The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

BT denies cable fire was in A-bomb exchange

Ssshhh! You ain't seen nuffin, alright?

Free whitepaper – Fundamental Principles of Air Conditioners for Information Technology

While BT was tackling its underground cable fire yesterday, the burning issue for many Web watchers was whether the blaze was in an old telephone exchange buried deep below Manchester and designed to withstand a twenty-kiloton atom bomb.

The Register was flooded with emails yesterday from people convinced that the fire had broken out in what is known as the "Guardian Underground Telephone Exchange".

According to this fascinating insight into Manchester's Cold War past the "Guardian" was built in 1954 some 34m underground and was designed to withstand a Hiroshima-size atomic explosion and ensure that communications could continue in the event of Manchester being flattened.

Yesterday, BT officials denied that the fire was anywhere near the underground exchange.

Today, though, a spokesman told The Register: "The tunnel in which the fire broke out was built at the same time as the former underground 'Guardian' exchange - in the 50s.

"The exchange no longer exists - it was decommissioned in the early 70s and all the gear removed.

"The tunnel is and always has been a cable tunnel between the two BT (then GPO) buildings - Dial House and Rutherford House."

No one at the telco was available at the time of writing to say if the tunnel was part of the bomb-proof underground structure. ®

Related stories

BT struggles to repair Manchester fire damage
BT fire disrupts emergency services
BT cable fire causes 'extensive damage' in Manchester

Free whitepaper – Deploying high-density zones in a low-density data center

Don’t Miss

Apple MacBook AirApple sues over knock-off power bricks

Imitation not flattery

US Air Force orders 2200 Sony PS3s

Extending supercomputing Linux cluster

Xiotech iconXiotech definitely not using SSDs in near future

Are we clear on that?

HP LogoHP takes one in the servers

Comment Hurd hails 3Com 'convergence'