All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S03E10.Secrets.of.Alien.Stonehenge.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
A towering circular structure

That stands above
Hidden underground tunnels...

It has a very mysterious,
Kind of otherworldly feel to it.

Clearly something top secret
Was going on here.

Narrator: ...A seemingly endless
Concrete line

Slicing through
The countryside...

It looks modern and ancient
At the same time,

Almost like it's some sort of
A ruin from the future.

Narrator: ...And a building
With a decorative exterior

Narrator: ...And a building
With a decorative exterior

That hides a macabre
And confusing interior.

But on the inside, it actually
Had a really sinister purpose.

You'd never guess that
Just by looking at its facade.

Narrator: once, they were some
Of the most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge
Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,
Contaminated,

And sometimes deadly.

And sometimes deadly.

But who built them?
And how?

And why were they abandoned?

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

*

Narrator:
In the southwest of poland,

Close to the border
With the czech republic

Stands the remains
Of a structure

Stands the remains
Of a structure

That's challenging
Established history.

Bell:
Seemingly out of nowhere,

You see this large,
Circular structure.

It's almost like aliens have
Just dropped this from the sky.

What is this thing?
What's it doing here?

And you know what?

Something about it tells me
There's more than meets the eye.

Narrator: it cuts a striking
Figure in these hills,

Narrator: it cuts a striking
Figure in these hills,

But it's not the only
Decaying structure found here.

Gough: you see there's lots of
Other buildings nearby,

And more importantly,
You see they've dug

And created tunnels underground.

You wouldn't build a site
Like this here for convenience.

You'd build it for secrecy.

Narrator:
So what was this all for,

And what unworldly secrets
Might this land be hiding?

And what unworldly secrets
Might this land be hiding?

Swirling around this site

Are all sorts of theories
And stories

That stem from the later years
Of the second world war,

When this area was a hive
Of hidden nazi activity.

The structure has been built
At a remote location

Miles from any cities.

It's up in the mountains.

There's dense woods.

It's out of each of the allies,

And I think that's
The important point.

And I think that's
The important point.

Narrator: as the allies advance
Their bombing raids,

The nazis move their weapons
And research facilities

To remote locations,

Camouflaging the sites
As they built them.

Sheltered beneath the trees,

This was once a sprawling
Secret facility,

Just one of many across
This heavily defended region.

On the ground, you would have
Different defenses

Consisting of bunkers,
Machine-gun posts,

Anti-tank posts.

It would be the kind of defenses
That would take up

Probably several thousand men
To protect.

Narrator:
However, in these hills,

This 100-feet-wide monument
Stands alone.

Some believe it's simply
The remnants of a cooling tower

Some believe it's simply
The remnants of a cooling tower

For the nearby power plant,

But others, like igor witkowski,

Fear this was for something
Far more devastating

And perhaps even linked
To a futuristic technology.

In the very center
Of this valley,

We find such a strange structure
Visible here.

It's a concrete ring,
32 meters in diameter

With very massive columns.

It was built
In such a strong way,

With strong, thick
Reinforcement rods,

With strong, thick
Reinforcement rods,

That it is clear
That it was built

To withstand
Really great forces.

Narrator: igor believes
This concrete circle

Was once a key part
Of the nazis' plan

To take over the world.

I have found a similarity
To test rings

Used in the modern times
For testing helicopters,

Only this is much larger.

Then one may suspect that
It might have been used

Then one may suspect that
It might have been used

To test some really large
Flying objects.

Narrator: this structure is
Known as the henge.

But what could those secret
Flying objects have been?

Bell: one possible theory as to
The purpose of this site

Is that it was a test facility
For the development

Of the germans' last great hope
To win the war --

the wunderwaffe,
or miracle weapon.

the wunderwaffe,
or miracle weapon.

Narrator: some of their greatest
Successes in this field

Came with
The vengeance rocket program.

Corum:
Quite a few will hit britain,

And they will cause 20,000 dead,

And they will cause
A lot of devastation.

Narrator: but the germans were
Working on all sorts

Of new, devastating ideas,

And there's a suggestion the
Henge site was involved in this.

And there's a suggestion the
Henge site was involved in this.

Gough: under the site, we see
Long, dark, wet tunnels

That lead nowhere.

Now, we can't see where they go.

That's been all blocked off,
But it cannot be a coincidence

They lie just below this weird
Circular structure above ground.

*

Narrator: at first sight,
There's little here to suggest

Narrator: at first sight,
There's little here to suggest

They were anything other
Than empty corridors,

But for those in the know,
The devil is in the detail.

We are in one of the tunnels
Connecting the power plant

With the underground complex
Here,

And you have these niches here

Where the high-voltage
Power cables were placed

One above the other,

And they give some idea about
The size of the entire project,

And they give some idea about
The size of the entire project,

And these cables are the size

Comparable with
A high-voltage power line

That would power
A medium-sized city.

Narrator: it's believed
That further below,

The nazis took over
A vast former mining network.

All these signs
Of unusual secrecy

That we can see in this valley

Are only an introduction
To the main part of the complex,

Are only an introduction
To the main part of the complex,

Which is unaccessible today.

Narrator: so what were the nazis
Developing underground,

And what kind of flying objects
Might have been tested here?

*

Narrator:
Deep in the countryside

Of southwestern poland
Stands the henge.

One theory suggests
That this was a test ring

For a new nazi secret weapon.

Around 1944,
There were reports surfacing

Of these advanced flying objects
Called foo fighters

Who were seen
By the allied pilots --

These singular balls of light

These singular balls of light

That were streaking in the air
Around the plane,

Only faster than the plane.

Narrator: it's been suggested
That a top-secret technology

Called die glocke, or
the bell, was being
developed.

The aim was to create
A new vertical takeoff machine,

And the henge was to be
The final test site.

The theory of the bell
Goes something like this --

Two large spinning discs
Inside a cylindrical shell,

Two large spinning discs
Inside a cylindrical shell,

And it was the spinning
Of these discs,

Possibly fueled by some kind
Of radioactive material,

That enabled the vertical lift.

Narrator: later, u.S. Military
Tests of alternate aircraft

Never prove successful,

But had the nazis
Ever cracked it?

The theory suggests
This would have been a machine

Able to outmaneuver and outpace
Anything in the world.

Able to outmaneuver and outpace
Anything in the world.

We know for some time
That there is a link

Between electromagnetism
And gravity and antigravity,

But exploiting this
New phenomenon would have been

Probably the greatest leap
In human history

Because it would have
Been something

That would have
Changed the world.

Whether this was to be used
In flying craft

Or flying bombs is unclear,

But it does make you wonder

If something extraordinary
Was in the pipeline,

If something extraordinary
Was in the pipeline,

And had it come to fruition,

Might the course of the war
Have been different?

Narrator: the clues to such work
Having taken place here

Are all but gone,

And as the nazis retreated
At the end of the war,

They quickly covered
Their tracks,

Sometimes in a brutal fashion.

The scientists working on
This project here

Who might have have provided
Some answers to our questions --

Who might have have provided
Some answers to our questions --

They were killed just in case

To prevent the secret
Of this place being revealed.

No matter what people say
It was used for,

There is no denying
The number of buildings,

The security rings,
The trenches, and the fact

That it took an incredible
Amount of effort to create this.

All this leads you
To the conclusion

That something quite big
Must have been going on here.

That something quite big
Must have been going on here.

Narrator: today, all that
Remains of the henge site

Are dark, walled-off tunnels

And this baffling
Circular structure.

Witkowski:
There is still a great mystery

Associated with this place
That has not been clarified,

But in the very center of
This mystery is this structure.

Narrator:
On the east coast of china,

Near the heart of the city
Of shanghai,

Near the heart of the city
Of shanghai,

Is a building with a violent
And bloody past life.

*

Gough: this is such
An interesting building.

It's a huge concrete,
Multi-story structure

Supported by pillars,

But it has all these
Intricate lattice windows.

Somara: from the outside,
The design of this building

Was obviously of real
Importance to the community,

But on the inside, it actually
Had a really sinister purpose.

But on the inside, it actually
Had a really sinister purpose.

Narrator:
Hidden behind the grand facade

Lies an experience
Altogether unnerving.

Somara: it was almost like
A maze of staircases and ramps

And structures.

Someone really thought hard
About the design of this place.

Gough: there are sections
That are completely isolated,

So whatever went on here

Couldn't see
What's going on here.

I don't think anyone would guess
In a million years

What it was originally used for.

Narrator:
So what was the need for this

Confusing, brutalist structure,

Confusing, brutalist structure,

And to what traumatic end

Did these labyrinthine
Passages lead?

While the corridors
Of this building

Were once filled
With the stench of death,

Its origins are entwined
With the hopeful years

Of shanghai's expansion

During the decades ahead
Of the second world war.

Dickrell: in the 1930s,
Shanghai was the place to be.

It was referred to as
The paris of the east.

It was referred to as
The paris of the east.

Many foreigners keen
To do business

Were flooding into the area.

Gough:
It had a thriving port.

It had a industrial center,

And it was a magnet
For businessmen

Who were looking for
New ventures.

Narrator:
With investment pouring in,

New towers were growing
All across the booming city.

Man:
Today, shanghai's skyline

Towers with
The tallest buildings

Ever erected outside
The united states.

Narrator:
But this low-rise structure
Is probably more intriguing

Than any of them...

...As patrick cranley,
A local expert, can attest to.

It's a very complex building
That reminds a lot of people

Of the work of an artist
Called m.C. Escher

Who used
Three-dimensional illusion

To create really fascinating
Works of art.

You almost feel like you're
Entering into an escher drawing.

You almost feel like you're
Entering into an escher drawing.

You get disoriented,
And then you get fascinated.

You want to figure out
How the building works

And where all these ramps
And stairways go.

Narrator: the convoluted layout
Offers few clues

As to what the function
Of this place was, but in fact,

This was all part of the grand
Plan to keep the city alive.

*

So, with the second world war
Appearing on the horizon,

So, with the second world war
Appearing on the horizon,

What gruesome history might
This beastly structure hold?

*

Narrator: as shanghai's
Expansion continued

In the lead-up
To the second world war,

This building was erected for
A dark but necessary purpose.

Shanghai was the sixth-largest
City in the world.

It had more than
3 million residents

And was growing quickly,

And the municipal authorities
Were taking responsibility

For making this a modern city
In many ways.

For making this a modern city
In many ways.

Narrator: with its colossal size
And opulent exterior,

This was clearly a building
Of vital importance,

But maybe not
In the way expected.

The design of this building
Is very unusual

And really reflects both the
Creative mind of the designer

And the purpose of the building,

Which was to slaughter animals.

This building is an abattoir.

It's where animals go to die

And where meat is produced
For a huge populace.

And where meat is produced
For a huge populace.

Narrator: this is
The 1933 slaughterhouse.

But even on the inside,

This doesn't have the appearance
Of a slaughterhouse.

So how did it work?

The design in very unusual
In that it is a square,

And then inside a round area
Where work was done.

Narrator:
Linking the two areas together

Were a series of bridges,
Ramps, and staircases.

Were a series of bridges,
Ramps, and staircases.

The ramps were for
The animals --

The cattle and the pigs --

And the stairways, obviously,
For the humans.

Narrator: different floors were
For different animals.

Gough: the outer area is where
They would keep the animals.

The inner sanctum --
That was for the killing.

Narrator:
Designed specifically

For the sole purpose
Of slaughtering animals,

Everything in this building
Was built around this goal.

Everything in this building
Was built around this goal.

Dickrell: if you think about
A slaughterhouse,

The smell was probably
Very, very strong,

So the windows allowed
Lots of air to pass through.

What was really fascinating
Was the attention to detail,

So things like rough surfaces
Of floors

To allow animals to walk,

Or hollowed-out walls
For temperature control.

Narrator:
But it wasn't just about

Keeping this place
Light and breezy.

The other side of the design
Was all about

The other side of the design
Was all about

Dealing with death.

So, these pipes and this trough
And the drains

Were all part of a system
Of hygiene to drain the blood

And other fluids from
The slaughtering of the animals.

Somara: these were all features
That were thought about,

Specifically with the function
Of the building in mind.

Narrator: the slaughterhouse
Ran like clockwork.

Animals were brought up ramps
To the required floor,

Kept in the large halls,
Then were led across the bridges

Kept in the large halls,
Then were led across the bridges

To the slaughter hall
And into a cage.

The animal was killed
By a bolt to the head,

And then the cage was tilted

So it would slide down
Naturally to the floor

Where the butchers
Would process the meat.

Narrator: from here,
Their carcasses were hung

And transferred
Into the chilling rooms.

This place was a finely tuned
Killing machine

Able to process thousands
Of animals each day.

Able to process thousands
Of animals each day.

It was almost like a reverse
Manufacturing process.

So rather than
Assembling things,

It was designed to dissemble.

It's such a sinister function
Of a space,

But in terms of efficiency,
It's brilliant.

Narrator: but although the
Process was well-thought-out,

There was always
An ever-present danger.

Well, since a large number
Of cattle

Were being processed
Through the facility,

It was important
To be able to provide

Safe zones for the workers

Safe zones for the workers

In case there was a large panic
Amongst the cattle,

So the angular nature
Of these ramps

Would prevent a large stampede

And allow refuge zones
For the workers.

Narrator: while some dangers
Could be prepared for,

Others couldn't.

A few years after
The building was built,

Shanghai dramatically changed.

Narrator: in 1941,
Japanese forces invaded

Narrator: in 1941,
Japanese forces invaded

This part of the city,

And this place of death
Became embroiled

In a different kind of killing.

So, this is a cement blockhouse

That was used
During world war ii

To protect the canal
That brought some of the animals

And other materials
To this area.

So there would be machine guns
Placed inside,

And they'd be protecting
Both sides of the canal.

Narrator: while the slaughter
Numbers were reduced

During those years,

When the war ended
And the japanese left,

It appeared this place
Had emerged unscathed.

Somara: in an occupied city
During wartime,

The future of this building
Was uncertain,

But because it was
Such a well-designed building,

After the war,
It continued to function

As it was designed for decades.

Narrator:
Ultimately, though, in 2002,

The city outgrew
The slaughterhouse

And operations were moved
To the outskirts.

And operations were moved
To the outskirts.

Having lived through war

And decades of condemning
Animals to their deaths,

The slaughterhouse today
Remains a beguiling structure.

Cranley: it could have been
Just an afterthought

Without any aesthetic appeal,

But the designer used
His creativity

To make something
Very beautiful,

But it's purpose was
Rather macabre --

That is, to slaughter animals.

That is, to slaughter animals.

*

Narrator:
In the heart of france,

Almost 60 miles south of paris
Near the town of chevilly,

Stands a fractured
Concrete platform

Stretching out
Far across the fields.

Miegs: when you see this rising
Out of the countryside,

It looks modern and ancient
At the same time,

Almost like it's some sort of
A ruin from the future.

Almost like it's some sort of
A ruin from the future.

Somara:
It's this random structure

That looks like
It's something industrial

Sitting in the middle
Of the countryside,

And it just goes on
For miles and miles.

Narrator:
But this line isn't complete.

It makes absolutely no sense.

There are three separate
Sections,

But yet they don't start or end
In any particular place.

When you get closer to it,

When you get closer to it,

You see bits of concrete
Crumbling off it,

And then there's
This strange ridge

That runs through
The center of it.

It seems almost
"Blade runner"-esque,

But yet it's in
The middle of nowhere

And clearly does nothing.

Narrator:
So what was this built for,

And did it make it
To its final destination?

Abandoned for decades,
The history of this structure

Is marred by rumors
Of sabotage and conspiracy,

Is marred by rumors
Of sabotage and conspiracy,

But recently it's begun
To attract some new admirers.

Interpreter: the structure
Doesn't look like much now,

But in its day,
It was the scene

Of a revolutionary project
That was way ahead of its time.

Narrator: this was once
A continuous track

Running 11 miles in length.

Interpreter:
It was an extraordinary project,

And it has been
A huge inspiration for us.

Today, we want to use
The engineering of that time

Today, we want to use
The engineering of that time

Along with today's technology

To create our own
Transport revolution.

Narrator: but if this is linked
To transportation,

Then what kind?

The answer can be found
During a period

When engineers
Were reaching for the stars.

Selwood: the '60s was
An incredible period

For the burgeoning
Of technology.

People were looking to
The future in all sorts of ways.

There was the space race,
Concorde.

Science blossomed.

Science blossomed.

Narrator:
While it seemed the sky
Was no longer the limit,

With this design, engineers were
Keeping their ambitions

Closer to the ground.

The project was to reinvent
Rail travel,

To replace the train
With something much sleeker,

Must faster.

You would expect it
To just be parallel tracks,

But what makes it really unusual

Is this ridge
That runs along it,

Which kind of suggests
That there was

Some kind of innovation
Involved,

Some kind of innovation
Involved,

Some new thinking.

Narrator: the remnants of that
Adventurous new technology

Can be found
In a nearby warehouse --

A strange,
Futuristic-looking vehicle

That would slot onto
The concrete ridge.

This route was to be a key step
In a new way of travel.

This is the aérotrain
Test track.

But was this really
The ticket to the future,

But was this really
The ticket to the future,

Or does its decrepit state
Suggest

That someone or something
Stood in its way?

*

Narrator: in rural france are
The weathered remains

Of a futuristic transport
Project from the 1960s,

But what was so revolutionary
About this idea?

Man:
It's an experimental aérotrain

Which set a world
Speed record for trains,

Hitting 233 miles an hour.

The aérotrain was
An incredibly ambitious project.

The idea was a train
That would be powered

By a jet engine strapped to it.

By a jet engine strapped to it.

It ran on a cushion of air
Instead of wheels.

You would pump air
Under the body of the train,

And it would lift the train
Off of the concrete track.

Somara: essentially, the
Vehicles were flying, hovering.

All you need is
A few millimeters of distance

Between the concrete structure
And the vehicle.

That allowed
Very, very low-friction travel,

Theoretically very high speeds.

Theoretically very high speeds.

Narrator:
The idea was the brainchild
Of engineer jean bertin,

And when his first prototype

Proved the theory worked
In 1967,

He built the next version
Purely for speed.

Selwood: initial testing was
Extremely encouraging,

But what they knew
They really needed to do

Was scale it up to the size
Of a passenger train.

Narrator:
But this wasn't the only issue.

Aérotrain had a new adversary
To overcome.

The bigger problem was
There was another project

The bigger problem was
There was another project

In the pipeline --
The tgv high-speed train,

That in many ways was more
Practical than the aérotrain.

Narrator: the state-owned tgv
Was a serious contender,

And the pressure was mounting
On jean bertin

To come up
With something special.

The result was
The aérotrain 180.

*

*

Former pilot daniel ermisse
Recalls what it was like

Taking the latest aérotrain
Out for a spin.

[ speaking french ]

Interpreter:
As the pilot,

I entered the offices here
To meet the test engineer,

Who'd then say to me,
"This is the plan for today."

*

It was always such a joy.

Just after we started
The engine,

The atmosphere
Was pure excitement

The atmosphere
Was pure excitement

Because we all knew we were
About to travel extremely fast

And in absolute comfort.

Narrator: capable of carrying
80 passengers

And reaching speeds
Of over 260 miles per hour,

It looked like
The winning ticket.

Interpreter:
The advantage is

The aérotrain weighed
Only 20 tons.

If we compare that to the tgv
That weighs 400 tons,

You see it accelerates
Very quickly.

You see it accelerates
Very quickly.

This place brings back memories.

I can still see myself
On the track in the aérotrain.

*

*

Narrator: when the government
Threw their weight

Behind the aérotrain,

It looked set to be the future
Of high-speed travel in france,

And then possibly the world.

But seeing the few
Remaining tracks today,

Something clearly
Went dramatically wrong.

Something clearly
Went dramatically wrong.

Miegs:
Very innovative,

It's very elegant
And cool-looking,

And yet it's also impractical
In certain ways.

You have to ask yourself
The question,

"Are wheels really
Such a big problem?"

Narrator: when the french
President died in 1974,

The new government
Withdrew their support,

And the whole project collapsed.

The aérotrain suffered
An even greater tragedy.

The aérotrain suffered
An even greater tragedy.

Ermisse:
[ speaking french ]

Interpreter: the sudden end
Was a disaster for us,

But it was an absolute
Catastrophe for jean bertin.

He began to suffer as soon as
He knew the aérotrain was over.

We saw this man wither away,

And, unfortunately,
He died a year later in 1975.

*

Narrator: ultimately,
Tgv had won the race,

Narrator: ultimately,
Tgv had won the race,

But some believe it wasn't
Simply the government

Trying to save
The state-owned network.

Other forces may have been
At play.

Interpreter:
Why was it stopped?

Because somebody
Wanted it stopped.

*

Narrator:
So was there a conspiracy
Set against aérotrain,

And what unlikely disasters
Still lay ahead?

*

Narrator: in the 1970s,
The aérotrain had looked like

The future
Of inter-city travel in france,

But all of a sudden,
That dream disappeared.

Scientifically, it was proving
To be a brand-new frontier

In the way we would travel,

And then in a few years,
That just completely collapsed.

And then in a few years,
That just completely collapsed.

Narrator: the debate over
Whether there was a conspiracy

Against aérotrain was inflamed
By a strange disaster in 1992,

When the local mayor announced
Its reopening for tourism.

It was all very exciting,
But then within a few days,

The hangar that was actually
Housing the train burnt down.

What was very mysterious was,

This was actually the second
Fire to have occurred.

[ camera shutter clicking ]

Interpreter:
There is someone somewhere

Who really wanted this
Over for good,

Who really wanted this
Over for good,

So the aérotrain was
Set on fire.

Coincidence?

Narrator: while the aérotrain
Never got far off the ground,

This track may finally
Have found a new lease of life

With a more modern project
Called spacetrain.

Interpreter: spacetrain is
A shuttle project --

A shuttle that is propelled to
Around 500 kilometers per hour

On a cushion of air.

On a cushion of air.

The concept of aérotrain

Was very inspiring
For our project, spacetrain.

This structure is
In a very good condition.

We'd like to reuse it
To do our first test.

Narrator:
In the united kingdom,

In a wooded area
20 miles northeast of london

Lies an inconspicuous building
Placed far from prying eyes.

Well, first impressions
Of this site

Really are nothing surprising.

There's a bit
Of an innocuous tower.

You've got a small house nearby,

But other than that,
Nothing really untoward.

Nusbacher: even though
It is well cared for,

You can just tell that no one
Has ever called this place home.

Narrator: this small building,
In fact, harbors a vast secret.

Narrator: this small building,
In fact, harbors a vast secret.

Once you go through this
Unobtrusive front entrance,

Now you realize that you are in
A very large kind of operation.

You go into this long
Underground tunnel

That leads into
A big underground labyrinth.

Nusbacher:
You can tell that somebody
Wanted to come underground

And hide something very valuable
From something very terrible.

And hide something very valuable
From something very terrible.

This is clearly a place
Someone has built out of fear.

Narrator:
So what horrors drove people
To build inside this hill,

And did disaster ever strike?

*

The roots of this structure
Can be found buried deep

In the fear-ridden
Early years of the cold war,

In the fear-ridden
Early years of the cold war,

When the world had just entered
The nuclear age.

1949, joseph stalin,

Who is one of the most ruthless,
Brutal dictators of history,

Explodes an atomic bomb.

[ explosion ]

This takes the west by surprise,

And this changes
The entire game.

President truman has announced

We must now alert
The whole world to the peril

We must now alert
The whole world to the peril

That this event
Brings into being.

Narrator: with a growing fear
Spreading throughout the world,

Facilities like this
Sprung up across britain,

But they weren't just
For hiding away in.

During the second world war,

Britain had a network of radar
Stations to warn of nazi attack,

But once soviet nuclear attack
Became a threat,

But once soviet nuclear attack
Became a threat,

There was a hasty effort
To build new ones.

Early warning becomes a top
Priority during the cold war.

[ sirens wail ]

Man: that signal means to stop
Whatever you are doing

And get to the nearest
Safe place fast.

Those few minutes
Of early warning

Might make the difference
Between

An effective counterstrike,

Effective survival
Of your forces,

Or some of your forces,

Or some of your forces,

And your national destruction.

Narrator:
Built under a cloak of secrecy,

The new radar system,
Named rotor,

Had a network of operation
Centers across the country,

Including this one --

The kelvedon hatch
Secret nuclear bunker.

But why was this disguised
As a bungalow,

And how might it have become

The country's last hope
For survival?

*

Narrator: near a small village
Just outside of london,

An unlikely site was chosen
For one of britain's

New early warning
Secret control centers.

Corum: during
The nuclear-weapons testing

In the late 1940s, early 1950s,

They realized that
Everything above ground --

Even a small nuclear weapon
Would just devastate everything.

Even a small nuclear weapon
Would just devastate everything.

It's all gone.

However, people could survive
If they're underground.

Jerram: the location itself
Was somewhat strategic

Because there was
An r.A.F. Base nearby,

But also the nature
Of the rock was important

Because instead of being on soft
Material like the london clay,

This was actually
Under much harder bedrock.

Narrator:
Covered in 15 feet of topsoil,

The outer layer of the bunker
Is a faraday cage

The outer layer of the bunker
Is a faraday cage

To protect it
From an electromagnetic pulse.

Inside that is a brick skin,

A 10-foot-thick concrete wall,

And three fully operational
Floors.

A 120-yard tunnel leads out
To the entrance,

Masquerading as
A small countryside bungalow.

Jerram: this was a colossal
Construction --

27,000 square feet of area,
Completely hidden,

And there's about
40,000 tons of concrete

And there's about
40,000 tons of concrete

That were used to construct
The whole thing --

A real engineering marvel.

Nusbacher:
Everyone knew in the '50s

That there were
Russian spies everywhere,

And that meant that it was
Impossible to keep it a secret

That there were command bunkers
All over the country,

But nobody knew exactly where
Those bunkers were located.

Narrator:
Now owned by mike parrish,

The farmer whose land
This sits on,

He's become the expert
On the site

And knows
Its imminent-attack protocol.

We've now got the blast doors
Here which, once they're shut,

Well, everybody will be in here
For at least three months.

*

Narrator: the bunker could
Support up to 600 inhabitants,

Narrator: the bunker could
Support up to 600 inhabitants,

And once locked inside,

It was these machines
That kept the radiation out.

Parrish: the air would normally
Flow into this fan here,

Which would just pump it
Straight into the bunker,

But if it had become
Contaminated,

Then they'd switch that one off

And switch the one
Over there on,

Which would, in theory,
Filter all the nasty things out

Before it actually got inside
The bunker itself.

So, actually, this is
What's keeping us all alive.

Narrator:
But while the completed bunker

Functioned as planned,

The wider rotor network
Soon had a problem.

The wider rotor network
Soon had a problem.

Jerram: built in less than
A year -- very, very quick --

But interestingly, as well,
In such a short time

The way that the radars
Were changing,

It became fairly redundant
Quite quickly.

Narrator:
Within only a few years,

There was no longer a need
For these rotor control centers,

But with its proximity to london
And the central government,

This site would soon have

A potentially far more
Important role to play.

All major powers
During the cold war

All major powers
During the cold war

Developed large underground
Bunkers, facilities,

That were survivable
In case of nuclear attack,

And that was to preserve
And protect the government.

If everything goes wrong,
Here is a way, at least,

That they can maintain
Some kind of control

Even in a devastated country
Afterwards.

Narrator: around the mid-1980s,
Britain had a new network

Of regional
Government headquarters,

Of regional
Government headquarters,

Many of which utilized
The former rotor bunkers.

The british government was
Going to briefly disintegrate

When a nuclear attack happened,

And all of the cabinet members

Would be assigned a different
Region of the country

Where they would go and,
As a minister of the crown,

Would be the most senior person
For miles around.

Would be the most senior person
For miles around.

In this worst-case scenario,
This facility is near london.

It would have protected several
Hundred of the key personnel

And enabled them
To live for weeks.

Narrator:
With telecommunications linking

This site to other
Regional headquarters

And a bbc broadcasting suite to
Speak to those on the outside,

The officer in charge
Would play a vital role

In coordinating
The nation's recovery.

In coordinating
The nation's recovery.

But first, the population
Had to be reassured

There was a real chance
Of survival.

It was important to government
Not to let people know

Just how bad the effects
Of nuclear war --

Thermonuclear war --
Would be.

They were afraid that if people
Really knew what would happen,

They would lose hope.

Narrator: governments around
The world issued advice

Narrator: governments around
The world issued advice

On what to do
In the event of catastrophe,

Offering some faint hope
To cling to.

But had the bombs ever been
Dropped,

It would have been in rooms
Like this

That the real fight for survival
Would have played out.

They would be able to plot it
On these cold perspex here.

The red ones were ground bursts.

They produced a lot of radiation
'cause they picked the dirt up,

And that's what the threat was

'cause radiation
Is carried on dust.

'cause radiation
Is carried on dust.

There'd be people the other side
There who would be able to

Write backwards describing
Where the radiation is flowing,

So all the time that information
Was fed upstairs

So that they'd be able
To deploy buses and coaches

To move the population
Out of the way of the radiation,

If that was indeed possible.

Narrator: if called into action,
The fate of the population

Would have been in the hands
Of those working in here.

I suspect they would have been
Very professional

And they would have got on
With the job,

But I know if I was down here

But I know if I was down here

And I knew my family
Was at great risk

And the whole world
Was about to fall apart,

My mind wouldn't be 100%
On crayoning in

Which way
The wind was blowing.

Narrator: primed and ready
For action for decades,

Ultimately, the site
Was never called upon,

And when the threat level
Dropped,

The bunker was decommissioned.

With britain never suffering
A nuclear attack,

Today this site might appear
Like the embodiment

Today this site might appear
Like the embodiment

Of cold war paranoia,

But was it?

I don't believe in using
The term "Paranoia"

When we're talking about
The cold war

Because paranoia indicates
An irrational fear.

And when you're talking about
The soviet union

And joseph stalin,

You're talking about completely
Sensible, rational fears.

*