Does anyone else like Cold War bunkers?
I developed a mild interest in Cold War nuclear bunkers many years ago after picking up a leaflet for Kelvedon Hatch, a nuclear bunker in southern England (http://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/).
My interest was not strong enough to make me actually visit the place, and I would probably find it disappointing if I did, but I was recently pleasantly surprised to find there are books and websites devoted to this sort of thing (eg, http://www.subbrit.org.uk/).
I quite like the idea that you could be out walking in the countryside and there could be a little underground world beneath your feet you don't know exists. Perhaps it is easy to forget the enormity of the fact that at one time powerful people seriously believed these bunkers might be necessary. (Perhaps one day they actually will?)
Last edited by skysaw on 12 Mar 2011, 10:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
auntblabby
Veteran
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,740
Location: the island of defective toy santas
the silos are so far underground that those with acute hearing can hear the earth's resonant frequency [approx. 18 cycles per second]- this same sound caused many people locked in underground dungeons in medieval days, to slowly go mad. contrary to popular myth, many people can hear frequencies far below 20 cycles per second, albeit at reduced amplitude compared with higher frequencies.
The hardened part of the silos yes.. but those sold to become homes turn the upper (still underground) areas into their living space and the lower areas into storage or hobby places.
I remember looking at the details of one years ago.. the man that bought it for like 400k bucks got himself something the equivalent of a 4 story apt building worth of living space. it was crazy.
The missile silo he turned into a massive greenhouse. He made a spiral staircase going down the middle of it and every 8ft he made a metal grid 'floor'. He fixed the whole silo up with mirrors so the plants would all get some sunlight. That was his 'garden'.
The upper areas of the bunker where the crew and admin areas would be on standby were his bedroom, kitchen, living area and three other bedrooms and bathrooms. He even had a little office there. On the bottom areas...where the crew wouldve gone to take shelter when the missile would launch & then stay there waiting for the red nukes to hit them... the guy had about 6 large rooms he had turned into storage and game rooms.
Coolest of all was he had an underground swimming pool XD . The missile silo had at the bottom a room that housed the coolant and fuels for the rocket... he turned that into an indoor, underground pool.
Topside (above ground) he had a 5 car garage and 2 rooms.
For 400k... and about 200k worth of materials to make the place to what he wanted it to be... its very cheap for such a damn cool house.
Oodain
Veteran
Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,022
Location: in my own little tamarillo jungle,
i love any kind of heavy industrial feeling buildings, when i was 13-15 we used to play hardball in one of the biggest german fortifications in denmark, a very cool place.
homepage of the museum, it housed 4 38 cm cannons.
it is a shame that we have no buildings like that available for housing in denmark, closest thing we have are trainyards and factories.
_________________
//through chaos comes complexity//
the scent of the tamarillo is pungent and powerfull,
woe be to the nose who nears it.