What lies beneath: Manchester’s secret underground tunnels There’s a secret lying beneath Manchester’s streets. Evidence shows that a complex network of subterranean tunnels under the city was used for […]

There’s a secret lying beneath Manchester’s streets.

Evidence shows that a complex network of subterranean tunnels under the city was used for hundreds of years, for everything from air raid shelters and bunkers to an underground railway.

Keith Warrender, author of two books on the subject (Underground Manchester and Below Manchester) has long been fascinated by what might exist beneath the city’s streets.

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Underground accessibility and urban myths

“I got interested in Manchester’s underground history many years ago and began collecting newspaper cuttings on the subject,” says Warrender.

He found that lack of accessibility was an issue when he came to research his books, and separating the facts from the many urban myths was also difficult.

“It would have been much easier to find out about some of Manchester’s below-ground areas say a hundred years ago. Sadly, many sites have been bulldozed over,” says Warrender.

“Also the bombing during WWII obliterated much of the area around what is now known as New Cathedral Street, which contained lots of interesting tunnels.”

The best kept secret in Manchester

Warrender is particularly excited to have uncovered the truth about Guardian – the telephone exchange and cable network which runs between Manchester and Salford.

Staff would be protected from a nuclear blast by a 35 tonne concrete slab door

The Guardian network was constructed in the 1950s to provide a secure telephone link between Manchester and other British cities in the event of an atomic attack.

The space, which was used during the Cold War, is now a cable tunnel. Several miles long, it runs from Chinatown to Ardwick.

The exchange was accessed by steps to a lift which took staff down 125 feet into the tunnels, where they would be protected from a nuclear blast by a 35 tonne concrete slab door.

Around 50 engineers permanently manned the exchange, which extended 1000 feet beneath the city centre. It had its own living accommodation, fresh food supplies and fresh water well almost 600 feet deep.

When Postmaster General John Stonehouse visited the Guardian exchange in 1968, he described it as “the best kept secret in Manchester”.

“There had been a lot of speculation about what the exchange contained, and about ways into it,” admits Warrender.

“During research for my second book, I contacted a number of people who used to work down there, and I was able to piece together a much more accurate picture of Guardian and dispel many myths.”

One rumour relates to the fire at the Guardian exchange in 2004, with some claiming that the incident was part of a planned information communication black-out by the government, rather than a simple case of faulty wiring.

Rumours of treasure and underground shops

Other myths have led some to believe that there is buried treasure to be found in certain tunnels.

“People talk about a Post Office underground transportation system, but I have found no evidence of its existence.” Keith Warrender, author

One story tells of a subterranean passage running under the river from Hulme Hall to the Cathedral, said to house treasures buried by the Dowager Lady Prestwich, and never recovered after her death.

Sir Thomas Prestwich, Lord of Hulme, had allegedly been told by his mother of treasure buried around Hulme Hall – but a sudden illness caused her to lose the power of speech so she was unable to tell him the location before she died.

Warrender has found other stories that don’t stand up to scrutiny.

“People talk about a Post Office underground transportation system, but I have found no evidence of its existence,” he reveals in Underground Manchester.

“Suggestions of an underground route between the Midland Hotel and Central Station are unproven, as are the tales of underground streets and shops in the city.

“Stories of a ‘lost’ tube station below the Arndale are also untrue.”

An underground railway

The lost tube station might be fictional, but in the 1970s plans were drawn up for an underground railway line in the city centre, running between Piccadilly and Victoria – the ‘Picc-Vic line’.

Work began in 1974, with excavation underneath the Manchester Arndale, though the £156 million scheme was abandoned in 1977.

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It’s not the first time the city has made plans for an underground railway – and some are hopeful that we may see one in future.

“Manchester has tried to have an underground railway since the 1830s but for various reasons – usually financial – it has not happened,” says Warrender.

“Although Metrolink has provided a good transport network across Greater Manchester, there are already ideas being voiced for a future underground system.”