Drakelow Tunnels

Subsequent to thoughts about involving Pete....

Hi Pete

Just tipping you the wink that we have a recce planned on the Sunday 13th Sept here: http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/d/drakelow/rw.html for a possible February Russian based game.

With a bit of luck all four of us will be going and if we are joined by a fifth CiA team member that's all to the good. If we do have a fifth member by then that is. Of course you may have changed your mind or not be available

David

Hi David,

I'm definitely up for this. I've actually been there before (I think). If it's where I'm thinking of, it was used in WW2 as an underground factory and I almost took it on as an urban site about 6 years ago but hadn't got the time, personnel or money to get lighting and H&S sorted out. It certainly looks like the same place and it's got great potential for a game (it reminded me of Peenemunde, the V2 factory).

Anyhow, count me in! I'm looking forward to it already. My mind is already made up with jumping ship and I'll have a chat with you on the 13th for some advice on how to handle it tactfully (tact was never my strong point!). I'll be letting PBI know I'm jacking it in as an organiser on the 6th but I don't want to drop the news that I'm coming into CiA straight away at the same time.

Pete.

There you are, ideas already. Just don't ask Guy to make another V2 'cos that wouldn't go down well.

Great stuff on the site visit! Stuff about the site's history here: http://www.stokes277.freeserve.co.uk

I've checked out that website and, yes, it is the site I've been to. The car park was very small and it's a bit out in the sticks! A very interesting place and I got a guided tour for my troubles. Think of a wide open UCAP and you're on the right track. The tunnels are very long and low powered torches won't light very much of it up, which is good. I don't know if any work has been done there since I went, as there was lots of rotten wood and huge fungal growths everywhere but it had massive potential for gaming. At the time, I was asked for a £750 green fee for every use of the site, which was a bit steep, considering I would have to do all of the work to get it playable!

I'll have a chat with you on the 13th for some advice on how to handle it tactfully (tact was never my strong point!).

Hmm. Me and Guy best stay well away from that one then. Our definition of "subtle" goes only as far as calling a cunt a cunt.

Hmm. Me and Guy best stay well away from that one then. Our definition of "subtle" goes only as far as calling a c-nut a c-nut.

I tend to do that as well but it gets me into trouble! I was only thinking of being diplomatic to stop Gadge and Yith from having another toys out of pram moment.

Anyway, back to Drakelow. "Rattenkrieg" would be a good idea and gets my vote too. It's still Stalingrad, just on a different level. If players can't get suitable Russian kit, how about something to cater for civilian kit, to the effect of

"Stalingrad is in danger of falling into the hands of the fascist invaders and the NKVD and Commisars are even throwing the population into the battle, thrusting a weapon into their hands and ordering them to fight to the death for the Motherland alongside their Red Army brothers"?

This means that, at least initially, the Germans can be on the attack. The biggest drawback kitwise for the Germans re:Stalingrad, is that there were no Waffen SS units involved.

Also, as I don't live a million miles from the site, if the rest of you guys want to pile round to my house after the visit, we could sit down and throw some ideas about, rather than do it at the site (I gather that there's a game on?). I'm 5 minutes from the M6, making return journeys easier.

Good stuff!

You know where it is Pete - I've been trying to track it down. I think its here?
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=DY11+5SA&sll=52.727768,-1.614647&sspn=0.176937,0.528374&ie=UTF8&ll=52.424656,-2.267137&spn=0.002784,0.008256&t=h&z=18

To be honest, I'm not sure. I've only been there once and that was 6 years ago, in a car with 6 passengers all yakking away AND I was following someone who took the scenic route. I don't recall any signs of population around the entrance. Your arrow on the map is in someones back garden! (Mind you, if it's a hot day, we could all jump in their pool!).

Hehe - in the woods to the right (across from the marker, opposite Sladd Lane) there is a big track that turns and abruptly ends. Looks like a tunnel entrance.

(Just using some observational skills I picked up on some training day or other )

Hehe - in the woods to the right (across from the marker, opposite Sladd Lane) there is a big track that turns and abruptly ends. Looks like a tunnel entrance.

(Just using some observational skills I picked up on some training day or other )

You could be right. F&O may have better access and car parking than I had on the day that I went. Likewise, lots of houses could have been built since I was last there as well. When I went, the car park was seperated from the road by a mesh fence (it was that close to the road!) and it had room for about 10 cars. It would make sense that F&O would have tried to sort somewhere with more space and it stands to reason that there's more than one way into the bunker.

Well, I've set the satnav for that track and it will take me 1hr 20 mins to get there. What time are we meeting?

I think I recall 1300hrs being bandied about? I'd have preferred earlier, or after 1500hrs but that's me being selfish and not wanting to miss the Monza Grand Prix!

Personally, I'm not bothered what time it is. David, whats the co-ordinates for the site?

I'm easy on time myself too.

52:25:28 N
02:16:09 W

Just spoken to Guy and he is unlikely to make this recce although not ruled out entirely.-- attachment is not available --

Yep need ot discuss and decide on what I would rather do on sunday afternoon .....er ....yeah might be there

BTW welcome Pete to the inner sanctum , have you had chance to read the whole of the bitching thread yet ?

Yep, every post! Not as bad as I was expecting to be honest! You should've read some of G&Y's spats on the newly formed PBI forums! (From where I was promptly binned on sunday night after I'd told them I was quitting, tossers!).

As for Drakelow, again, I'll offer my hospitality after the recce. It could even make sense to park your cars at my gaff and we all travel there together, that way, if one gets lost, we all get lost!

As for Drakelow, again, I'll offer my hospitality after the recce. It could even make sense to park your cars at my gaff and we all travel there together, that way, if one gets lost, we all get lost!

Sounds like an eminently sensible idea to me!

Where do you live Pete - Wolverhampton-ish?

Where do you live Pete - Wolverhampton-ish?

I'm in "no mans' land" between Walsall and Wolverhampton. About 5 minutes from J10 of the M6 and not really that far from the A38/Muckley corner. My postcode is WV124DJ, house number 35. A nice, quiet cul-de-sac, so no passing traffic to bash your cars!

Cool, it that case en-route for me so I'll deffo make you the first stop!

Cool beans! Just need to see if Guy and Steve are in agreement. We can all go in my car. I've got satnav. It's also only fair that I burn some fuel off, considering the distance the rest of you have to come.

Definitely works for me. Suggested timings for the day?

PS - Please excuse the possible flashbacks that day. Lived in Dudloiiiiii (yes, typo on purpose) for 3 years.....