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ARCHIVES-NRA  October 2008

ARCHIVES-NRA October 2008

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Subject:

Re: WARTIME AIR RAID SHELTERS BENEATH CAPITAL FOR SALE

From:

Pam Cranston <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Pam Cranston <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:43:00 +0100

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (185 lines)

Does it come with a doorbell or a siren?

Pam


Brough Paul wrote:
>
> You don’t need a reason to ride a bicycle (unlike a car).
>
> Paul
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* Archivists, conservators and records managers. 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *David Hay
> *Sent:* 15 October 2008 12:54
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* WARTIME AIR RAID SHELTERS BENEATH CAPITAL FOR SALE
>
> Dear All
>
> Colleagues may be interested in this news story about previously 
> secret tunnels below Holborn that were used for a short period by the 
> then Public Record Office to store public records.
>
> Later used to house an underground telephone exchange, BT is now 
> offering this accommodation for sale, so please feel free to pass this 
> on to any colleagues who have need of central London storage space!
>
> More information on the tunnels can be found at 
> http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/k/kingsway/index.html
>
> The tunnels will also feature in Griff Rhys Jones' programme on ITV1 
> at 9pm this evening , 'Greatest Cities of the World'. For some reason 
> he rides a bicycle around them.
>
> *David Hay*
> *Head of Heritage*
> *BT Group plc*
> Phone: 020 7440 4227 Fax: 020 7242 1967
> Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] 
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> BT Archives, Third Floor, Holborn TE, 268-270 High Holborn, London 
> WC1V 7EE
> www.bt.com/archives <file:///%5C%5Cwww.bt.com%5Carchives>
> www.connected-earth.com <file:///%5C%5Cwww.connected-earth.com>
>
> BT Group plc
> Registered office: 81 Newgate Street London EC1A 7AJ
> Registered in England and Wales no. 4190816
>
> **********************************************************************************************************************************************
>
> This electronic message contains information from BT Group plc, which 
> may be privileged or confidential. The information is intended to be 
> for the use of the individual(s) or entity named above. If you are not 
> the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, 
> distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. 
> If you have received this electronic message in error, please notify 
> us by telephone or e-mail (to the numbers or address above) immediately.
>
> Activity and use of the BT Group plc E-mail system is monitored to 
> secure its effective operation and for other lawful business purposes. 
> Communications using this system will also be monitored and may be 
> recorded to secure effective operation and for other lawful business 
> purposes.
>
> Customer details are recorded on a database for the purpose of 
> performance monitoring and retained for a maximum of two years. They 
> will not be divulged to any third parties nor used to market BT 
> products and services. Customers who prefer their details unrecorded, 
> or those requesting their recorded information, should email the BT 
> Archives at the above address
>
> ********************************************************************************************************************** 
>
>
> *WARTIME AIR RAID SHELTERS BENEATH CAPITAL FOR **SALE*
> SALE Tunnels
> 15 Oct 2008 - 11:59
> By Damon Wake, PA
> /Page 1/
> Bond villains in the market for a new lair, take note: a secret 
> network of tunnels 100 feet under central London is going on sale today.
>
> The Kingsway Tunnels were built in 1940 as deep air-raid shelters and 
> have since been used as a "reserve war room", public record library 
> and the telephone exchange which connected the Cold War hotline 
> between the presidents of the US and USSR.
>
> The Post Office took over the tunnels after the Second World War, and 
> now its successor, BT, is putting them up for sale.
>
> With 77,000 square feet of space under the centre of the capital up 
> for grabs, offers around the £5 million mark are expected.
>
> Access to the mile-long system of horizontal and vertical shafts is 
> through unmarked doors in the street on High Holborn, and the site is 
> fully equipped with electricity, water supply and ventilation 
> equipment - making it the perfect place to hole up and hide from 007, 
> though aspiring Blofelds will have to provide their own white cat.
>
> The Public Record Office used the tunnels for a while to store 400 
> tons of secret documents, before the complex was turned into a "trunk 
> exchange" to connect long distance telephone calls in the days before 
> the subscriber trunk dialling (STD) code.
>
> It was built to hold 8,000 people during air raids, and in its days as 
> an exchange housed around 80 workers, who enjoyed a canteen and 
> recreation room - complete with snooker table.
>
> BT put the site up for sale in 1996 but failed to find a buyer, but 
> now the company hopes to find a Government department or large company 
> to move in and make the site productive again.
>
> The unique nature of the site means it is unsuitable for conversion 
> into a hotel or office, BT said.
> Suggestions for the tunnels include car showroom, cinema, snooker 
> club, nightclub, archery or firing range, social club for Tube workers 
> and storeroom for unwanted bankers.
>
> Elaine Hewitt, group property director for BT, said: "We are looking 
> for a purchaser with the imagination and stature to return the tunnels 
> to productive use.
>
> "The site has the most fantastic history and, now that we have no 
> requirement for it for telecommunications use, it is right that we 
> should offer it to the market."
>
> The Kingsway Tunnels feature in Griff Rhys Jones's World's Greatest 
> Cities programme on ITV1 tonight.
> Subterranea Britannica, a society devoted to the study of man-made 
> underground structures, held a meeting in the tunnels in 1996.
>
> The group's website said the tunnels were extended by the Government 
> in the early 1980s with the addition of a bunker and briefing room.
>
> Writing on the site, John Warrick, who worked at the telephone 
> exchange, said the place had "an odour all of its own... a combination 
> smell of wax floor polish and PVC cable. This had an extra smell. The 
> chlorine added to the plenum plant that washed the air before it was 
> circulated."
>
> Mr Warrick added that the major complaint among workers was that they 
> never managed to correct the slope on the recreation room snooker table.
>
> ***************************************************************
>
> Please note that the Council may need to disclose this e-mail under 
> the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information 
> Regulations 2004.
>
> Important: This e-mail and its attachments are intended for the 
> above-named only and may be confidential. If they have come to you in 
> error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show 
> them to anyone; please e-mail us immediately at [log in to unmask]
>
> Security Warning: Although this e-mail and its attachments have been 
> screened and are believed to be free from any virus, it is the 
> responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus free. 
> The Authority will not accept liability for any damage caused by a virus
>


-- 
Sincerely

Pamela Cranston
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photographic Archives 
Dept of Special Collections
University of St Andrews  Library
North Street
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9TR

Tel:  01334 462328
Fax:  01334 462282
email: [log in to unmask]
Web:  http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/specialcollections/
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/specialcollections/Photographiccollection/

“The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland : No SC013532” 

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