An explorer has discovered a network of nuclear bunkers hidden in the Welsh countryside and used during the Cold War – which have more recently served as the set of Doctor Who episodes.
Jay Curtis, 32, from Wales, came across the interesting find in late 2021, finding the network tucked away in the countryside in Brackla, Bridgend.
Inside, he found nuclear blast doors, air filtration system, generator and water and diesel storage.
The eight magazine tunnels were built to protect the high explosives held within the Brackla Munitions Factory, where 40,000 people worked during the Second World War.
The Royal Ordnance Factory stopped production in 1945, leaving the site abandoned until the 1960s, when the Ministry of Defence (MOD), on behalf of the Home Office, turned part of the site into a nuclear command bunker for South Wales.
Jay explored the area and shared the find on his YouTube channel, Jay Curtis Explores.
In the video, he says: “Now this place might look like any ordinary industrial estate, but with the imminent Second World War upon Britain this place became one of the most secretive places in South Wales – and there’s plenty of other hidden history left over if you know where to look.
“Inside the bunker is a maze of rooms for personnel, beds, a canteen, recreation, offices, communication centres – you name it.
“This bunker remains locked and forgotten in the hillside.”
The entrance is covered in graffiti, with a rusting ladder that Jay climbs to get a better view.
Taking a peek inside, the opening can be seen covered in damp and grime, with machinery with a red sticker on reading ‘DANGER’.
Standing outside the entrance, Jay explains: “That bizarre-looking square building behind me was in fact originally a magazine tunnel entrance, but this new entrance was added with the imminent threat of a nuclear attack – hence the air filtration system, the generator inside, the water and the diesel storage, and a series of nuclear blast doors.”
While the bunker appears totally abandoned and reclaimed by nature, with leaves and plants growing up around it, Jay reveals it still has its own power supply.
Just a short walk away, he finds the “second and best-kept tunnel” – which was also locked.
Jay adds: “You can tell by the well-maintained road and new locks that this place is very much still in use.”
While it is not clear who may be currently using the site, it has previously served as a filming location for Doctor Who and Torchwood, where the crew was allowed access to film several episodes – featuring the Cybermen villains.
According to Jay, everything inside the locked bunkers remains “in full working order”.
Above ground, networks of defensive pillboxes remain, as well as escape hatches and a communications mast.
The magazine tunnels are also still intact and “scattered across the landscape”.
Jay adds: “Many have been filled in but two or three entrances above ground give an idea of what a secretive past this hillside once had.”
At the entrance to one tunnel, Jay climbs through a small gap to explore the old Tremains Holt Railway platform.
Ammunition was brought to the site by rail from the nearby Admiralty building – which is now the South Wales Police Headquarters.
Jay says: “It’s in these dark magazine tunnels that thousands upon thousands of tonnes of explosives would be piled high to the ceiling, hidden away from the enemy and the threat from above.”
Further down the hillside, Jay finds the remains of more tunnels, with the main access and ventilation shafts now filled in.
“It was a complete surprise to find this as I went looking for evidence of the former munitions factory tunnels and did not expect to stumble across the bunkers in the woods,” Jay, a broadcaster, told Jam Press.
“The feeling below ground was very eerie. You could hear nothing from life above ground.
“The damp environment within the bunker offered little resemblance to its significant past – just a chemical toilet, cupboard, some BT junction box and wiring, and the remains of the water pump could be found inside.”
