Drakelow: The RSG / Underground Factory (DVD Production)
Description
IA Recordings DVD Running Time 28 minutes. ( DVDs are also available in NTSC format for the USA)
Recorded February 1997 well before the current deterioration and scap salvage took place items that have now permanently lost can be seen from your armchair throughout a location map of the site is given which will help orientate you through this labyrinth.
Deep in the sandstone hill at Drakelow near Kidderminster, 5km of tunnels were dug in 1942 to house a hidden factory. The Rover company was building parts for radial aero engines and its plants in Birmingham and Coventry were very vulnerable to air raids. Over 26,000 square metres of underground floor space housed machine tools, heat treatment gear, laboratories, store rooms, offices, a canteen, a dining room and games rooms. In the 1960's the threat was different - the cold war. Drakelow was refurbished as a Regional Seat of Government - a nuclear bunker designed to help control the population of the Midlands in the aftermath of holocaust. It had its own independent water supply, generator, air conditioning and air filters. There were male and female dormitories, a sick bay with operating theatre, offices and BBC radio studios. This role lasted in various forms until 1993, when the site was removed from the secret list and sold off. This tape shows an exploration of the whole complex, starting in the Rover factory area with remains such as the original blast doors, time office, an electric truck, the battery room, a laboratory and the massive ventilation fan. The 1960's period is represented by a canteen, dormitories, offices and a BBC studio. The 1980's-90's relics include shower rooms, the generator hall and the fallout decontamination facility, together with another BBC studio and a kitchen with its stainless steel equipment virtually unused.
Recorded February 1997 well before the current deterioration and scap salvage took place items that have now permanently lost can be seen from your armchair throughout a location map of the site is given which will help orientate you through this labyrinth.
Deep in the sandstone hill at Drakelow near Kidderminster, 5km of tunnels were dug in 1942 to house a hidden factory. The Rover company was building parts for radial aero engines and its plants in Birmingham and Coventry were very vulnerable to air raids. Over 26,000 square metres of underground floor space housed machine tools, heat treatment gear, laboratories, store rooms, offices, a canteen, a dining room and games rooms. In the 1960's the threat was different - the cold war. Drakelow was refurbished as a Regional Seat of Government - a nuclear bunker designed to help control the population of the Midlands in the aftermath of holocaust. It had its own independent water supply, generator, air conditioning and air filters. There were male and female dormitories, a sick bay with operating theatre, offices and BBC radio studios. This role lasted in various forms until 1993, when the site was removed from the secret list and sold off. This tape shows an exploration of the whole complex, starting in the Rover factory area with remains such as the original blast doors, time office, an electric truck, the battery room, a laboratory and the massive ventilation fan. The 1960's period is represented by a canteen, dormitories, offices and a BBC studio. The 1980's-90's relics include shower rooms, the generator hall and the fallout decontamination facility, together with another BBC studio and a kitchen with its stainless steel equipment virtually unused.
