Nuclear Bunker under Sovereign House, Hertford, Hertfordshire, UK
Alert
Hertford.
Imagine that intercontinental ballistic missiles are heading for
Britain and the county town is alerted by wailing sirens.
Those who have a cellar scurry into it. Others hide under their beds
or tables in the vain hope that they will survive the blast. Some wise
Mercury readers are frantically looking for those secret tunnels my
colleagues have been writing about in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, 200 of the chosen ones from Herts police and the county
council head for a nuclear bunker secreted under Sovereign House in
Hale Road.
They think they're the lucky ones, but what will they find under
there?
An elaborate network of computers, perhaps, linked to the Government's
war cabinet? A dusty manual entitled How To Survive The Nuclear
Winter? Or just a few tins of baked beans, best before April 1974?
Well, thanks to a whistleblower who broke ranks to talk to me and
risked arrest under the Official Secrets Act, I can reveal that these
lucky few would in fact be confronted by the beaming, bespectacled
face of Elton John!
My spy, who worked in the government tax office at Sovereign House,
said: "I had daily access to part of the bunker. It was pretty scary
down there and is probably. the most quiet place I have ever been.
"All throughout there is electricity, lights and, from what I
remember, quite a few telephone points.
"You had to go three levels deep to get from one entrance to the
other, which I found strange."
Then, revealing the full horror of what would await the survivors, she
said: "There were intermittent posters on the walls of pop stars. I
remember an Elton John one and I think a Rolling Stones one too -
bizarre to say the least.
"These were in unused parts between the two entrances. There were also
lots of posters saying something like, ‘Silence during quiet hours',
with times on them. These posters looked old and I am not sure what
they meant.
"The man in charge of the archive team told me that when you got to a
certain point when going towards the Castle or town, the tunnel was
bricked up with breezeblocks."
And she had more bad news for the town's top people: "I remember that
when it rained, water used to pour under the door of the outside
entrance!"
I called my pal, MC Black, at Subterranea Britannica magazine for
advice on the bunker for those desperate to have a peek.
"Often it is very dangerous to," he warned. "On more than one occasion
people have died in the process. If you attempt to enter a
defence-related site, even an apparently unused one, you should expect
an unpleasant encounter with military police."
An encounter, I would argue, somewhat less scary than a snap of Elton
wearing those giant multi-coloured specs as he launches into a
rendition of Rocket Man.
GOING UNDERGROUND: Some may be surprised to find a nuclear bunker
under Sovereign House. Others maybe surprised to find Elton John,
inset, hanging in that bunker [picture caption]
SOURCE: Hertfordshire Mercury, 29 October 2004, "Still standing after
all these years", p 6.
[ http://www.herts-essex-news.co.uk/mercury/ ]
FURTHER READING
I worked at the Benefits agency at Soveriegn House about five years
ago and they kept a lot of leaflets in part of the tunnels. There is
an entrance from within Sovereign House and also one from the outside,
past that door there is a locked cage-like door. I went three levels
deep and it was pretty scary when you are on your own! I was told it
was part of a supposed nuclear shelter built in the sixties which led
to County Hall one way and then all the way through the town the other
way(under the Castle all the way to Waitrose I heard). Until a few
years ago there was 200 beds and a supply of tinned food for 200
people for 2 years (please note this stuff is what I was told and may
not be fact) This was taken out when some bright spark realised that
it would not be suitable for a nuclear attack. Sovereign House was
supposedly built in the sixties as a cover for these tunnels and is
apparently built in such a way that it can collapse upon itself if was
needed. One of the men I worked with said that the tunnel was
currently blocked off when you got to a certain point but only with
breezeblocks so they would not be hard to remove! This was because of
it leading to certain bank vaults. I remember my mum telling me there
was bank vaults under the town when I was younger. Anyway, back to the
tunnels - There were pictures on the walls of celebrities like Elton
John and stuff, all very bizarre. There were alot of signs saying
something like "Silence during Quiet Hours" whatever that means?
I also have it on good authority that there are definitely tunnels
under County Hall. I really hope that these tunnels do get
investigated in full as it would be great to know exactly what is in
them.
Emma Wrangles, 17 October 2004.
SOURCE: Discover Hertford, Discussion Forum
[ http://www.hertford.net/yoursay1/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=283&whichpage=3
]
john-locke
John Locke.
"Alert" <www_ins...@postmaster.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5b022599.04103...@posting.google.com...
Dave Liquorice
> Imagine that intercontinental ballistic missiles are heading for
> Britain and the county town is alerted by wailing sirens.
>
> Those who have a cellar scurry into it. Others hide under their beds
> or tables in the vain hope that they will survive the blast. Some
> wise Mercury readers are frantically looking for those secret
> tunnels my colleagues have been writing about in recent weeks.
Well the other 99.8% of the population would be wandering around
outside asking neightbours what that fing noise is.
--
Cheers new...@howhill.com
Dave. pam is missing e-mail
Steve B
> > I called my pal, MC Black, at Subterranea Britannica magazine for
> > advice on the bunker for those desperate to have a peek.
> >
> > "Often it is very dangerous to," he warned. "On more than one occasion
> > people have died in the process. If you attempt to enter a
> > defence-related site, even an apparently unused one, you should expect
> > an unpleasant encounter with military police."
> >
I find it very worrying that, according to the correspondent, MCB (whom God
preserve) seems to have started speaking in direct quotes from the Sub Brit
website.
Something odd going on here!
Steve B
Ed
> On 31 Oct 2004 06:53:31 -0800, Alert wrote:
>
> I called my pal, MC Black, at Subterranea Britannica magazine for
> advice on the bunker for those desperate to have a peek.
Is this months available yet ?
Richard Lamont
>> I called my pal, MC Black, at Subterranea Britannica magazine for
>> advice on the bunker for those desperate to have a peek.
>
> Is this months available yet ?
There is no such thing as "Subterranea Britannica magazine". Subterranea
Britannica is an organisation. It publishes a magazine, called
"Subterranea", but only a few times each year. It is sent to members
only.
I visited the bunker under Sovereign House in Hertford a few years ago.
It consisted of a single, albeit large, empty basement floor.
The newspaper description is, as usual, complete twaddle. That's why I
gave up reading newspapers entirely several years ago.
--
Richard Lamont High-definition telly stuff now at:
<ric...@lamont.me.uk> http://www.1080.org.uk/
8unker
> risked arrest under the Official Secrets Act
>
What nonsence, this place has been in the public domain for over 20
years when Duncam Campbell published photos and a far more accurate
account of it's use in his book War Plan UK published way back in
1982.
Bill Scott
should've added a bit of spice by mentioning the little people who
live down there.
Yawns, lifts feet off desk and goes to put the kettle on.
Benjamin Roberts
rooms are just full of archives and any original fittings have been taken
out other than the generators I think. The mercury's article is a bit over
the top to say the least.
--
Copyright Benjamin Roberts 2004
e-mail ben.r...@ntlworld.com
"Richard Lamont" <ric...@lamont.me.uk> wrote in message
news:4185f942$0$231$5a6a...@news.aaisp.net.uk...