Kingsway Deep Level Shelter - London - Sept 2013

Really decent explore this and probably the best thing I've seen in a long time. Lots of kit still in place and all untouched since BT left a few years back. A brief potted history for those reading this for the first time could be surmised thusly:

Built during WWII as an air raid shelter it was never used as by the time it's was completed the bombing of London by the Luftwaffe had pretty much stopped. Ergo the MOD took over the site for a while until the GPO found a use for it as a secure comms centre shortly after the war. They constructed a few more tunnels in addition to those already present and filled them with telecoms kit. Various techie improvements meant that by the late 70's the site was largely redundant. BT carried on using the site for various other projects and there was, again, some Government involvement. However, it was soon found to be surplus to requirements so around 2008 the site was stripped of all the removable kit and put on the open market.

And here we are now, in 2013, paying a visit to the lonely, unloved little gem of a LDN splore.

Some of the "office space" area's had a few items of what looked like some kind of ancient alarm system.

But a lot of the tunnels were just plain empty. This pic also shows one of the many connecting corridors between the two tunnels.

In the MDF room where the remains of the MDF are still extant.

This was also in the MDF room and right little Bobby Dazzler it is too. Who knows what it was for but it must have been to show how a series of vacuum pressures were being maintained somewhere.

And this device just below it.

This is looking back from one of the old entrances/air shafts.

Which lead to this area.

And thence to an abandoned lift.

Nice little detail.

Back in the tunnels are the old air scrubbers.

This area is near the Holborn entrance.

The steps to the left lead up to a workshop area of some kind.

A lot of old 80's looking telecoms equipment had been dumped there.

Down a short corridor...

...at the end of which was this lovely little control panel. Say no more.
 

The most impressive parts of the site must be electrical plants areas. Here lay the emergency back up generators.

The main switch room.

Lovely old school dials and switches.
 

An electrical schematic.

Don't touch.

Transformers.

Fuses.

The backup battery area.

More electrics.

So don't touch! K!

Just off one of the tunnels is the lift up to Chancery Lane, originally used to move most of the heavy plant in.

There was also a bar, believed to be the deepest in the world. These posters must have "helped" to take the drinkers minds off the fact they were so deep.
 

The site had it's own kitchen and canteen.

Complete with an automatic potato peeler.