L
LAC
Guest
Guest
According to today's (30 May) Guardian 'Review' section, Stephen Smith, a BBC Newsnight reporter, has written a new book entitled: Underground England.
If the extracts about BURLINGTON, as used in the Guardian Review, are a typical example of his research then Newsnight should be very, very concerned.
'cos they do nothing more than perpetuate the BURLINGTON myths which pepper web pages across the web - the Royal Family arriving at BURLINGTON on the Royal Train, the 'Rose and Crown' pub, etc.
Have a look for yourself.
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The hole story
Josh Lacey peeps through a doorway into the hidden world beneath our feet
The Guardian, Saturday 30 May 2009
Midway through a dark tunnel on the line between London and Bristol, there is a doorway to a subterranean kingdom named Burlington - a replica of England, complete with 10km of roads, a BBC radio studio and a pub called the Rose and Crown. During an invasion or a nuclear winter, this would have provided refuge for the monarch, the prime minister and 4,000 of their closest friends. The shelter was fitted out with furniture, ashtrays and even a mural, then abandoned when some bright spark realised that "not even the royal train was capable of evacuating the first family to Bath in the time allowed by a four minute warning".
Stephen Smith is a reporter for Newsnight, which is presumably why he can talk his way into holes that would be hidden from the rest of us. In his previous book, he explored the warren of drains, tubes and holes that wriggle under London. Now he has extended his explorations to the rest of England. Darting around the country, he takes us on a whirlwind tour, visiting priest holes, grottoes, caverns, slate mines, ley lines, the Millennium Seedbank, the Royston Cave and the Royal Mail tunnel in Birmingham. From his travels, he has assembled a fascinating collection of holes, mingling natural wonders with man-made homes, stores, cellars and refuges.
Their inhabitants are intriguing, too: a curious mixture of oddballs and obsessives who "can't resist the tug of the subterranean". He sneaks into Burlington, for instance, in the company of a trespasser who can only be referred to as "N". Together, they plunge through a narrow crack in the rock and wander along the deserted corridors. Sadly, they don't find many relics of the pub, the mural or the radio station, just a lot of water and a few telephone directories from 1989.
Full article
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Btw, anyone want to own up to being 'N', and telling fairy stories to a gullible reporter?
LAC
If the extracts about BURLINGTON, as used in the Guardian Review, are a typical example of his research then Newsnight should be very, very concerned.
'cos they do nothing more than perpetuate the BURLINGTON myths which pepper web pages across the web - the Royal Family arriving at BURLINGTON on the Royal Train, the 'Rose and Crown' pub, etc.
Have a look for yourself.
---------------------------------------
The hole story
Josh Lacey peeps through a doorway into the hidden world beneath our feet
The Guardian, Saturday 30 May 2009
Midway through a dark tunnel on the line between London and Bristol, there is a doorway to a subterranean kingdom named Burlington - a replica of England, complete with 10km of roads, a BBC radio studio and a pub called the Rose and Crown. During an invasion or a nuclear winter, this would have provided refuge for the monarch, the prime minister and 4,000 of their closest friends. The shelter was fitted out with furniture, ashtrays and even a mural, then abandoned when some bright spark realised that "not even the royal train was capable of evacuating the first family to Bath in the time allowed by a four minute warning".
Stephen Smith is a reporter for Newsnight, which is presumably why he can talk his way into holes that would be hidden from the rest of us. In his previous book, he explored the warren of drains, tubes and holes that wriggle under London. Now he has extended his explorations to the rest of England. Darting around the country, he takes us on a whirlwind tour, visiting priest holes, grottoes, caverns, slate mines, ley lines, the Millennium Seedbank, the Royston Cave and the Royal Mail tunnel in Birmingham. From his travels, he has assembled a fascinating collection of holes, mingling natural wonders with man-made homes, stores, cellars and refuges.
Their inhabitants are intriguing, too: a curious mixture of oddballs and obsessives who "can't resist the tug of the subterranean". He sneaks into Burlington, for instance, in the company of a trespasser who can only be referred to as "N". Together, they plunge through a narrow crack in the rock and wander along the deserted corridors. Sadly, they don't find many relics of the pub, the mural or the radio station, just a lot of water and a few telephone directories from 1989.
Full article
--------------------------------
Btw, anyone want to own up to being 'N', and telling fairy stories to a gullible reporter?
LAC
