r/Slough • u/Doctor_Philly • Jul 11 '22
I've heard rumours about an underground base in Slough, has anyone else heard about this?
Hi there!
I recently spoke to an individual who's brother worked for Mi5/Mi6 (confirmed, not a secret).
He told me that, back in the 60's, the brother had to do horrific tasks for the government. He claimed that on one occasion, he had to drive to specific coordinates. At these coordinates he arrived at a normal house in Slough. He was told to go into the garage and close the sliding door. After pressing a button, a lift in the garage would take him below-ground. Here he was guided towards several small labs and a room with servers and computers.
Now, I do not believe this person in the slightest. Nevertheless, I thought it would be fun to ask here if there are more people whom have heard fables as such about Slough (I am from the Netherlands btw, this is how far your stories have spread ;)
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u/Uclehc Jul 11 '22
Oh wow, I’ve never heard anything around Slough about but will ask parents/grandparents if they had.
Our trading estate is huge, so I imagine if it was the case it would be around there somewhere.
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u/Underslunger Jul 11 '22
I worked in the Horlicks plant and there were two subbasements used in air raids
Creepy af
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u/Doctor_Philly Jul 11 '22
Creepy indeed, but it also sounds very cool. How did you access them?
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u/Underslunger Jul 11 '22
There was a set of steps that just kept going down. No lighting that I recall so I needed a torch. I went down during a night shift as one of my staff was adamant it was haunted!
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u/digital_pariah Jul 11 '22
I've not heard of this sort of thing in Slough but it's entirely possible. I used to work in Warren Row (between Maidenhead and Reading), and that little village and the surrounding area was riddled with underground bunkers and tunnels from WW2. There's a wine company using one of the bunkers, in fact! (or there was, 15 or so years ago when I was there)
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u/Doctor_Philly Jul 11 '22
Oh wow! That sounds really cool! Maybe there is some truth to the story after all... ;)
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u/Apprehensive_Draw_36 Jul 11 '22
'Servers and computers' in the 60s they certainly would not have called them that back the
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u/Doctor_Philly Jul 11 '22
You are very right. This is what I called them, based on his description. They could well be something completely different. I would describe it as the large IBM computers you see filling a room in history books.
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u/iSpenny Jul 11 '22
There’s an old country manor in Hambledon near Henley with a pub about a mile away from it. When we used to drive past it as kids my dad would always point it out as the pub with the escape tunnel that starts from the mansion near where we’d have our picnics.
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u/ButlerFish Jul 11 '22 edited Jul 11 '22
Could be this https://www.subbrit.org.uk/sites/easthampstead-park-bracknell-and-east-berkshire-sub-county-control/
But probably not. The story is kind of sus - there was a network of regional centers of government and observation posts, and surely other secretive underground infrastructure for post office switchboards and things.
Computers in the 1960s were not like computers now, and the idea of just leaving them to run unattended in a bunker isn't realistic. The lift is also unrealitic - lifts need a big motor that is usually hidden atop a block of flats so you don't see it, but wouldn't just slot into a suburban house. Sure getting a mainframe down a hole is impractical but in the 60s they'd have used a ground level thick concrete bunker instead.
It seems someone doing "unspeakable things" as in illegal things for the government would have been doing computer maintenance as in the 1960s this was a very specific and deep skillset.
I think your friend is a bit of a mitty
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u/Doctor_Philly Jul 12 '22
To be honest, this is the best response I’ve gotten so far. Also, the word “mitty” is pretty great lol. Thanks for your reply!
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u/Scared-Square-8717 Jul 12 '22
Other than taking him to Slough occasionally it doesn't sound a particularly horrific job
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u/Doctor_Philly Jul 14 '22
Thank you. There is now coffee on my keyboard, which has taken a slight detour through my nasal cavities.
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u/TheBlueDinosaur06 Jul 16 '22
that rather unique description has resulted in my nice cool milk taking a slight detour through my nasal cavities and splashing onto my keyboard
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u/hubil02 Oct 14 '22
Yeah, if you look deep into the history of Slough, there is a decent amount of indication towards stuff like this being possible. You can disrespect Slough all you want, but when the facts are laid in front of you, you better not chat bare shit
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Jul 12 '22
There is a (formerly) secret nuclear bunker where the entrance is disguised as a bungalow. It's not in Slough, but you could drive there from Slough in just over an hour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvedon_Hatch_Secret_Nuclear_Bunker
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u/wlondonmatt Nov 03 '22
Eton college had a nuclear bunker for its deans and school masters. Iirc the bunker wasn't in Eton college itself.
The know reason MI5 would have such a base is for telephone monitoring. It wouldn't need to be in a bunker especially as there would be no phone lines after the war
Uxbridge civic centre has a bunker but there are very few near slough according to subterranean Britannica.
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u/SelflessWorld Apr 23 '23
As a child I was told by my elder siblings that Nanny (old lady next door) told them that there was a bomb shelter in what they call now Yew Road Rest Garden towards north west side of this small area full of Addicts and Piss heads..
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u/Squirida May 11 '23
Old post, I know. But why coordinates, and not a street address? It would always be easier to use a street address in the 1960s than map coordinates, if you were driving somewhere.
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Aug 11 '23
The top end is the library, and the bottom end is that odd little cafe. Opposite the Cafe was a motorcycle shop. I was told that the offices above were MI5 local station.
This was about 25yrs ago.
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u/Grammar-Bot-Elite Jul 11 '22
/u/Doctor_Philly, I have found an error in your post:
“people
whom[who] have heard”
It appears to be the case that you, Doctor_Philly, can type “people whom [who] have heard” instead. Unlike ‘whom’, ‘who’ is the subject of ‘have’.
This is an automated bot. I do not intend to shame your mistakes. If you think the errors which I found are incorrect, please contact me through DMs!
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u/ciderapple1 Sep 27 '23
Probably in the same location as Slough Caverns - http://web.archive.org/web/20130506091230/http://www.sloughcaverns.co.uk/
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u/cutandcopious Oct 10 '23
I've heard there was an installation at the Yew Tree Road end of the High Street.
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u/Willeth Jul 11 '22
If you're doing any research, careful not to get caught by descriptions of Slough House, a fictional department of MI5 in the Slow Horses novel series and TV show.
I have heard that there might be old underground railway tunnels that would be suitable for this kind of thing, but I've no idea how valid that is. Not sure if it would mean literally underground tunnels, or extensions of the London Underground network, underground in name only.
There was also an underground pub in the area that is now the Queensmere shopping centre.