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Where am I?  DCC > CAVING AND MINING > OTHER UNDERGROUND > INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION TO VISITING OTHER UNDERGROUND SITES

Some people do not want to visit caves or mines but prefer man-made structures such as tunnels, nuclear bunkers, follies and so on.  A specialist group, Subterranea Brittanica, caters for these interests.

The origins of other sites is quite mixed.  Some are mines that have been adapted for the other use, some are built for the  purpose and some are even caves used for another purpose.  Examples are:

• Mines such as the chalk mines at Chislehurst that were then used as mushroom farms and air raid shelters.

• Caves such as Peak Cavern that was used as housing and as a rope manufactory.

• Specially mined sites such as the underground factory at Drakelow.

• Cut and cover sites such as the grottoes popular in many country parks such as Stourhead in Wiltshire.

Some of these sites are quite safe to visit but others are quite dangerous as they do not have natural ventilation and asbestos was widely used in wartime buildings.

There is more information about places you might visit and some pictures in the gallery.  This is not a recommendation for you to visit any of these sites, this is just for information.

If you want to contact the Club about some aspect of going underground , send us your e-mail address and a brief enquiry using the form below and we will get back in touch : 

USEFUL LINKS

For more information about underground exploration you could try:

• Sub Brit (Subterranea Britannica) (the main organisation for tunnels, grottoes, bunkers, etc.)
• British Caving Association (all aspects of underground)
• The National Mining History Organisation
• Fortress UK (covers UK military fortifications from Tudor times to WW II)