Ground Floor
Up to 80 ft below the Essex Countryside lies the heart of the bunker. It is on this first level that the main communication, military, and plant equipment is situated. It was thought this level was safest from attack. As you walk out of the entrance tunnel through the 1.5 tonne blast doors into the bunker, the first rooms you come across all deal with communication.
Communication that is, between all the other military and government bunkers in the UK. The slides show one of the huge exchanges used to deal with the high volume of electronic traffic. Should all the specialist communication equipment fail, there was also a fully operational BBC Studio in the bunker capable of broadcasting to the whole nation if necessary.
Also on the ground level is one of the most important rooms, the plotting room. This was where aircraft, friend or foe, were tracked 24 hours a day, and latterly where the plotting and analysis of nuclear explosions would have taken place.
Vital to the health of the Bunker's inhabitants was the plant room also based on this level. From here millions of cubic litres of air were filtered, recycled and cooled, to keep the personnel fully supplied with breathable safe air. It also kept the bunker under positive air pressure, thus helping to keep radioactive dust out.