A brave explorer has uncovered a secret network of nuclear bunkers hidden in the Welsh countryside that were used during the Cold War, and have more recently become set pieces for an episode of Doctor Who.
Jay Curtis, 32, stumbled upon the interesting find late last year when he noticed the network tucked away in the countryside in Brackla, Bridgend.
And when the explorer, from Wales, investigated the area he found nuclear blast doors, as well as an air filtration system, generator and water and diesel storage.
The bunkers also housed eight secret magazine tunnels that were built to protect the high explosives held within the Brackla Munitions Factory, where 40,000 people worked during the Second World War.
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Jay explored the area and shared the find on his YouTube channel, Jay Curtis Explores, where he said: “Now this place might look like any ordinary industrial estate, but with the imminent Second World War upon Britain this place became one of the most secretive places in South Wales – and there’s plenty of other hidden history left over if you know where to look.
“Inside the bunker is a maze of rooms for personnel, beds, a canteen, recreation, offices, communication centres – you name it. This bunker remains locked and forgotten in the hillside.”
The Royal Ordnance Factory stopped production of the explosives in 1945 and the site was left abandoned until the 1960s, when the Ministry of Defence (MOD) turned part of the site into a nuclear command bunker for South Wales.
While the bunker appears totally abandoned and reclaimed by nature, with leaves and plants growing up around it, Jay revealed it still has its own power supply.
Jay added: “You can tell by the well-maintained road and new locks that this place is very much still in use.”
It is currently not clear who is using the site, but it has previously been used as a filming location for Doctor Who and Torchwood, where the crew was allowed access to film episodes featuring the iconic Cybermen villains.
According to Jay, everything inside the locked bunkers remains “in full working order”.
Standing outside the entrance, Jay explained: “That bizarre-looking square building behind me was in fact originally a magazine tunnel entrance, but this new entrance was added with the imminent threat of a nuclear attack – hence the air filtration system, the generator inside, the water and the diesel storage, and a series of nuclear blast doors.”
The magazine tunnels are also still intact and “scattered across the landscape”.
Jay said: “Many have been filled in but two or three entrances above ground give an idea of what a secretive past this hillside once had.
"It’s in these dark magazine tunnels that thousands upon thousands of tonnes of explosives would be piled high to the ceiling, hidden away from the enemy and the threat from above.”
And further down the hillside, Jay found the remains of more tunnels, with the main access and ventilation shafts now filled in.
Speaking after sharing his video, he said: “It was a complete surprise to find this as I went looking for evidence of the former munitions factory tunnels and did not expect to stumble across the bunkers in the woods.
"The feeling below ground was very eerie. You could hear nothing from life above ground.
“The damp environment within the bunker offered little resemblance to its significant past – just a chemical toilet, cupboard, some BT junction box and wiring, and the remains of the water pump could be found inside.”
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