ÿþ<HTML LANG=en-GB> <head><TITLE>The Derelict Miscellany :: Shipley Zero Station</TITLE> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="derelict, bunker, station, zero, abandoned, shipley, war, wwii, ww2, world, two, auxiliary, unit, out, secret, spy, sussex, underground, resistance, disused, patrol"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="A secret underground bunker designed to play a crucial role in the event of a successful Nazi occupation of Britain and the story of the 'British Resistance' prepared to risk certain death to maintain it."> <meta name="copyright" content="D. A. Gregory, 2005-2011"> <meta name="author" content="D. A. Gregory"> <meta name="Rating" content="General"> <meta name="Revisit-after" content="31 Days"> <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="ALL"> <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> </head> <body link="#668b8b" bgcolor="darkgray" text="000000" vlink="#668b8b"> <center> <table width=1044> <tr><td> <table width=1044 cellspacing=0> <tr background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg"> <td background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg" align=right><A HREF="index.html"><img src=1.jpg border=0></a></td><td background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg" align=center> <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" HREF="index.html"><h1>T H E &nbsp D E R E L I C T &nbsp M I S C E L L A N Y</H1></A> R e f l e c t i o n s &nbsp o n &nbsp f o r g o t t e n &nbsp a n d &nbsp a b a n d o n e d &nbsp s p a c e s <br><br> </td><td background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg" align=left><A HREF="index.html"><img src=2.jpg border=0></a></td></tr></table> </td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="#EEE9E9"> <center> <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="http://derelictmisc.org.uk/index.html">{home} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="http://derelictmisc.org.uk/menu2.html">{menu} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="aboot.html">{about} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="cont.html">{contact} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none"href="http://twitter.com/DerelictMisc" target="blank">{twitter}</a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="disc.html">{disclaimer}</a> &nbsp &nbsp <a href="#" STYLE="text-decoration: none" onClick="window.open('veh/index.html','', 'width=589,height=577,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"> {rusty old cars}</A> &nbsp &nbsp <a href="#" STYLE="text-decoration: none" onClick="window.open('misc/menu.html','', 'width=870,height=482,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"> {miscellany}</A> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="links.html">{links}</a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="contrib.html">{contribute} </a> </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=#EEE9E9><table width=100% bgcolor="#EEE9E9"> <td width=13></td><td> <center> <br><u><font size="5">Shipley Special Duties Control (Zero) Station</font></u><br> </center><b>What:</B> Underground Radio/Sabotage Station <BR> <b>Where:</B> Shipley, West Sussex <BR> <b>Built:</b> 1942 <BR> <b>Architect:</b> Unknown <BR> <b>Abandoned:</b> 1944 <BR> <b>Listed:</b> No <BR><b>Visited:</b> 2005<BR> <b>Last Known Condition:</b> Collapsed <br><b>Page Updated:</b> February 2011<BR> <br> In a small wood somewhere in Southern England is a concrete lined pit with a round tunnel leading off of it. Most passersby mistake it for a drainage system, but careful research reveals that it is actually much more interesting. Squeeze into the tunnel and you will see that it runs for about sixteen feet before it opens out into a set of three corrugated steel vaulted rooms with a shaft in the end chamber that once led to the surface. It is clearly of Second World War origin, but is too isolated and too well-hidden to be a straightforward air-raid shelter.<br> <br> In fact this is what was known as a Control Station and its existence was once top secret. In the event of a successful Nazi occupation of Great Britain, a network of spies - part of the Special Duties Organisation - would observe enemy activity, make reports, and leave them in 'dead letter boxes' to be collected by a radio operator. The radio operator would use his radio equipment (or 'Out Station') to transmit the information on on a frequency of 60-65 megacycles (then rarely used and believed to be unmonitored) to his local Control Station. These Control Stations were to be manned by trained women from the ATS Auxilliary Unit. Infomation recieved on the radio sets was sent via direct telephone line to the SDO's Headquarters at Hannington in Wiltshire. <center> <br> <br> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0199.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="Emergency exit." src="defence/th_PIC_0199.jpg" border=0> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0233.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="An aerial groove cut into the bark of a nearby tree." src="defence/th_aerial.jpg" border=0> </a> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0232.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="Subsidence caused by the partial collapse of the main chamber." src="defence/th_PIC_0232.jpg" border=0> </a> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0230.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="Tunnel leading to emergency exit." src="defence/th_PIC_0230.jpg" border=0> </a> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0228.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img width=160 height=120 alt="The chamber nearest the escape tunnel showing ventilation pipes." src="defence/th_PIC_0228.jpg" border=0> </a> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0208.jpg','', 'width=475,height=640,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img width=160 height=120 alt="Escape tunnel seen from the chamber in the pervious pic." src="defence/th_PIC_0211.jpg" border=0> </a> <br> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0203.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img width=160 height=120 alt="The part-collapsed main chamber." src="defence/th_PIC_0203.jpg" border=0> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0206.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img width=160 height=120 alt="Further into the chamber, an address is written on the wall, only partly ledgible." src="defence/th_PIC_0206.jpg" border=0> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0226.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img width=160 height=120 alt="A shelf in the main chamber, probably for the small generator needed to power the ventilation system." src="defence/th_PIC_0226.jpg" border=0> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0217.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img width=160 height=120 alt="Remains of the wiring system found in the entrance chamber." src="defence/th_PIC_0217.jpg" border=0> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0219.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img width=160 height=120 alt="Main entrance shaft - click for full length version." src="defence/th_shaft.jpg" border=0> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0222.jpg','', 'width=480,height=360,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="The Main entrance hatch, which appears to have been sealed with concrete and asbestos sheet and certainly doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon.." src="defence/th_PIC_0222.jpg" border=0> </a> <br> <br> Ingeniously, the station was made to seem smaller than it was to conceal the radio equipment in the event of the stations discovery. This was done by means of a secret door in the explosives store room which led into the main chamber, making it appear to be just an arms cache. The main chamber contained the radio equipment, food supplies, a table and chairs, a generator, batteries and bunkbeds. The end chamber had a chemical toilet and space for storage and led on to the emergency exit. On the surface there would have been no obvious trace of the hideout; hatches were well hidden and the ventilation intakes were disguised as a badger sett. Even the forty foot aerial for the radio equipment was hidden - in the bark of a nearby oak tree.<br>How long the station will remain in this condition is unknown. Although dry and free from vandalism, it is at risk from structural failure and may soon be lost forever. <br><br> <img src="defence/zero-plan.jpg" border="1"> <br> <br> The structure is believed to be even more dangerous now, having largely collapsed, and on no account should it be entered. <br><font size="1"><br> <u>REFERENCES</u> <br> Catford, N. (1997) and Angell, S. (1996) </font> <br> </font> <b> <br> <a href="index.html">Home..</a></b><br> <BR> </td><td width=13></td></tr></table> </TD></TR><TR><TD bgcolor="#EEE9E9" ALIGN=CENTER> <font size=1>Derelict Miscellany. Website &amp; content Copyright D. A. Gregory 2005-Present unless stated to be otherwise.</font> </td></tr></table> </font> </body> </html>