Guardian telephone exchange
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Guardian Exchange was an underground telephone exchange built in Manchester in 1954. It was built together with the Anchor Exchange in Birmingham and the Kingsway exchange in London – all believed to provide hardened communications in the event of nuclear war. Today the underground site is used for telephone cabling. Constructed at a depth of 35 metres (115 ft), the tunnels are about 2 metres (80 in) in diameter. The exchange cost around £4 million (approximately £126 million in 2015 prices), part of which was funded by the United Kingdom's NATO partners.
Use as a nuclear bunker
The Guardian Bunker has been called the "Best kept secret in Manchester" and its existence was only outed in 1968, 14 years after initial construction.[1]
Use as a telephone exchange
The tunnels are known to be used for British Telecom cables. The exchange rose to prominence in March 2004 when a fire in one of the tunnels caused 130,000 telephone lines in Manchester to be cut off. Ambulance and fire service calls around the North West region were also severely affected.[2]
See also
- Kingsway exchange – London
- Anchor Exchange
References
- ↑ "Manchester's tunnel vision". Manchester Evening News. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ↑ "Fire cuts off 130,000 phone lines". BBC News. 29 March 2004. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
External links
- Blog report on Guardian Exchange: Manchester's Cold War bunkers
- Video tour of the vast tunnels and shafts on YouTube
- Additional information and photos
- 39 page article for a local antiquarian society with context, history, map and photos
Coordinates: 53°28′40″N 2°14′29″W / 53.47778°N 2.24139°W