Longbridge, one of the most iconic 'Urban Explores' of the last 10 years.
To my eternal regret I only visited the works twice when the factory buildings were still in situe and missed getting any of the iconic 'abandoned Rover 75 shell hanging above a pool of water' type photos. Its probably my biggest regret as far as 'places missed' goes... The car factory was probably the most influential location there has been for UK exploring the likes of which we will never get to see again. All is not totally lost however. After moving to Birmingham a few years ago i have been lucky enough to explore some of the less obvious delights of the former world war two airfield and thankfully i did get to see the iconic 'abandoned 11 miles on the clock Mini 1275GT' that lurked in the former shadow factory warren that sprawls under most of the site. The car is now gone and the East Works Tunnels are bricked up no doubt to be discovered by a new generation of eager explores in the future.
Recently an opportunity cropped up to see the other main tunnel network on the site. The so called 'Runway Tunnels'. I wasnt expecting too much from these but was left pleasantly surprised, less of a warren but utterly intact with remnants of both war and car building all over the place.
There are a few more tunnels on site that would probably make this report more complete but why break the habit of a life time by going and lookign for them. They will fall in my lap one day im sure..
To my eternal regret I only visited the works twice when the factory buildings were still in situe and missed getting any of the iconic 'abandoned Rover 75 shell hanging above a pool of water' type photos. Its probably my biggest regret as far as 'places missed' goes... The car factory was probably the most influential location there has been for UK exploring the likes of which we will never get to see again. All is not totally lost however. After moving to Birmingham a few years ago i have been lucky enough to explore some of the less obvious delights of the former world war two airfield and thankfully i did get to see the iconic 'abandoned 11 miles on the clock Mini 1275GT' that lurked in the former shadow factory warren that sprawls under most of the site. The car is now gone and the East Works Tunnels are bricked up no doubt to be discovered by a new generation of eager explores in the future.
Recently an opportunity cropped up to see the other main tunnel network on the site. The so called 'Runway Tunnels'. I wasnt expecting too much from these but was left pleasantly surprised, less of a warren but utterly intact with remnants of both war and car building all over the place.
There are a few more tunnels on site that would probably make this report more complete but why break the habit of a life time by going and lookign for them. They will fall in my lap one day im sure..
Runway Tunnels
East Works Tunnels
Thanks to Bubblehead and The Engineer for their help over the years
East Works Tunnels
Thanks to Bubblehead and The Engineer for their help over the years