r/AskEurope • u/Silver_Artichoke_456 • Feb 26 '25

Culture What's your country's worst kept secret?

In Belgium for instance, everyone knows there are nuclear bombs at the Kleine Brogel airbase, but it's still officially a secret.

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94

u/EminenceGris3 Feb 26 '25

There’s a sign about 200m from my house giving directions to the “Secret Nuclear Bunker”

https://www.alamy.com/9355-kelvedon-hatch-secret-nuclear-bunker-brentwood-essex-england-image67487233.html

23

u/deanopud69 Feb 26 '25

lol went there for a ghost hunt a few years ago and noticed that as we got close

14

u/Acceptable_Cup5679 Finland Feb 26 '25

Like literally hunting ghosts or is that a term meaning something else?

17

u/deanopud69 Feb 26 '25

No genuinely hinting ghosts

They do a kelvdon Hatch ghost hunt. Basically you get locked in the underground bunker overnight and wander around with other people and equipment to try and find ghosts

Sounds pathetic but was actually really fun

3

u/EminenceGris3 Feb 27 '25

I’d not heard of that, but they’re very good at sweating their assets. They do air soft around there too, and then they have the nuclear races if you want to get muddy running over obstacles.

2

u/deanopud69 Feb 28 '25

It was a few years ago now. They might not do them anymore

4

u/OH3EPZ Feb 26 '25

You British must stop being so awful polite to everybody.

3

u/pup_Scamp Feb 27 '25

https://maps.app.goo.gl/jPF3DdJLEWiwNfcM6

Seems like the actual name for it is "Secret Nuclear Bunker", not a slip of the pen of some overzealous sign designer.

1

u/EminenceGris3 Feb 27 '25

Yes, it’s a decommissioned bunker that was built in the 1950s for the government to shelter in the event of a nuclear attack. It has long since been decommissioned and is now a museum that you can visit.

2

u/Littleleicesterfoxy England Feb 27 '25

We have the Corsham secret Bunker up the road but sadly they haven’t opened it up for visits, which is a shame because I would totally go.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

Just Brentwood things