A little history, for those interested. A company called Shorts Brothers started off as an seaplane manufacturer on the Isle of Sheppy, but later moved to Rochester, Kent in 1913. During the Battle of Britain, the Rochester factory was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe, and in 1941 they secured permission from the Ministry of Aircraft Production to build an safer, underground factory next to their overground factories. The original tunnels were two large, brick lined vaults, which were used by the company as a workshop area. These were later connected, by a 1,300 ft tunnel, to a series of underground passages, which were constructed as a public air raid shelter. Both the factory tunnels and the air raid shelters have emergency escape adits, which exit in the cliff face at regular intervals or lead to shafts with manhole covers on the surface. The underground tunnels were bought and used by construction company Blaw Knox as storage, and detritus from this time can be found scattered around. The tunnels have remained abandoned since the 1990s, when Blaw Knox left, and a housing estate has been built on the factory site. The tunnel system has now been sealed (mostly!) to prevent further vandalism.
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And just for giggles:
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