CORSHAM'S UNDERGROUND CITY - LOCATION SHOOTING [Main Title]

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  • Title: CORSHAM'S UNDERGROUND CITY - LOCATION SHOOTING [Main Title]
  • Film Number: MIL 81X
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Location shooting for documentary recording the secret subterranean military installation at Corsham in Wiltshire, a complex of tunnels sited in former quarries, used during the Second World War for the storage of munitions and for air defence control purposes, then converted during the Cold War era into a communications base and safety bunker.
  • Description: Tape 1: Exterior loading platform, entrance shaft, main roadway, the Command Defence Communications Network (CDCN) offices, the Primary Network Control Centre (PNCC), the Emergency Government War Headquarters (EGWHQ), stores, Spring Quarry, vehicle storage area. Tape 2: Railway lines linking to Box Tunnel, main power generators, trolleys, engineering workshop, wall art, Corsham Depot Inlet (CDI) fan, Quarry Operations Centre (QOC), living areas, wall murals, officers' accomodation. Tape 3: Aerial views of the Corsham site including the east entrance to Box Tunnel, filmed from an Army Gazelle helicopter. Tape 4: EGWHQ telephone exchange, power generator, kitchens, bed pans, hospital wards, sluice room, washrooms. Canteen including coffee machines, ovens, freezers, fridges and washing machines. Laundry area, chairs, tape machines, typewriters, rotten telephone control area, collapsed ceilings, store area, the Prime Minister's living quarters including bathroom complete with toilet, sink and bath, boiler house, air duct, cranes, calcium growth on walls and floor, operational fan, sewage pumps, low level conveyor, water sump. Tape 5: Views in and around the CDCN, including the Home Office Sector Operational Centre. Tape 6: Water reservoir underneath Box Tunnel, divers in water checking tunnel base, murals in Spring Quarry, water pump, East Lung quarry area. Tape 7: Abandoned equipment and tools in West Lung Quarry. Partially collapsed ceilings and walls. Includes Sky News report on the underground site at Corsham, screened September 2005 (ca). Includes brief interviews with Andy Quinn, Bunker Manager, and Steve Rover-Parkes, Bunker Commander. Tape 8: Spring Quarry, corridors, rusty air vents, canteen area, canteen blackboard, murals, office areas, concrete waterway, abestos dump, fan, storage areas, lift doors, engine testing area. Tape 9: Exterior views of one of the exits. Collection of tools, equipment, and other artefacts. Tape 10: Surface loading platform interior, old equipment and trolley. Storage areas including chairs, beds and books. Defunct escalator, stairs, travelling along the roadway by battery operated truck. Abandoned workshops. Tape 11: Views from interior of shaft in West Lung Quarry, filmed by camera suspended by a length of rope.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: MIL 81X
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © Crown copyright. IWM (MIL 81X)
  • Featured Period: 2001-2025
  • Production Date: 2005
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Defence (Production sponsor) Defence Equipment and Support Photographic (Production company) Setter, Darren (Production individual) Parselle, Geoff (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: DVCam Number of items/reels/tapes: 11 Running time: 6 hours
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MIL 81X

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    MIL 81 (CORSHAM'S UNDERGROUND CITY [Main Title])
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