Tunnel under Bothwell St???

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Postby DVF » Fri Feb 27, 2004 11:37 am

Just had a thought. The telephone exchange in Renfrew Street, is right next door to the Hope Street Post Office. Was it always an exchange? Judging by the look of it's age the GPO would have controlled it at some point, making it the second biggest, and therefore the second most important GPO building in Glasgow, especially since it controlled mail and phone lines in the one building.

Are there any more buildings ike this in the City centre?
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Re: Air vent

Postby AMcD » Tue Mar 02, 2004 9:44 am

ping wrote:Check out the air vent cunningly disguised as a telephone exchange box next to it as well. Its just a wee one and its painted blue.


There's a couple of these things in Washington Street as well... I always thought it was just vents for a sewer or storm drain that may run down Washington Street to the Clyde, but maybe not.

There's one immediately next to the road opposite the Marriott hotel and the steps down to Washington Street, easy to see as there is a single panel of barrier between the steel man-hole cover next to it, and the road.
Don't know what the hatch goes to, but when they resurfaced the pavement there last year, they fenced it off with do not cover / access required signs !

A few yards down the road outside the Pentagon Centre, there's another vent and hatch which has been open and coned off for the last two days. You can see down but it's pretty dark, and all I could see as I passed this morning was some wired lamps just below the entrance. Though that could just be the Pentagon Centre basement carpark ! It is however in a direct line with Dial House and India Street, and very near by the MOD building.

Is there a tunnel under the Clyde from here? :)
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Postby AMcD » Wed Mar 03, 2004 8:55 pm

Had another look today. The man-hole and vent-cabinet thing in Washington Street, was closed back up today, but had a BT guard-rail round it when I left work at five. I'm convinced it's another BT tunnel from Dial house, or another underground exchange, when I had a look down the other day it was pretty deep. MCI/Worldcom buried some pretty big junction boxes in the road out there when they built a comms centre in the Pentagon Centre a couple of years back, cannae be coincidence.

Just as a matter of interest, does anyone know any BT engineers to ask how they get their cables across the Clyde ? If this was a tunnel under the Clyde and if all the tv dramas I've seen are right ( :D ), then I predict it emerges at the "abandoned" Gents toilets on the traffic island in front of the old Co-op building south of the river! Even has a phone box next to them... :wink: Probably complete fantasy, but I feel a book coming on...

This article on the Manchester 'Guardian' underground exchange, strongly hints at a Glasgow one. http://www.manchestercivic.org.uk/forum/30/F30_07.pdf

Off-topic, but found this tonight http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/index.cfm lists historical sites, air raid shelters and the like, by geographical area. Very interesting.
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Postby Fossil » Wed Mar 03, 2004 9:13 pm

There is a GPO building at the corner of Ingram street High Street (sold for flats now).
Also if memory serves me right The Big Issue building in College Street was one as well.
On another note, BT (then Telecom) had the Very Large building in George Street, Strathclyde Uni now occupies it………..
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Postby JayKay » Thu Mar 04, 2004 12:40 pm

The Modern Fossil wrote:There is a GPO building at the corner of Ingram street High Street (sold for flats now).


wasn't this called Exchange house?
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GPO

Postby ping » Thu Mar 04, 2004 2:04 pm

Anyone noticed the big chimney sticking out the top of the George Square PO? Could it be another vent. Walked by it today and asked if I could have a wee look inside ( they seem to be stripping it out ). Got a big no though.

Next time anyone walks by the lift shaft house at Buchanan G and the door is open can someone just ask what it's all about?
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Postby DickyHart » Thu Mar 04, 2004 4:17 pm

I did and was told to GTF, work that one out!!!
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Postby Fossil » Fri Mar 05, 2004 10:06 pm

JayKay wrote:
The Modern Fossil wrote:There is a GPO building at the corner of Ingram street High Street (sold for flats now).


wasn't this called Exchange house?


....cant be sure... give me a few days...
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Postby DVF » Fri Apr 30, 2004 10:52 pm

Sorry to drag this back up, but some interesting info has arisen.

Recently got a new job. An ex telecoms engineer works there too. He used to work in the tunnel back in the 60's or 70's.

There is one main tunnel ::): , from Telephone House, through North Hanover St building, and ends up at a manhole cover :cry: , across the road from the GRI. Just south of The Provands Lordship. This tunnel is about ten foot in diameter (with the floor installed there's still eight foot of height roughly). It has large shelves and conduits full of cables running along both sides, so no space for vehicles.

There is a second, smaller tunnel, that splits off and goes up to the Post office at the top of Hope Street.

In the 60's, the tunnels were closed down due to repeated flooding and leakage. In the early 70's the GPO had the tunnels resealed to keep the water out and given a general spruce up. New cabling throughout etc.

My source stole all the old copper cabling and sold it for scrap, got several hundred pounds for it! ::):
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Postby kn0wledge » Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:41 pm

I wouldn't mind checking that out, if the manhole covers aren't tarred over. It's not too hard to lift a cover, although I bet we'd get some funny looks.
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Postby mustardman » Sun May 02, 2004 3:59 pm

Yeah the nato tunnel at north hanover st and cathedral st is a funny one. I remember my uncle said that he had a conversation with a taxi driver and he said that he has saw several army vechiles pull up there(supplies etc). I think this requires an investigation. Seems very secretive???
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Postby tip2tail » Sun May 02, 2004 9:51 pm

mustardman wrote:Yeah the nato tunnel at north hanover st and cathedral st is a funny one. I remember my uncle said that he had a conversation with a taxi driver and he said that he has saw several army vechiles pull up there(supplies etc). I think this requires an investigation. Seems very secretive???


Erm, NATO??? As I said in an earlier post and some other people have mentioned this tunnel is owned by BT. It goes from Dial House to the North Hannover Street building (and further to the manhole cover mentioned I believe) and the Branch goes to the rather plain looking concrete building on on renfrew Street just off of Hope Street which is a BT Exchange that contains some important equipment for businesess in the City and switches for the UK network.

I know this all on 100% authority. A member of my family happens to be an engineer for BT!

Just clearing that up :) :P
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Postby crusty_bint » Sun May 02, 2004 10:14 pm

Read the full thread tip2tail... NATO funded the tunnel and it was maintained by the GPO and now BT :D
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Postby tip2tail » Sun May 02, 2004 10:24 pm

crusty_bint wrote:Read the full thread tip2tail... NATO funded the tunnel and it was maintained by the GPO and now BT :D


Sh!t - sorry guys! Tired :P
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Postby DVF » Mon May 03, 2004 2:07 pm

Had a look around the GRI yesterday. I'd said the tunnel ended up just south of the Provands Lordship, assumption on my part as I was told beside it.

Most probably ends on the pavement on Cathedral St. Walking along the south side of Cathedral St. from the junction with High St./ Castle St. there is a large manhole cover beside the phone box. After that there are manhole covers about every ten metres or so, about twenty of them. Thats an extramely high concentration for such a low population area.

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