Our April meeting at Melksham Assembly Hall was packed to hear Nick McCamley present a slide show and talk titled ‘The Underground Worlds of Corsham’.
Nick is the authority of the vast underground network of caves beneath the Corsham area that the Government took over during WW2 and was used up through the ‘Cold war’ era.
Monkton Farleigh Mine was used as a vast ammunition store, where train loads of ammunition were unloaded in a siding in the Box valley and sent on a conveyer belt within a tunnel up to the top of the hill at Monkton Farleigh.
Parts of the tunnel are still visible on the side of the hill and the remains of the unloading shed can be seen by the side of the railway line in the valley.
The underground network beneath Corsham was used for aircraft aero engine manufacture and general manufacturing. Also there was a complete area where the government would set up if they had to vacate London and a special secure area for the royal family in the event of a nuclear attack.
Nick had some fantastic photos of the underground area as it is now, there is even equipment, desks and chairs piled up unused still in their wrappings. The packed hall was spell bound to learn what was going on beneath our feet during and after WW2. Free tea, coffee and biscuits were served after.
Nick has written several books on the subject and are well worth researching in the library or bookshops.
