During the 1930s there was a recognition for ammunition storage - this was one of them. In 1937 The Great Western Railway Service was contracted to lay sidings and a 1000 foot long raised loading platform complete with a narrow gauge track to carry the ammunition wagons. Outline plans had already been prepared to drive a mile long tunnel from the heart of the workings terminating in an underground sorting yard built beneath the sidings in the valley below.
Reading's Top Secret Government Cold War Bunker. (Regional War Room 6 RSG6)
Deep below one of Reading’s busiest streets lies a network of subterranean culverts going for miles. Having already explored the Holy Brook(created by medieval monks) and Old Mill Stream Culvert (originally part of Courages Brewery), there was another I was keen to explore: Vastern Ditch. I had heard stories that the area underneath Vastern Road and Caversham Road was hollow. That was hard to believe until I saw a photo online taken in the 1970s, showing Vastern Road collapsed.
During the 1930s there was a recognition for ammunition storage - this was one of them. In 1937 The Great Western Railway Service was contracted to lay sidings and a 1000 foot long raised loading platform complete with a narrow gauge track to carry the ammunition wagons. Outline plans had already been prepared to drive a mile long tunnel from the heart of the workings terminating in an underground sorting yard built beneath the sidings in the valley below.