SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Very mysterious and I think this is something that no matter how much anyone looks into it will any answer be forthcoming. It does seem very sinister though that this number is only really visible from the air which limits the amount of people who would see this right down to a select few individuals... Perhaps there is a new bunker located underneath the Lawnswood Government Buildings complex? Is the number 10 there to guide helicopters carrying VIP's in during any future transition to war? I dont know, its making my blood run cold at the thought of it... Although I'm sure I've heard somewhere that this whole place is soon to be sold off as part of the economic cuts being made and the government departments located there will be relocated elsewhere. So that would rubbish any conspiracy theories about multi-million pound secret underground bunkers beneath this place.

Hi Jon. On using the historical imagery feature in Google Earth I notice that the '10' seems to have been put there between December 31 2003 and June 9 2006. Intriguing!

Leodian wrote: Hi Jon. On using the historical imagery feature in Google Earth I notice that the '10' seems to have been put there between December 31 2003 and June 9 2006. Intriguing! Great bit of research there Leodian, even more chilling tho, what could this number mean and why would it have been painted there in the last 10 years? I was thinking about looking on google maps for other government buildings in other cities in the UK to see if I can find any of the other 9 numbers, there are a few departments of the government operate from this site so perhaps it could relate to one of their operations. I think Defra have offices there as well as the DWP.

jonleeds wrote: Although I'm sure I've heard somewhere that this whole place is soon to be sold off as part of the economic cuts being made and the government departments located there will be relocated elsewhere. So that would rubbish any conspiracy theories about multi-million pound secret underground bunkers beneath this place. There are plans in place to redevelop the whole site as residential accommodation.There's a lot more info at the council's planning application site:https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/onlin ... ions/Enter the application number 13/04008 in the search and it should all appear.It'd be interesting to know what they'll do with the old bunker - presumably it would be way too expensive to dig out, so they'll have to leave it.

jonleeds wrote: I think Defra have offices there as well as the DWP. I'm told the DWP have just moved out with a lot of the staff relocating to Quarry House.    

It's a message from the Government, you can see that the message is not central, and due to cost cutting they ran out of paint! before the 'U' could be put on!!

davedeath wrote: jonleeds wrote: Although I'm sure I've heard somewhere that this whole place is soon to be sold off as part of the economic cuts being made and the government departments located there will be relocated elsewhere. So that would rubbish any conspiracy theories about multi-million pound secret underground bunkers beneath this place. There are plans in place to redevelop the whole site as residential accommodation.There's a lot more info at the council's planning application site:https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/onlin ... ions/Enter the application number 13/04008 in the search and it should all appear.It'd be interesting to know what they'll do with the old bunker - presumably it would be way too expensive to dig out, so they'll have to leave it. Thanks for that Davedeath, Very interesting looking through some of the extensive documents, here is a section from the Flood Risk Assessment regarding the nuclear bunker:As set out in the Phase 1 Environmental Assessment, a square building locatedadjacent to the north-western car park was reported by site staff to have been constructed inthe 1950s as a “War room” for government officials during the Cold War era. The structureincludes a ground floor level, one underground level and water tanks and aerials on the roof.The former cold war bunker currently has an underground level which was noted duringENVIRON’s Phase 1 Environmental Assessment Site visit to have standing water in it.However, it is not known if this water is as a result of rainwater or groundwater ingress. As the bunker is no longer secure and watertight above ground, it is considered likely that the water is as a result of pluvial ingress. Also their 'Masterplan' states that they intend to 'retain' the bunker, god knows what for but hopefully it might be restored to some extent, I'd like to see it turned into some kind of cold war educational facility / visitor attraction rather than just be hidden behind a conifer screen and left to the elements / vandals.

Now might be the time to go have a sniff round the bunker - well once the DWP etc moves out and the rest of the site comes up for demolition although with the current prices for scrap metal still being high I;ve noticed that most sites now have 24 hour security posted. I never really got to look around Cookridge Hospital, Kirkstal Forge and now the West Park centre has had demolition teams moved onto site.

I reckon it was an attempt at an " I O " before they could do the "U"relating to the Trillion UK Stirling deficit Gordon left the coalition to clean up, lol.

There are some photos of the inside of the bunker here...

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/leeds-war- ... 015.t94553