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Southwick Tunnel is "secret military installation"
2:07pm Friday 22nd August 2008
Comments (35)A top secret missile bunker could be located within Southwick Tunnel, it has been claimed.
The 490 metre tunnel, opened in 1996, is an entrance point to the installation, experts believe.
Some even think the closure of the tunnel during crashes or at regular periods for "maintenance" could be a cleverly constructed lie to allow senior officials access to the bunker.
The claims will be quickly dismissed by many, but there is a growing number of people who think it is true.
Worthing-based author Graham Lelliott, who has researched bunkers and military installations across Sussex, certainly believes it could be true.
He said: "It could have been kept secret.
"Inside the tunnel, in both directions are many doors - where do they go - into electrical switchrooms - or into the bunker?
"I work nearby and the amount of times the tunnel is closed at night.
"Wouldn't this be a great chance for government personnel to change shifts or restock on food for the canteen?
"The tunnel is often closed due to an accident. The headline often reads "Two cars collide in tunnel' but maybe it should say 'Nuclear bunker shift change over."
Whether the claims are true or not, what is certain is there are at least three other military bunkers near Southwick Tunnel.
All of them are now abandoned but were likely to have been used during the 1960s and 1970s, possibly as shelters in the event of a nuclear blast.
Stuart Strong remembers seeing one in use. He said: "As a ten year old playing on the Downs at the top of Kingston Lane, in Southwick, I was conscious of a secret underground bunker there.
"I would regularly with my friends see maintenance men appear from the chamber through the large hinged hatch lid in the ground in the middle of nowhere.
"Our house backed onto farm land so I would regularly be on the Downs throughout the summer holidays and late into the warm evenings and notice this odd thing going on.
"I remember asking a man there to look inside and was told in no uncertain terms that there was nothing to see as he fastened down the heavy lid with a large padlock and a deep thud."
The MoD has refused to comment on any of its installations still in existence. But it admitted it did have bunkers in use across Sussex.
A spokesman said: "They were almost exclusively used by the Royal Observer Corps and were commonplace."
The bunkers were built to shelter from nuclear blasts and measure the damage caused.
They have been discovered in towns and villages across Sussex and are listed on the website subbrit.org.uk.
Your Say YourThe Argus
feline1, Brighton says...
3:04pm Fri 22 Aug 08
MzEden, Brighton says...
3:07pm Fri 22 Aug 08
william of orange, Brighton says...
3:22pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Oh great now the EDO traitors....sorry demonstrators will be blocking the A27 and stopping me using the road...nice one Argus!
Made In Sussex, Not Brighton says...
3:23pm Fri 22 Aug 08
They were busy building the secret installation.
It all makes sense now..
SM, crowborough says...
3:33pm Fri 22 Aug 08
In times of emergency even our incompetent government needs places to re-establish command and control (not that this govt. even have any command or control at the moment)
There are also many 'secret' parts of the london underground, most recently the Jubilee line.
Can't see why it should be seen as such a problem.
spencer1973, brighton says...
4:23pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Remember people if it weren't for the 'Smash EDF' type of person, we would not have needed this tunnel anyway, and the A27 would have just carved thru the downs harmlessly as it does from Falmer to the tunnel and from the tunnel to Shoreham.
I think this story is 'bang on the money'
PussyCat69, Brighton and Hove says...
4:38pm Fri 22 Aug 08
bamboo, Brighton says...
5:08pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Lil, Worthing says...
5:16pm Fri 22 Aug 08
You're a bit stupid. Smash EDF? I'm not sure what an electricity company needs a secret bunker for, maybe for their excessive profits... EDO is what you're looking for.
As for carving through the downs at Southwick Tunnel, have you not noticed that the other cuttings on the bypass are nowhere near as deep as at the Southwick Tunnel. We don't need another Twyford Down that destroyed a beautiful part of the downland on the other side of the South Downs. But then I guess you never really get out to appreciate the natural world. Just glued to your consumerist, nothing at the end of it lifestyle.
Out there somewhere, says...
5:19pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Spuddy, Southwick says...
5:19pm Fri 22 Aug 08
spencer1973, brighton says...
5:35pm Fri 22 Aug 08
That fat bloke, Eastbourne says...
5:44pm Fri 22 Aug 08
spencer1973, brighton says...
5:50pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Acheron, Hove says...
6:08pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Or maybe I have better things to do with my time!
Dmoog, brighton says...
6:21pm Fri 22 Aug 08
By the way, was this article written by the same people that used to write the news stories in Viz comic?
SM, crowborough says...
7:08pm Fri 22 Aug 08
The Mad Mullahs though.......
Gee Jay, Derbyshire says...
7:12pm Fri 22 Aug 08
If it is there for our national safety then don't go publishing a story about it!!!!
For heaven's sake, why do we have this need to know EVERYTHING. The security in this nation is bad enough with the MOD losing computers and Benefits Office losing data on families, and the Home Office losing a memory stick with the details of the prison population.
If there is a secret location, accessed through the tunnel, then perhaps they will quietly, one by one take members of the cabinet and lastly Gordon Brown, and then seal it up.
Then we can get on with getting value for money from the NHS by halving the number of managers. Getting the NHS dentistry service back. Not selling anymore Gold reserves,when the market price is low. Make sure that no low income families are worse off as a result of the 10p tax withdrawal, without them having an overcomplicated benefit claims system to recover the amount that they have lost out by. Restore the tax efficient status of pensions that was taken away by Gordon. The expenditure on education should be examined to make sure that money is going to ensure that ALL of our teenagers leave school being able to read and write, and not being spent on more layers of management and 'advisers'.
Finally, or perhaps firstly, we should not allow MPs to vote on their own salary increases and expenses.
As Billy Connolly once said, when MPs all go on holiday in the summer, we should change all the locks at Westminster, and in all the Ministry Departments, and don't let them back in. The country is no worse off when they aren't there.
There... that's much better, now I have got that off my chest!
SM, crowborough says...
7:51pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Come on Argus, where's the pointless picture of the tunnel entrance eh?? THAT's what I want to know.
Conor, Sussex says...
7:53pm Fri 22 Aug 08
That explains all the crashes then. Cars either blown up, or their drivers distracted by passing missiles.
Guerrero, Alicante says...
8:42pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Gazza, Sussex says...
9:57pm Fri 22 Aug 08
I’m going to plant a hidden camera along the inside of the tunnel one day and record the going on’s.
This may explain why there are road signs approaching the tunnel saying cyclists must leave the A27 immediate. May be someone does not want the green cyclists seeing something they should not.
Funny how high-tension power lines run right across the location as well and one stops just above the road.
Yours faithfully
Master Spy
gdf666, Worthing says...
10:40pm Fri 22 Aug 08
Can we have some real news please?
Oh and i worked on the construction of the tunnel and there is no bunker. The reason it is shut so often for repairs is it was built shoddily. Nothing more, nothing less.
IsaJ, Portslade says...
11:24pm Fri 22 Aug 08
gdf666 wrote:Don't you hate it when someone's coming to spoil the fun with mere facts?
Yet another really quiet news day at the Argus then!!!!!Can we have some real news please?Oh and i worked on the construction of the tunnel and there is no bunker. The reason it is shut so often for repairs is it was built shoddily. Nothing more, nothing less.
NoWay, Brighton says...
12:04pm Sat 23 Aug 08
go away.
sussex2, shoreham says...
12:17pm Sat 23 Aug 08
I would have thought that to spot these would have made basic common sense for any driver using the tunnel. A bit like looking for emergency exits on aircraft.
Frequent closures at night for maintenance are made easier because of the alternate route via the Old Shoreham Road.
There is nothing unusual about this tunnel except its' rather high speed limit and, that people are not obliged to use headlights; which if put into practice could save some problems. On the mainland of Europe you would be obliged to use lights and mostly likely have a much lower speed limit.
In the case of a sudden power failure (it has happened) to have vehicle lights on could save many problems. I am surprised people do not do it as a simple precaution.
We in the Uk used to lead the world in tunnel making, back when years ago. We now prefer the cheaper, more vandalising cutting method. Hence Twyford Down and other places.
There are I do not doubt many military installations still in existence all over the country. But, that author is talking through his hat if he believes the Southwick tunnel is one of them.
SM, crowborough says...
12:44pm Sat 23 Aug 08
Kickboxer, Worthing says...
1:08pm Sat 23 Aug 08
Issac Hunt, Brighton says...
5:20pm Sat 23 Aug 08
HAHA! its a wine cellar you ****!
There are more postings on this thread than any other (few of the old names come out of the woodwork) - must say something . . .
And if there was some secret bunker here, the entrance wouldnt be via a little wooden door in a road tunnel which could easily be blocked!
Anyway, im going to stand outside the offices of Ms. Smith (Labour party Home Sec - hahahahaha) and collect the memory sticks that get left on the pavement - i might learn something secret.
Puzzled John, Brighton says...
6:27pm Sat 23 Aug 08
:^)
spencer1973, brighton says...
6:34pm Sat 23 Aug 08
Altogether now......
GORDON GORDON HELL DRIVE AWAY YOUR BOREDOM,,,,IF YOU WAKE UP FEELING GHASTLY,,,,TUNE TO GORDON ASTLEEEEEY
Do i really pay my licence fee for that rubbish?
Dave At Home, Brighton says...
9:59pm Sat 23 Aug 08
I suppose in the event of an attack they could get fresh eggs from the Mile Oak Farm shop mmmm and Shoreham airport close by as well, now we could be onto something here....
Mr. Kipling, Hove says...
1:32am Mon 25 Aug 08
Lil wrote:Heh perhaps EDF should be smashed after their scandalous price increases...
Spencer,You're a bit stupid. Smash EDF? I'm not sure what an electricity company needs a secret bunker for, maybe for their excessive profits... EDO is what you're looking for.As for carving through the downs at Southwick Tunnel, have you not noticed that the other cuttings on the bypass are nowhere near as deep as at the Southwick Tunnel. We don't need another Twyford Down that destroyed a beautiful part of the downland on the other side of the South Downs. But then I guess you never really get out to appreciate the natural world. Just glued to your consumerist, nothing at the end of it lifestyle.
sausage22, nonnington says...
11:19pm Sat 30 Aug 08
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RAS Putin, Brighton says...
2:36pm Fri 22 Aug 08