I'm going to begin by correcting your assumption that the Rotor bunker is located at Portland Bill. It is not. The Bill is several miles away to the southerly part of the Isle where the lighthouses are located. I first got into the old Portland Rotor bunker in the autumn of 1971 with my best friend who I'd known since early childhood. We were Urban Explorers before the term was born and on our initial Portland bunker visit we found that the electrics were all still live so throwing the mains switch at the top of the lift floodlit the entire complex. No need to use our flashlights which, of course, provided nothing like the brilliant illumination of 21st century Cree leds! After gaining access through the massive back doors of the unassuming surface building, we rode down to the circular entrance tunnel in the service lift but on our several subsequent visits we used the staircase as a precaution of the lift failing while we were in it. Dotted around the floors of the bunker were several dead bodies of rabbits, in various stages of decomposition, which had fallen in via the several ventilation shafts whose outlets were on the surface. Obviously, they hopped around in the pitch darkness until dying from starvation. There remained many items of equipment and supplies in the bunker rooms including a massive map of Europe fixed on the wall of the ops room and photos of 'enemy' aircraft. There were also bedrooms, toilets, showers and food preparation areas. At the end of the complex, where you found that creaky old ladder, was a square-section metal staircase leading to an emergency exit at the surface. On later visits, some ten years on, we found those stairs had become thoroughly unsafe, due to corrosion, so we were unable to use them to access ground level. I last went down to the bunker sometime in the mid 1980s but, due to the house doors being welded shut, we had to gain access via the ventilation shaft which was located in the area over the north fence, between the bunker site and the Verne prison glacis - seen clearly at 1:33:51. Back then, the area was just grass and sparse low scrub but, over the ensuing years, much woody vegetation has smothered the site and, I presume, hidden the ventilation shaft beneath it. In the mid 1970s, I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of an elderly local man who'd worked on the original excavation of the bunker and gleaned many fascinating insights from him. One of the big problems, which plagued the bunker's operation, was the ingress of water permeating through the porous Portland limestone. The considerable amount of spoil from the excavations was tipped over the cliffs on the western side of the island and and the scree can still be seen there to this day. Thank you for a superb record of this unique site and bringing back many memories for me of my days as a pioneer Urban Explorer. 😊
One of your best vids so far Matt. Its so refreshing when the landowner works with you. Great vid and great advertising for her family farm centre! Win win!
I live on Portland and this is one of few underground sites on Portland I've never been in. It's absolutely amazing what you have shown me today. I have seen pictures but this is another level I never knew alot of the stuff you have explained. Absolutely excellent 👍
Fantastic documentary. Spent hundreds of hours fishing off the breakwater and surrounding waters here, and always hoped to know more about the underground secrets. Thank you to the owners who also made this possible. Very knowledgeable lady.
Absolutely fascinating Matt. The snippet about the projector technology used in the plotting room was amazing. It's incredible how resourceful these engineers were with the limited technology they had to hand.
@@Balthorium It may have had a short shelf life. Just enough to project/print out the image. The original negative may have long since been degraded or even destroyed.
Superb one of your best Matt that women was so knowledgeable and you knew a fair bit unlike some on these other explore programs and so good it had not been vandalised apart from the decommissioning.
This was brilliant. My brother worked for the MOD on Portland, so just the journey across was really enjoyable. Fascinating place. All the added extras were great too, cheers Matt for all your hard work
Bloody marvellous Matt, your knowledge is fantastic, your love of what you do shines bright just like your torches, really enjoyed this explore, and a big thumbs up for Sue, take care mate.
" we don't like that, we like this" *turns up camera to 2000% on top of any other content producer* Mate, I'll just say that you know EXACTLY, to a damn tee.... How to produce the most perfect content and boy do you pull it off better than anyone else I've seen, dead detailed and you walk up to things as though I'm actually stood looking at it myself plus just to overdo it for us you stand and explain everything in adequate detail... Cant thank you enough for sharing these places some can't ever get to experience. This is all we have and you make it as best as humanly possible for us. watching on 50" @2160p when you showboated it blew my brains. Legend. I'm going to be supporting as soon as I possibly can do and I haven't said that in decades of being on TH-cam. . Legend bro. Thank you!
Thank you Matt for showing us things that most of us don't even know exist and giving most of the chance to see things that we would not normally be able to see.
Epic video, love the level of detail and the knowledge that lady had was great. It’s nice to see a site where you’re granted access and also given a history lesson of the place too.
Amazing Matt. You knocked it out of the park, my friend. Best Man on TH-cam in my opinion. Great as always Matt. Over the top. Sony, DJI cameras for that awesome footage, history, old footage, photos. Thank you. Really enjoyed this one
Fabulously detailed explore as always. The Kelvin Hughes projector design was genius, but must have consumed serious amounts of film, interesting that it never got installed there. Huge thanks to the lovely owner Sue for letting you document this place, incredible quality footage it's like being there with you! 👌🏻
This was so cool to see @Matt. Fancy having a house with your own bunker underneath, i dont blame her protecting it, but what a brilliant piece of history to own. X
This place is less than a mile from my house. Great to finally be able to get a tour of it from the comfort of the sofa. Kudos for not showing the entrance, it's definitely a cool way to acess a bunker but not one you'd want to show the world as everyone would be trying their luck tio get down there!
We cant show entrance as its the owners lounge... and they wanted some privacy. It would have been fun to walk through and show the way in but I guess not many people want cameras in their lounge.. me included.
@@TheSecretVault Can't agree more on the privacy side, having taken the kids to the farm enough times it's an easy one to work out where it is if you know it's there. Have you ever done any research on Southwell Park at the top of the island near the bill? Big ex MOD building with a lot of history and now currently the kids school. I used to work there when it was used commercially and housed several different businesses. Prior to conversion to the school I used to wonder the corridors convinced that I'd find something that led underground but alas never did. Before it was removed to make way for the school there was a big Oak cladded board room that was beyond creepy, hairs would stand up just looking at it, probably the 1950's font hand painted sign that read "no firearms in the board room" set the mood a little lol.
Matt, this is a masterpiece vid. Such an in depth tour of an historic site. I was totally immersed with the content. Thanks so much for your endeavour....
Outdone yourself with this one. Just amazing, I'm surprised the owners haven't started cleaning the bunker up and moved in. I certainly would. Thanks for movie clip, I want to see the rest now!
@@TheSecretVault I'm sure the cost of electric would be monumental. Just the cost alone of updating all the electrics down there wouldn't be cheap either. There are some people here in the states that have retrofitted the titan 2 missle silos for living, but they seem to have a disposable income for that.
Wow what an absolutley cracking upload. A super watch, I always look forward to your videos. Great music also, Thank you for listing the songs to listen to.
Superb explore what a fantastic piece of history.With the kind permission of the owner, myself and other subscribers have been able to see something that otherwise would be impossible cheers Matt.👏👏👏
Matt absolutely brilliant i recently discovered your channel and I'm hooked mate, you go all the best places and do such a thorough job there's not much left to the imagination, I'm now in the process of watching your past efforts, i really loved the porton down ones, love your attitude please keep up these riveting videos.👍👍
Thank you for some amazing content as always, you are probably one of the most interesting and knowledgeable persons on site. The whole video you had me hooked with your knowledge on each of the machinery items. The fact that you spend hours out of your day to bring some amazing footage of places that we will never have the privilege of seeing in our life time. Fantastic
The asbestos in that switchgear is normally behind the wire fuses to quench the molten wire when the fuse pops, those 2 perforated boxes with gauges on top of that cubicle at 1:02:30 are Newton carbon pile voltage regulators for DC voltage, that sump pump was indeed a single stage piston compressor 👍, fabulous video ! !
At 50:00 they are more likely to be variable transformer than rheostat because they run cooler and would last longer and they would handle a higher load they also work better on a.c they are in banks of 3 so they are probably controling 3 phase a really great explore thanks for showing us this
This is absolutely amazing, very interesting , I love watching bunkers and stuff. I've been to portland a few times to the light house but never really new anything about the bunker until now, it's so interesting. To be honest all your vids are interesting. Keep it comming Mathew
Matt. Well done. Very professional. You will be on the telly next. We had a walk around Portland yesterday. I fully recommend it, a Dammed fine place!! The D Day museum is worth a look too.
Absolutely brilliant 👏. Thanks so much. Footage and production is excellent. Well done on gaining access. I tried a couple of years ago in view of purchasing it but got nowhere 🙃
I'm not sure the owners want to sell it. The thing is though you have to realise you have a hell of a lot of work on your hands and it would cost hundreds of thousands to turn it back into usable
Absolutely brilliant video and drone footage Matt. What a superb bunker, with an equally impressive entrance. Sue seemed very nice and helpful. I found the photo’s very interesting. You certainly had the weather for it, a beautiful day. I also liked the car journey at the beginning. Thank you Matt for yet another superb video 👍🙂
just stumbled across you , amazing content and great knowledge , the diamond in the live stream was Sue the owner , she answered many questions i have been asking myself for years !!!
The fittings you talked about at 54:58 are actually mercury switches. They were probably actuated from four temperature sensors that sent an air pressure signal to units like the one below. It looks like the air signal to the mercury switches entered from the bottom. When the mercury capsule tipped, the mercury would complete or break the circuit of the cables entering from the top and energize heaters or cooling for the air conditioning.
Great video. I really enjoyed the explanation of the electrics like the rheostat and those heat sink things for voltage. I guess that cooling system was like a swamp cooler. Some racing cars have water injection systems too like the BMW M3 cs. I also loved the plotter room illuminated map and radar scope. Pretty high tech 1950s gear. Top notch video with proper explanation. That valley and the bunker are really amazing. Thanks.
Such a shame it’s in that condition. Would love to see it ‘ before ‘. But as always Matt you explain things well and make people use their imagination as to what these places would’ve looked. Thank you for sharing - excellent 👍
There’s more tunnels, entrances and exits than what you saw here. Some of the tunnels are actually now used as wine cellars down in the port. There are rumours that there was also a hidden Submarine base somewhere but I’m not sure about that.
I live on the Rock, have done all my life, we used to go picking up blank ammo in the Forbidden city and collect newts in the Roman baths (still there just overgrown). Portland's a hidden gem. I hope that our adversaries have updated their intel because we used to be the destination for Prince Andrews nuclear bunker and a designated nuclear target.
Loved the fact you delved into the history of this bunker with the owner. Great work Matt! I do have a question, where does the waste water and sewage drain too? I don’t see a pumping station or septic tank at this or any of these type of bunkers. Weird question, just curious.
Really interesting Matt enjoyed watching I reckon there is more bunkers around there liked the the film footage the dammed at the end intresting viewing cheers 👍👍👍👍
Revisiting the comments here, I'm currently on a cruise ship with an elderly gentleman who used to be an RAF radar operator stationed here in this video of Portland. He said he was based here in 1952, there used to be guard dogs who'd attack if you strayed near the bungalow. He said they watched our submarines on his radar down the English Channel, into the Bay Of Biscay watching the conning tower as they sailed. They'd direct our Gloster Meteor fighters to intercept enemy aircraft. There used to be a vertical lift to take you down to the bunker where some workers couldn't cope with the clostrophobia. On training days, they'd practice escaping through the hatches that exited inside the adjacent prison walls, prisoners would be put back in their cells for this drill, the bunker staff would leave bars of chocolate and woodbines for the inmates hidden around the prison paths. I've spent many hours sea fishing in the harbour, and today was a real treat to sit and listen to this gentleman. He could recall the landmarks recorded here.
92 now but spent best part of 1955 to April 1957 RAF Radar Engineer on site at Portland. Live operations ceased in 1955 . Afew operators were left to help maintain the equipment which was run up and tested everyday. Occasionally used at request of coast guard to look for boats which were in distress.
So interesting matt, the amount of times I’ve walked near that bridge that goes across the moat, I’d love to get in, thanks for this info now I know what’s underneath x
The water was passed through the fins you could see in that big unit the big green pumps are compressors that compress the refrigerant some where there will be a chiller that cools the water that flows into the air unit.
Great video Matt and what change to see an owner letting you in to explore and Also she was was so knowledgeable about the place she owns and was able to share with you. Love the bit where you scared the donkey stiff and he didn’t waste it lol 😂. Keep up the good work can’t wait till your next one. Ps are you planning on exploring the hidden city ?
Awesome video. FYI the hidden city is actually known as 'The Forbidden city', and is now patrolled and covered by cameras and motion detectors operated by the Port's Security - they even changed the laws to prosecute trespassers. Quite a lot of video footage of it on TH-cam though.
Oh that was excellent, especially with the drone footage and overlays. I love the old photos and added information from the owners ( that's stuff that disappears from history, the handed down intimate knowledge). Have you tried approaching the owner of the one up at Bempton on the North Yorkshire coast just above Bridlington for a similar explore? Edit, forget that last bit, it seems like it is completely inaccessible, emergency exits filled with concrete and the main staircase removed
Fantastic as always Matt, just looked at the price of the Sony my god id have to remortgage the house haha, it was very kind of the lady to give you access matt, history time stood still no graffiti to spoil things either, i'm surprised you didn't sing " the adventures of portland bill " haha
I laughed when I saw the Wallaby - they couldn't be any further from home (I do see wild ones not to far from where I live in Sydney). They do look fat and healthy though! Good video, I've toured the Uk twice but didn't get to Portland. I came close, but not on to Portland.
![[Mr Caption] No Todds, No Masters critique Fallout 4 (reupload)](/img/n.gif)
I'm going to begin by correcting your assumption that the Rotor bunker is located at Portland Bill. It is not. The Bill is several miles away to the southerly part of the Isle where the lighthouses are located. I first got into the old Portland Rotor bunker in the autumn of 1971 with my best friend who I'd known since early childhood. We were Urban Explorers before the term was born and on our initial Portland bunker visit we found that the electrics were all still live so throwing the mains switch at the top of the lift floodlit the entire complex. No need to use our flashlights which, of course, provided nothing like the brilliant illumination of 21st century Cree leds! After gaining access through the massive back doors of the unassuming surface building, we rode down to the circular entrance tunnel in the service lift but on our several subsequent visits we used the staircase as a precaution of the lift failing while we were in it. Dotted around the floors of the bunker were several dead bodies of rabbits, in various stages of decomposition, which had fallen in via the several ventilation shafts whose outlets were on the surface. Obviously, they hopped around in the pitch darkness until dying from starvation. There remained many items of equipment and supplies in the bunker rooms including a massive map of Europe fixed on the wall of the ops room and photos of 'enemy' aircraft. There were also bedrooms, toilets, showers and food preparation areas. At the end of the complex, where you found that creaky old ladder, was a square-section metal staircase leading to an emergency exit at the surface. On later visits, some ten years on, we found those stairs had become thoroughly unsafe, due to corrosion, so we were unable to use them to access ground level. I last went down to the bunker sometime in the mid 1980s but, due to the house doors being welded shut, we had to gain access via the ventilation shaft which was located in the area over the north fence, between the bunker site and the Verne prison glacis - seen clearly at 1:33:51. Back then, the area was just grass and sparse low scrub but, over the ensuing years, much woody vegetation has smothered the site and, I presume, hidden the ventilation shaft beneath it. In the mid 1970s, I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of an elderly local man who'd worked on the original excavation of the bunker and gleaned many fascinating insights from him. One of the big problems, which plagued the bunker's operation, was the ingress of water permeating through the porous Portland limestone. The considerable amount of spoil from the excavations was tipped over the cliffs on the western side of the island and and the scree can still be seen there to this day. Thank you for a superb record of this unique site and bringing back many memories for me of my days as a pioneer Urban Explorer. 😊
omg
Just watching this while slightly hungover on Sunday morning here in Australia. Cornflakes, coffee, TheSecretVault bunker explore = perfect morning.
One of your best vids so far Matt. Its so refreshing when the landowner works with you. Great vid and great advertising for her family farm centre! Win win!
Yes Sue and family have been very kind in letting me film here.
Matt's choice of music alone raises the vibrational level of human consciousness in his viewers.
Yeah I love the background music he uses.
I live on Portland and this is one of few underground sites on Portland I've never been in. It's absolutely amazing what you have shown me today. I have seen pictures but this is another level I never knew alot of the stuff you have explained. Absolutely excellent 👍
I appreciate the amount of effort that you put into filming this one and all of your videos...hands down legend. Thank you
That was awesome absolutely riveting …… doing what I do and having a deep love of the secrets of. Portland I loved this….. thanks so much Matthew xxxx
Fantastic documentary. Spent hundreds of hours fishing off the breakwater and surrounding waters here, and always hoped to know more about the underground secrets.
Thank you to the owners who also made this possible. Very knowledgeable lady.
This is the best well made plus interesting video so far, cheers matt
Ah great a nice long explore cant wait to watch this one Matt!
OUT STANDING MATT IT DESERVES AN OSCAR FOR A REEL FILM
Absolutely fascinating Matt. The snippet about the projector technology used in the plotting room was amazing. It's incredible how resourceful these engineers were with the limited technology they had to hand.
Ten second lag time for film development? Whaaa? Wow
@@Balthorium Yes to develop a film ready for projection that quick is some crazy technology... even better than a polaroid pic...
@@Balthorium It may have had a short shelf life. Just enough to project/print out the image. The original negative may have long since been degraded or even destroyed.
Superb one of your best Matt that women was so knowledgeable and you knew a fair bit unlike some on these other explore programs and so good it had not been vandalised apart from the decommissioning.
Brilliant video Matt, must be one of your best. Thanks for sharing. So good and interesting
This was brilliant. My brother worked for the MOD on Portland, so just the journey across was really enjoyable. Fascinating place. All the added extras were great too, cheers Matt for all your hard work
Bloody marvellous Matt, your knowledge is fantastic, your love of what you do shines bright just like your torches, really enjoyed this explore, and a big thumbs up for Sue, take care mate.
It was pretty amazing he knew what all those weird looking electronics were.
Dude.. Thanks for doing this video, and going into such depth (pardon the pun) as to how the place functioned. Fascinating 👍
Dam good show old chap - haha thanks mate really thank you for your effort making incredible videos, been subbed for years !!
😊😊😊
Thank you Matt and Soozy you legends, start to finish this was a pleasure to watch.
" we don't like that, we like this" *turns up camera to 2000% on top of any other content producer*
Mate, I'll just say that you know EXACTLY, to a damn tee.... How to produce the most perfect content and boy do you pull it off better than anyone else I've seen, dead detailed and you walk up to things as though I'm actually stood looking at it myself plus just to overdo it for us you stand and explain everything in adequate detail... Cant thank you enough for sharing these places some can't ever get to experience. This is all we have and you make it as best as humanly possible for us.
watching on 50" @2160p when you showboated it blew my brains.
Legend. I'm going to be supporting as soon as I possibly can do and I haven't said that in decades of being on TH-cam. .
Legend bro. Thank you!
Thank you Matt for showing us things that most of us don't even know exist and giving most of the chance to see things that we would not normally be able to see.
Epic video, love the level of detail and the knowledge that lady had was great. It’s nice to see a site where you’re granted access and also given a history lesson of the place too.
Thank you for the awesome explore and thank you for taking us along. Love the history and that someone made the entrance into their home! 😎
Nice. Great video!
Thanks Matthew!
👍👍👍👊😎
Amazing Matt. You knocked it out of the park, my friend. Best Man on TH-cam in my opinion. Great as always Matt. Over the top. Sony, DJI cameras for that awesome footage, history, old footage, photos. Thank you. Really enjoyed this one
Great video yet again loving how you caught a shot of the QinetiQ building next to portland bill light house
Fabulously detailed explore as always. The Kelvin Hughes projector design was genius, but must have consumed serious amounts of film, interesting that it never got installed there. Huge thanks to the lovely owner Sue for letting you document this place, incredible quality footage it's like being there with you! 👌🏻
This was so cool to see @Matt. Fancy having a house with your own bunker underneath, i dont blame her protecting it, but what a brilliant piece of history to own. X
This place is less than a mile from my house. Great to finally be able to get a tour of it from the comfort of the sofa. Kudos for not showing the entrance, it's definitely a cool way to acess a bunker but not one you'd want to show the world as everyone would be trying their luck tio get down there!
We cant show entrance as its the owners lounge... and they wanted some privacy. It would have been fun to walk through and show the way in but I guess not many people want cameras in their lounge.. me included.
@@TheSecretVault Can't agree more on the privacy side, having taken the kids to the farm enough times it's an easy one to work out where it is if you know it's there.
Have you ever done any research on Southwell Park at the top of the island near the bill? Big ex MOD building with a lot of history and now currently the kids school.
I used to work there when it was used commercially and housed several different businesses.
Prior to conversion to the school I used to wonder the corridors convinced that I'd find something that led underground but alas never did.
Before it was removed to make way for the school there was a big Oak cladded board room that was beyond creepy, hairs would stand up just looking at it, probably the 1950's font hand painted sign that read "no firearms in the board room" set the mood a little lol.
@@TheSecretVault are you sure
Thank you Mathew this was unreal very interesting, You are a wonderful drone pilot.
Regards from Sweden! We have some bunkers too, but this was an 10 of 1-10! Good work!
Think this is going to take some topping , excellent work Matt . 👍👍
Absolutely fantastic Mathew, Enjoyed every single bit of it :)
Matt, this is a masterpiece vid. Such an in depth tour of an historic site. I was totally immersed with the content. Thanks so much for your endeavour....
What a top video Matthew , brilliant , very interesting and thorough ,
thank you , really enjoyed it 👍
Outdone yourself with this one. Just amazing, I'm surprised the owners haven't started cleaning the bunker up and moved in. I certainly would. Thanks for movie clip, I want to see the rest now!
You would need a lot of air supply to live down there... and massive air pumps would not be cheap to run.
@@TheSecretVault I'm sure the cost of electric would be monumental. Just the cost alone of updating all the electrics down there wouldn't be cheap either. There are some people here in the states that have retrofitted the titan 2 missle silos for living, but they seem to have a disposable income for that.
Wow what an absolutley cracking upload. A super watch, I always look forward to your videos. Great music also, Thank you for listing the songs to listen to.
Superb explore what a fantastic piece of history.With the kind permission of the owner, myself and other subscribers have been able to see something that otherwise would be impossible cheers Matt.👏👏👏
Lovely video shots of the area !!
Matt absolutely brilliant i recently discovered your channel and I'm hooked mate, you go all the best places and do such a thorough job there's not much left to the imagination, I'm now in the process of watching your past efforts, i really loved the porton down ones, love your attitude please keep up these riveting videos.👍👍
Thank you for some amazing content as always, you are probably one of the most interesting and knowledgeable persons on site. The whole video you had me hooked with your knowledge on each of the machinery items. The fact that you spend hours out of your day to bring some amazing footage of places that we will never have the privilege of seeing in our life time. Fantastic
The asbestos in that switchgear is normally behind the wire fuses to quench the molten wire when the fuse pops, those 2 perforated boxes with gauges on top of that cubicle at 1:02:30 are Newton carbon pile voltage regulators for DC voltage, that sump pump was indeed a single stage piston compressor 👍, fabulous video ! !
Excellent footage and lots of history well done.
What an interesting lady she is. Seems to know lots about the history of the place, very informative. Great video Matt. 👍👍👍👍
At 50:00 they are more likely to be variable transformer than rheostat because they run cooler and would last longer and they would handle a higher load they also work better on a.c they are in banks of 3 so they are probably controling 3 phase
a really great explore thanks for showing us this
This is absolutely amazing, very interesting , I love watching bunkers and stuff. I've been to portland a few times to the light house but never really new anything about the bunker until now, it's so interesting. To be honest all your vids are interesting. Keep it comming Mathew
Great Matthew!
Not far from my flat either lol didn't knows you were coming to fragil Rock matt great video been waiting all my life to see this finally 👌❤️
AWESOME, thank you and the owner, great to look around.
Matt. Well done. Very professional. You will be on the telly next. We had a walk around Portland yesterday. I fully recommend it, a Dammed fine place!! The D Day museum is worth a look too.
Awesome you got to get in and see it!
Absolutely brilliant 👏.
Thanks so much. Footage and production is excellent. Well done on gaining access. I tried a couple of years ago in view of purchasing it but got nowhere 🙃
I'm not sure the owners want to sell it. The thing is though you have to realise you have a hell of a lot of work on your hands and it would cost hundreds of thousands to turn it back into usable
Your finally back. We've been waiting!
Absolutely brilliant video and drone footage Matt. What a superb bunker, with an equally impressive entrance. Sue seemed very nice and helpful. I found the photo’s very interesting. You certainly had the weather for it, a beautiful day. I also liked the car journey at the beginning. Thank you Matt for yet another superb video 👍🙂
just stumbled across you , amazing content and great knowledge , the diamond in the live stream was Sue the owner , she answered many questions i have been asking myself for years !!!
Fascinating thank you!
The fittings you talked about at 54:58 are actually mercury switches. They were probably actuated from four temperature sensors that sent an air pressure signal to units like the one below. It looks like the air signal to the mercury switches entered from the bottom. When the mercury capsule tipped, the mercury would complete or break the circuit of the cables entering from the top and energize heaters or cooling for the air conditioning.
Wow! Fantastic video Matt!! Amazing place and great Drone footage!👍🏼
Great video. I really enjoyed the explanation of the electrics like the rheostat and those heat sink things for voltage. I guess that cooling system was like a swamp cooler. Some racing cars have water injection systems too like the BMW M3 cs. I also loved the plotter room illuminated map and radar scope. Pretty high tech 1950s gear. Top notch video with proper explanation. That valley and the bunker are really amazing. Thanks.
Such a shame it’s in that condition. Would love to see it ‘ before ‘. But as always Matt you explain things well and make people use their imagination as to what these places would’ve looked. Thank you for sharing - excellent 👍
I have a horrible feeling that the MOD are going to regret the decommissioning of all these facilities one day.
GOOOOD work mathew ... iam watching it and marvel
well done really interesting film there is a lot of history on portland
Great video mat👍
Well done Matt.
Hi Matt brilliant explor,you would wonder how they ever build such a impressive layout great explor thanks for sharing enjoyed watching 👍
There’s more tunnels, entrances and exits than what you saw here.
Some of the tunnels are actually now used as wine cellars down in the port.
There are rumours that there was also a hidden Submarine base somewhere but I’m not sure about that.
I live on the Rock, have done all my life, we used to go picking up blank ammo in the Forbidden city and collect newts in the Roman baths (still there just overgrown). Portland's a hidden gem. I hope that our adversaries have updated their intel because we used to be the destination for Prince Andrews nuclear bunker and a designated nuclear target.
Well done Matthew, what an incredible place. The inhabitants are pleasant, must of been a welcome change from the ogres that fester in other areas :D
Yes the place up north has now banned cameras and videos.
Great video....
Loved the fact you delved into the history of this bunker with the owner. Great work Matt! I do have a question, where does the waste water and sewage drain too? I don’t see a pumping station or septic tank at this or any of these type of bunkers. Weird question, just curious.
Great vid, thanks Matt!
Really interesting Matt enjoyed watching I reckon there is more bunkers around there liked the the film footage the dammed at the end intresting viewing cheers 👍👍👍👍
Excellent, thank you for a fascinating video. Interesting to see a slightly more imaginative approach to building the entrance 'cottage'
Thank you great video and drone footage
Nice explore Matt, that is a we gem of a place.
Hey really cool , what a place , thanks for showing us it Mathew :-)
Right on my doorstep. Fantastic video, thanks for sharing
Top video! Grtz from Belgium 🇧🇪
How wonderful, thank you
Great Video really interesting. well done.
Amazing work thank you ….
Revisiting the comments here, I'm currently on a cruise ship with an elderly gentleman who used to be an RAF radar operator stationed here in this video of Portland.
He said he was based here in 1952, there used to be guard dogs who'd attack if you strayed near the bungalow. He said they watched our submarines on his radar down the English Channel, into the Bay Of Biscay watching the conning tower as they sailed. They'd direct our Gloster Meteor fighters to intercept enemy aircraft.
There used to be a vertical lift to take you down to the bunker where some workers couldn't cope with the clostrophobia.
On training days, they'd practice escaping through the hatches that exited inside the adjacent prison walls, prisoners would be put back in their cells for this drill, the bunker staff would leave bars of chocolate and woodbines for the inmates hidden around the prison paths.
I've spent many hours sea fishing in the harbour, and today was a real treat to sit and listen to this gentleman. He could recall the landmarks recorded here.
92 now but spent best part of 1955 to April 1957 RAF Radar Engineer on site at Portland. Live operations ceased in 1955 . Afew operators were left to help maintain the equipment which was run up and tested everyday. Occasionally used at request of coast guard to look for boats which were in distress.
WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o) thank you for posting
Interesting and informative, brought back some memories from over 50 years ago.
So interesting matt, the amount of times I’ve walked near that bridge that goes across the moat, I’d love to get in, thanks for this info now I know what’s underneath x
+Absolutley Awesome Matt!
The water was passed through the fins you could see in that big unit the big green pumps are compressors that compress the refrigerant some where there will be a chiller that cools the water that flows into the air unit.
Great video Matt and what change to see an owner letting you in to explore and Also she was was so knowledgeable about the place she owns and was able to share with you. Love the bit where you scared the donkey stiff and he didn’t waste it lol 😂. Keep up the good work can’t wait till your next one.
Ps are you planning on exploring the hidden city ?
Awesome video. FYI the hidden city is actually known as 'The Forbidden city', and is now patrolled and covered by cameras and motion detectors operated by the Port's Security - they even changed the laws to prosecute trespassers. Quite a lot of video footage of it on TH-cam though.
Amazing, very insightful 👍
Never knew the bunker was between the moat.
Great Video Mathew :) Really good content and very creepy mate.
Thanks a lot Bro.
All the best :)
Yessssssss Maaaaaa Mannn Mathew
Oh that was excellent, especially with the drone footage and overlays. I love the old photos and added information from the owners ( that's stuff that disappears from history, the handed down intimate knowledge).
Have you tried approaching the owner of the one up at Bempton on the North Yorkshire coast just above Bridlington for a similar explore?
Edit, forget that last bit, it seems like it is completely inaccessible, emergency exits filled with concrete and the main staircase removed
Amazing video Matt… Just watched Exploring with Fighters which lead me to your channel.
Noice!!
Look at the spectacular views of our Ocean! True Blue Water 😍
Fantastic as always Matt, just looked at the price of the Sony my god id have to remortgage the house haha, it was very kind of the lady to give you access matt, history time stood still no graffiti to spoil things either, i'm surprised you didn't sing " the adventures of portland bill " haha
I laughed when I saw the Wallaby - they couldn't be any further from home (I do see wild ones not to far from where I live in Sydney). They do look fat and healthy though! Good video, I've toured the Uk twice but didn't get to Portland. I came close, but not on to Portland.
Great video really interesting