During the war, some Londoners would spend the night in the Chislehurst Caves to escape The Blitz. These were the 17 rules.

by Make_the_music_stop

19 comments

  2. I used to LARP in Chiselehurst caves…

    Good times! More than 30 years ago now! Ffs!

  5. What is a Double Summer Time?
    Why do we only have a single one nowadays?

  6. Beautifully handpainted sign, with clearly comprehensible instructions. A work of art.

  7. I went to some raves there at the end of the 80s. Me and a mate dropped some acid and wandered off and got lost!

  8. My grandfather was one of them! He lost his house (and pet duck) in a bombing and had to move in, I wish I’d asked him more about it when he was around. Miss him!

  10. I’ve been there multiple times: the place is fascinating. The guys who run the places are the types you’d like to buy multiple rounds when at pub;) 10/10

  11. Actually, there are more if you turn the sign over.

    Rule 18 was introduced to stop people from talking about Angus Steakhouse after 6pm on a Sund…..

  12. Amazing place, used to go on tours there with my dad when I was a kid. Used to really give me the creeps in a kind of fascinating way. Went back there a few years ago and still has the same vibe.. everything was a lot smaller than I remember though!

  13. The thing that impressed me the most was hearing about how high the temperature rose, in excess of forty degrees! If someone missed emptying one of the honey buckets by the following evening it was so warm that the contents had fermented. Also everyone would have smoked and apparently once the crisis had passed and the caves were no longer used as shelters it took months for the temperature to fall back to the normal level.

  14. I’ve fallen at the first hurdle I’m afraid. What is double summertime in question 1?

  15. I knew about Chislehurst Caves but never realised they were used as shelter in the blitz. Fascinating piece of history, thanks for sharing!

  16. I can’t be the only one who said that in Uncle Albert’s voice

  17. As a kid I very very nearly got lost in this place on a guided tour. I went off on my own with my lamp to try and jump out on friends further down the caves. As I was running along a parallel passage with my oil lamp it blew out! When I say I couldn’t see a thing believe me i couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face! This was before mobile phones so no light whatsoever, nothing absolute darkness! I froze and with not many options I was just about to scream out for help when a faint light appeared about 20meters in front of me (it was the rest of the group passing across the passage) I quickly followed the light and thankfully rejoined the group and stuck with them like glue all the way back out. Very stupid and very lucky and a core memory that’s stuck with me for life.

  18. Mostly just: “stop making so much fucking noise at night”

  19. My Mum used to shelter there. She was quite blasé about it. But she was very young at the time.

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