Last update:
 23-Aug-2006
©1996-2009
  Mike Todd

The History of the Stronghold
Part 4 - after the war was over

As the BBC started to recover from the war, one thing became very clear - the magnificent two extensions to Broadcasting House were not going to be built, as money and building materials were scarce. So, through the 1950s the Stronghold remained the only building on the extension site.

The Stronghold had never actually been used in anger through the war, but as the country was moving into the Cold War period the BBC decided to keep it as an important reserve facility. In the mid-1950s an assessment was made of its viability in the nuclear age. The Ministry of Works decided that it stood a very high probability of withstanding a Nagasaki-type bomb, and the BBC felt that its retention was of strategic importance and that its protection should be enhanced.

Until this time, communications from the Stronghold had been based on an armoured cable to the nearby GPO exchange, from where the circuits were connected to key transmitters sites. But the BBC felt that this was no longer adequate and they put forward a proposal to the government that a cable "shaft" be bored through the London clay down to the Bakerloo Line, some 100 feet to the west and 100 feet down. This would allow cables to be run into the government's deep level cable network which was run inside the deep tube tunnels.

The cost would be at least £36,000, but there were additional unknown costs because of the likelihood of the construction causing damage to nearby buildings (built as they were on poor raft-type foundations, and even small disruptions to the clay could have serious consequences). The plan was abandoned.

The other plan was to improve the gas-proofing of the Stronghold at a cost of £15,000. This too was abandoned.

Then, in the late 1950s, the plans for an extension to Broadcasting house were resurrected - but the money simply wasn't available to implement the original design. But, during the 1960s, the need for additional office and studio space was getting desparate and the new extensiion was eventually built, with the Stronghold being integrated with the new building.

As a final comment, there were huge rumours about a link to the Bakerloo Line on the west side of Broadcasting House - supposedly with a special platform that the BBC could access, and even that Churchill would come to the building via this route to make his speeches.

This was never the case. None of the plans, including those with modifications to the building in the 1940s, show any signs of such a link - nor do any war-time documents. Nor is there any visible sign within the building itself.

The rumour may have been started because there was a secret tunnel between BH and the Bakerloo Line. But it was only big enough to carry cables.