In the middle of the 1930s, a second world war with Germany was looking likely. The British government was ready for this, so they activated the rearmament program and the shadow factory scheme. The purpose of these shadow factories was to implement additional manufacturing capacity for the British aircraft industry. In April 1936, the air ministry approached Rover with orders to build a new shadow factory at Acocks Green, Birmingham. It would produce parts for Mercury and Pegasus radial engines to be used by the RAF. By 1939, the factories were working at full capacity, so another was ordered to be built at Solihull to build Bristol Hercules radial engines. By May 1940, all car production had stopped, so all their efforts were focussed entirely on airframes and engine parts for the Lancaster and Bristol bombers. On the nights of the 14th and 15th of November 1940, Coventry was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe, destroying the Rover St Helens factory. If avoidable, another defeat like this could not happen, so dispersal production got implemented, and the disused cotton mills, further north in Lancashire and Yorkshire, were converted into production plants. By the 7th of June 1941, there was a new location for the Rover Dispersal Shadow Factory, and this time it was going to be underground so it wouldn’t be as much of a target. It was called Rover No. 1D Shadow Factory (Drakelow Tunnels). Construction started in July 1941, building an expansive grid of tunnels. The grid shape would ensure that structural integrity would hold should a bomb hit, and with many different tunnel entrances, it would be easy to launch a search and rescue mission if a tunnel collapsed. However, it did mean that it was like a maze of indistinguishable tunnels, which certainly played tricks on my mind.
It’s no wonder Drakelow Tunnels is said to be one of the most haunted places in the world with such a convoluted and extensive history in a time when hope was collapsing. I wonder how much of its history is still classified; there are only six deaths that I have found recorded, which happened in the production. Three people crushed when the roof in tunnel one collapsed. Another accidentally killed by the sight dumper truck. Two others became entangled in the gearing of the conveyer belt, built to take the rubble away, and died. The last known death was that of a worker leaving the compound and getting knocked down by the site bus. So going into this ghost hunt, I was curious to see what I could find out.
The night started in the base room, and straight away, we were capturing shouting voices, often telling us to, “Get out!” The most recurring feeling was that of being watched the entire night. To me, it seemed the spirits were reluctant to come forward, hiding in the deepest shadows at the furthest edges to get away from us. On our first vigil, we went from the base room to a corridor where we captured a female voice saying, “Help me!” We tried the Ouija board to find out why she called for help but received no activity; however, there’s often a very active female spirit on that corridor. As we received no further responses, we moved to a room, lined with bunk beds, seldom investigated. The moment I walked in the door, I was hit by a smell of urine for a very brief moment. Then we received our loudest and clearest, “Get out!” There were other voices recorded, but I couldn’t tell you what was said. The atmosphere was the worst in here: so oppressive, sick, and heavy.
The activity didn’t get going until we reached the kitchens. The first we heard was a couple of bangs echoing down the many tunnels, and at the same time, one of the guests claimed he saw a shadow figure. Later we found out what the bangs were; in the kitchen, there was a metal strip set within the floor that clunked when pressure was applied, and funnily enough, this was where that guest thought he saw the shadow figure. I was amazed to have such definitive proof he had seen a shadow figure, as well as finding the source of the bang. In the kitchens, we captured a lot of angry EVPs sounding like swear words, but in truth, it was nearly impossible to hear what was said. Then as we were talking about these voices, I was sure I heard a couple of faint whistles in the distance. Once again, the atmosphere felt oppressive, and this was where I felt the spirits were trying to avoid us the strongest. I had an idea! I split the team up into three groups to cover the top end of the kitchen, the bottom end of the kitchen, and the far end of the tunnel in the hope the spirits would be forced to come forward and talk. I was down the far end of the tunnel with two others stood about three metres apart, yet I knew there was a man stood right next to my left shoulder; I could almost see him, and if it wasn’t pitch black, I reckon I would have seen a figure if only in my mind’s eye. We asked it to move to my right-hand side, and sure enough, I could feel it move behind me. With this activity going on, I started taking photographs in this area, and I did possibly capture an apparition, but I use “possibly,” very loosely as it’s faint. I wonder now if perhaps I caught the male energy I felt standing next to me on camera.
We still had a lot to cover. We moved from the kitchen to another tunnel and conducted a human pendulum. A nurse came through almost straight away called Elizabeth. She was restless because she had been killed accidentally by someone who didn’t receive any punishment for what they did. We didn’t receive much else from her, but this was proof there was unknown history tied up within the darkness of the tunnels. Another spirit wanted to talk, and it chose to do so through me. I stood in the centre of the circle, moving forward for yes and backward for no. This time it was a male. He had worked there in the cold war between the 1950s and 1970s when it was a nuclear bunker. He hated working there, having to keep everything a secret in a place that resembled a prison for those who worked there. It was then I received a voice inside my head, “Depressed.” I asked to see if it was the spirit I was talking to, and he confirmed he was depressed working here. Not everything was amiss for him. After the cold war, he went onto work in the police force and enjoyed the responsibility of bringing justice to the world. He also married and had children and lived a long life dying when he was ninety-six years old. He left after this, and we got the dowsing rods out. In response to the questions we asked, it is hard to conclude anything as we received mixed answers; it could mean we had multiple spirits responding at the same time. So we asked the spirit to show us where they stood, and the rods all moved to point at the doorway to my right where I had felt an energy presence. Then, still using the rods, we walked the length of the tunnel as above the tunnel was an ancient burial site. Everybody’s rods crossed but none in the same place. We ended up spread out the full length of the tunnel. Could it be marking where the graves are? To add further interest, the people who were down the far end of the tunnel had their rods cross right over left, and those at the top end, including me, had their rods cross left over right. There was definitely a meaning behind it but as to what I can’t begin to imagine. The entire time we had spread out, I could feel the presence of multiple spirits watching from the gloom behind me; I often looked back to see if any shadow figures were moving about, but nothing showed itself.
That was all the activity we had time for on this occasion. Sadly it had been a quiet night, but I know I will be back at this location soon. I could feel all around me the amount of energy, and I can feel a lot lurking in the depths, watching and waiting. Perhaps the atmosphere wasn’t quite right for them to come through. Next time I will be better prepared.
Phantom Echoes Paranormal 
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