DOVER CASTLE

• Guest 713

  • Registered: 19 Mar 2011
  • Posts: 342
  14 October 2012     18:34195871
  #1      
  Dover castles underground tunnells Dumpy & Casemate will be open to the public from wednesday onward they will guided tours which will last for about thirty minuets,but there is an additional charge of £5 even if you are a member of e.h. or friends of dover castle.
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  14 October 2012     18:45195873
  #2      
  Do you just mean DUMPY as Casemate is the 'normal' balcony level ?
  Been nice knowing you :)
• Guest 713

  • Registered: 19 Mar 2011
  • Posts: 342
  14 October 2012     19:39195886
  #3      
  The way the chap told me yesterdayit was dumpy.
• Guest 649

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 14,118
  14 October 2012     20:46195901
  #4      
  Dumpy I think is the very deep one goes right down to the bottom of the cliffe.
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  14 October 2012     20:57195902
  #5      
  Unless you count a well shaft Vic yes it doesn't but DUMPY will well above the bottom of the cliffs !! Only slightly below 50m in fact !!
  Been nice knowing you :)
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  14 October 2012     21:00195905
  #6      
  And to be honest I find DUMPY rather boring actually, rather like wandering around an empty office with no windows !!
  
  The only things interesting is to actually say you have been there and the remains of the BBC studio
  
  

  
  Been nice knowing you :)
• Guest 649

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 14,118
  14 October 2012     21:00195907
  #7      
  There are two levals of Dumpy.
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  14 October 2012     21:15195911
  #8      
  Sorry you are mistaken Vic. There are:
  
  Annex - the hospital level
  Bastion - apparently started during WW2 but collapsed and abandoned, however any attempts to access any of it has been futile
  Casemate - the 'balcony' level
  DUMPY - the 'cold war' level
  Esplanade - the latter name of the Trevanion/Atholl Terrace public level cave system
  Foundation - rumoured but nothing exists
  
  All are one single level other than the connections between them as you can see from the below with DUMPY at the bottom of the plan (but not the cliffs!!)
  
  

  
  Been nice knowing you :)
• Guest 705

  • Registered: 23 Sep 2010
  • Posts: 661
  14 October 2012     22:50195931
  #9      
  Absolutely fascinating!
  Never give up...
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  14 October 2012     22:59195933
  #10      
  Is all interesting stuff - a huge amount of stuff at the Castle that the public doesn't generally see !
  
  The guys working on the tunnels have plotted out just under 8km of tunnels and 90 odd shafts of differing types and I am sure there is still more to find....
  
  I'll have a look tomorrow and see if there is anything else I am 'allowed' to post
  Been nice knowing you :)
• howard mcsweeney1

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 62,352
  16 October 2012     10:48196150
  #11      
  a fiver for half an hour seems rather steep despite the importance of it n its time.
  
  
  http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2012/october/16/secret_tunnels.aspx
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  16 October 2012     11:43196158
  #12      
  30 minutes will be a very quick walk around !! Rather expensive on top of the £16+ admission...
  Been nice knowing you :)
• Jan Higgins

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 5 Jul 2010
  • Posts: 13,931
  16 October 2012     13:42196171
  #13      
  The tunnels have just been on the local BBC news item so should be on again this evening.
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  I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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• Guest 774

  • Registered: 1 Oct 2012
  • Posts: 498
  16 October 2012     14:35196184
  #14      
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-19961359
  "If it ain't broke, fix it til it is."
• Guest 767

  • Registered: 30 Aug 2012
  • Posts: 458
  17 October 2012     11:06196326
  #15      
  DUMPY, could it be Deep Underground Military Position Yellow? or could it be named after a piece of engineering equipment - a dumpy level? Whatever it stands for the level was called Dumpy from the very begining when it was built as a combined operations floor following the failure of Bastion (which may or may not be there). As stated on TV last evening, Dumpy was used during the Cuba crisis, as a RSG or Regional Seat of Goverment, many of which were built all around the country.
  There are indeed a few more underground complexs under the castle, upper and lower Hudsons, Long Gun Magazine to name but three. I have been into Dumpy more times then I can remember and I agree with Paul Wells, it is boring, it was abandoned halfway through a major refit so little is left to see. £6 for a trip, well, you pay your money and you make your choice, all I can say is that when tours were first mooted (years ago) £20+ was talked about!
  Phil Wyborn - Brown at www.wybornphotography.co.uk
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  17 October 2012     11:25196330
  #16      
  I am sure if invested in properly it could make a great Cold War museum and worthy of paying extra to visit, but it is still nice for the public to get a rare opportunity to visit
  
  Last time I was there (I think Simon Thurley Chief Exec of EH was filming) I went down one of the side tunnels for a look around and the door had closed and my torch suddenly died!!! Spend a while feeling my way around to try get back to the light !!!
  Been nice knowing you :)
• howard mcsweeney1

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 62,352
  17 October 2012     11:46196337
  #17      
  featured on both regional news programmes last evening.
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  
• Guest 651

  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 5,673
  17 October 2012     12:13196343
  #18      
  Quick update on the Dumpy Level Tours at the castle.
  
  
  
  *Running from the 16th to the 31st Oct
  
  * It's the nuclear/3rd Level.
  
  * £5 for tickets
  
  * No pre booking
  
  * Get tickets from tickets office.
  
  * Tours only run twice a day, at 11 and 2.
  
  * Max 20 people per tour.
  
  * Ages 16+ only
  
  * No Disabled access
  
  * No wheel chairs.
  Been nice knowing you :)