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Glyn Remembers Exploring the Reigate Tunnels approximately 50 years ago

I recall as a lad, having been shown by one of my mates the Reigate Hill tunnel. We squeezed through some railings and went through the undergrowth towards the base of the chalk cliff and there was a huge steel bomb proof door in the entrance (I can't recall if there was a second door built in at an angle). We only had a couple of torches between us and we crept in being careful not to shut the door behind us as we were scared of getting trapped inside. The door was extremely heavy and I remember the entrance being angled to the left or right inside which I presume to have been some sort of blast proofing. Once inside I recall it being approx 8 feet high and corrugated metal lined.There was ducting and conduit/pipes running along the walls.

Limited by our weakly lit torches, I remember walking a quite a distance at 90 degrees to the cliff face and then the tunnel turned left running now what must have been parallel to the cliff face. From this further tunnels led off deeper in the cliff, these we did not venture too far down as our torches were fading so we don't know how long they were.They were all much the same as far as we could see. We carried on and eventually there was another left turn and that eventually came out at another bomb proof door like the entrance further along the cliff face. Unfortunately a few years later when I was going to show our findings to someone else we discovered it had been blocked up by huge boulders from the cliff. I think that could have been wise as there was a real danger of getting trapped inside. I would love to have been more adventurous and explored properly as I was obviously very privileged to have seen inside rightly or wrongly before it was closed off. I would be very interested in knowing more about the tunnel.

New And Peter Miles also remembers ...

Like your correspondent, Glyn, I too remember going into the tunnels under Reigate Hill. It was in 1962. I was with other schoolmates from Reigate St Mary's - Nicky Clark, Jeff Worboys, Tim Dry and maybe others. We slid down the lower end of the cliff and explored the site. 
There were a few old buildings but what I remember most clearly  were a zip wire running from the highest point of the cliff to the base and a large pile of what had been a stack of wire-reinforced glass. In the years since the war, the rusting wire and the action of innumerable frosts had reduced the glass to a deadly pile of minute splinters.

Then we started looking along the base of the cliff. We pulled a bush aside and found ourselves looking into the entrance of the tunnel. It looked very frightening and the arching currugated iron made me think of skeletons' rib cages. All of us, in a single movement, released the bush and fled with pounding hearts.

We arranged to go back another day which we did with one single, utterly inadequate torch. Strangely, we met two older boys who had come better equipped and who offered to take us in. (Was one of them
Glyn?)

Every thing was vaulted in corrugated iron. I do not remember a door when we went. The main corridor tunnel had various rooms and what looked like workshops with benches in on either side, other doors that we were too frightened to open, and what I think were side passages. 
The bigger boys then demonstrated the total darkness by turning all the torches off and telling us to hold our hands in front of our faces. It was total blindness and I know the others were as uneasy as me.

At one point, there was a pit that ran right across the main tunnel floor, possibly about three feet deep. Imagine a cattle grid without the grid. The sight of this pit, made us think what might have happened with just our inadequate torch and we were very relieved to turn back to the entrance at that point.

I can date the visit as I had just discovered Radio Luxembourg (on a tranny under the bedclothes) and my memories of the tunnels are mixed up with "Doo Run Run" by the Crystals and "Cruel Sea" by the Dakotas.

A footnote on the Flying Fortress crash. My Dad showed me where it had come down and the clearing was still very distinct then (late 50s, early 60s). In particular, he showed me where the engines had continued across the track of the Pilgrim's Way and ploughed into the fields, smashing through the ancient pollard beeches as they did so. 
The gaps in the crowns of the beech trees was clear then and I am sure must still be now.

It's obviously time I went back to those old haunts.

Peter Miles
(né 1951)

Thank you Peter Miles for this piece.

From Bob Knee, Wokingham

"My mother was born in Mogador Road in Lower Kingswood in 1927. When she was about 17 (about 1944) she was supposed to walk with her father to a dental appointment in Redhill. They would have used Wray Lane, but her father was delayed at work and she went on alone. Her father did not like her walking down Wray Lane alone, so she started to go down Reigate Hill. If a bus had turned up she would have caught it opposite the Yew Tree pub on to Redhill.

She was wearing a grey coat, grey hat and grey shoes, which may explain what happened. When she was about half way down, a very low flying plane flew south to north up the line of Reigate Hill. It must have circled because a few minutes later it came the same way again and my mother identified it as a German fighter. It was low enough for her to see the pilot and the Germany markings. It repeated the manoeuvre a third time, but machine gunning as it flew up the hill. One bullet passed through the rim of my Mother's hat, another through the hem of her long coat. She threw herself over the side of the hill, brushed herself off and continued down the hill when she was sure the fighter had gone.

She carried on, went through the tunnel into Reigate High Street, with the intention of catching a bus to Redhill from outside the Old Town Hall. When she turned right from the tunnel into the High Street there was chaos and pandemonium. It seems the High Street had been strafed by a fighter, whether it was the same one or not she doesn't know. She thinks some 20 or so people were killed or injured. Her father eventually found her in Reigate High Street amongst all the mayhem. He was apparently ashen faced as he thought she might have been killed. He wasn't too good either after she showed him the bullet holes in her hat and coat. She didn't realise at the time just what a close call she'd had. She's now 78 and I think it might just be sinking in!

Did her being all dressed in grey make the pilot think she was a member of the armed services?
Does anyone else remember the incident?
Could the fighter have been looking for Montgomery's quarters up Reigate Hill?

My Mother married my Father in 1946, he was 26 years older than her. He was a Fireman stationed in Windsor during the war. The highest priority call out he had was to put out a chimney fire in the local pub!

He was at home on leave when the Flying Fortress crashed on the top of Reigate Hill. He rushed to the scene in the hope he could do something, but to no avail. The story he told me was that it was already shot up and needed an emergency landing. I get the impression it was dusk or dark, because he said it asked for permission to land at Redhill aerodrome, but they would not turn the landing lights on because enemy fighters were about and they would have shot up the airfield.

Turning to the tunnels under Reigate Hill. I know they exist for sure, as I have been in them. I was a born in 1947 and lived in Mogador Road. The kids from Lower Kingswood spent much time on Colley and Reigate Hills. In the early 1960's we found the blocked up entrances to the tunnels. I seem to remember they were at the foot of the chalk face behind the Yew Tree pub. We opened up the entrances and spent many days exploring the tunnels. They were very wet, dark of course, with lots or defunct wiring and numerous water tanks lying around. I believe that a year or so later the entrances were blocked up again. I don't know how we got to hear that Montgomery "planned his Second Front there", but having read the information on the web site it seems this is quite plausible.

Whilst growing up in Mogador Road, I couldn't understand why one of our bathroom windows had frosted glass, the other plain glass, which annoyed my Mother no end. My Father told me a flying bomb dropped onto a cafe, or perhaps a small guest house, at the top of Reigate Hill, opposite Margery Lane. The blast blew out one of the bathroom windows and, due to wartime shortages, my Father could only replace it with plain glass. His story was the cafe owner and his dog were in the basement, the owner was killed, but the dog survived. However, the dog would not leave his master's side.

I remember two bomb craters us kids used to play in. One in a farmer's field opposite Mogador Road and one on the common not far from the Sportsman pub at the top of Mogador Road.

My Mother also recalls a German plane crashing close to Kingswood Church. The pilot was captured by Canadian troops who were billeted around the area.

She also recalls considerable loss of life as a result of a bomb dropping close to Shaws Corner, although she has no details. Does anyone have any knowledge of this?"

With thanks to Bob Knee for this information.

If anyone can add to these memories please contact us info@b-v-p.co.uk or add something to the new Reigate History facebook page.

From Andy Dean, Port Joli NS, Canada

"My name is Albert Andrew [Andy] Dean.
I was born at 14 Nutley Lane in Reigate Feb 21 1931. This was my maternal grandparents house, Edward and Agnes Hurst.
Before I was two my father George Dean with wife Selina [ nee Hurst ] moved to Portsmouth as he was in the Royal Navy.
At the start of the second world war we moved back to Reigate to be away from the danger of the Portsmouth dockyards being bombed. We now lived at 14 Nutley Grove and I went to school at the Parish School on London Road. Your article on the Baron's Caves mis-spells the headmasters name I think, I recall it being Mr Hyde not Hide, but I may be mistaken. My other two teachers there were Miss Warren and Mr Shepherd....the caretaker was Mr Dungate.

We did indeed shelter in the Baron's Caves and I remember gas-mask drills well, and even after more than sixty years I can distinctly summon up the dank musty smell of the sandy caves. Even at that young age my sense of logic recoiled at the thought of what might happen to us en route to the caves as the distance was considerable. We had to form up in the school yard...march down the steps...across London Road....up the steps into the Castle Grounds .....down the other side...to the caves entrance to safety [ hopefully] and we did indeed see a German bomber...a Junkers 90....cruise through low cloud one day as we made the trip.

I went to Sunday school at the Methodist church in the High street. One day we were playing outside before class began when we heard the unmistakable drone of a German plane...we kids knew the sound of those engines from experience and used to say the rhythm was saying " Its for you....it's for you....it's for you....." When we rushed in to tell the teacher she told us not to be silly because no air-raid siren had sounded but if we wanted we could be seated in the classroom and resume lessons, which we did. A few moments later came the high -pitched whistling of bombs falling as the German bomber, being pursued by a Spitfire fighter, jettisoned a string of bombs which fell at intervals along the high street but fortunately didn't explode. And the teacher was on her belly along with the rest of us beneath our desks for protection.

On another occasion [also when no alert had sounded] I happened to glance down grandmother's garden from the living room of Number 1 Nutley Lane where she had re-located, just as a Messerschmidt 110 fighter-bomber flew by extremely low, ...hedge-hopping we called it...I saw the swastika insignia and the pilot quite distinctly. He then circled and flew over the railway lines with machine-guns and cannons firing at a train. A close friend had a near-miss when one of the cannon shells penetrated the window and lodged in the arm of an easy chair he was sitting in at the time.

When I was fourteen I went to work at Cullen's confectioners , 26 High Street, near the town hall where the bakeshop at the rear of the establishment had an entrance to the Castle caves behind it. I don't know if this connected to the Baron's caves or not.

I am enjoying your site very much.
Thanks, Andy"

With thanks to Andy Dean for this information.

From Tony Westbrook, Toronto

The 40's in reigate...I was six years old..there were no lights on in
the town...hushed voices..a paper seller on the east side of the hall
calling out much quieter than usual..the bus ride.. also dark..a
woman conductor leaned out the door peering into the night..calling
out the stops..White Horse!.. sandpits!!..and next ours.. you want
Jolly Farmers Mrs.?..there you are watch your step!..no torches
now..we would slowly grope our way to our house opposite the pub..and
then the siren would wind up..its hated sound in the black night..a
search light would go up groping frantically in the black sky...My
Mother, alone during the entire war would often walk us into
town..she would spend a lot of time in a library on the top of
Boots..then onto the sawdust floor of Sainsburys for whatever she was
able to get...a quick trip then to the merry-go-round in the Castle
Grounds..a long linger in a shop that displayed and played
records..extra long stay to hear the latest sensation, Bing Crosby
singing "White Christmas" I believe.. she would always buy cherries for
the walk back..hanging them around our ears..and we would practise
spitting the stones into drain holes along a red brick wall leading
out of town .. telling us not to step on the cracks of the pavement
because we could break her back..we always elicited extra care in
walking..those were some of the memories of a young boy..spending
most of my time on the Heath..wonderful that I can "go there on the
net" thank you..and God Bless..Tony Westbrook

with thanks to Tony Westbrook for this piece.

Research your family history at Ancestry.co.uk

See also
Reigate During the Second World War
Churchill's Secret Reigate
Second World War - Reigate Caves
Second World War - Battle of Britain
Second World War - Where the Bombs Fell

This era is included in the DVD produced by BVP, Reigate Priory 1921 - 1948. which covers the period when the Priory was owned by the Admiral Beatty and later occupied by Rank the Millers during the 2nd World War.

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If you would like to contribute to these pages please contact Carolyn Burnley at info@b-v-p.co.uk . Or why not visit our new Reigate History Facebook page.