Halloween Day Trip – Sunday 31st October 2021

Words & Pictures by Adam Woods – 31st October 2021

We had originally planned an Essex Day Trip for 3rd October … which was only postponed as some of the original plans fell through! Lucky though, as the beginning of October was when fuel wasn’t getting to the petrol stations in the UK, so it looks like a higher (or lower!?) power destined us to make a trip around Essex on Halloween! Spooky!! While this was actually the third version of what was originally a very different event, we made the culmination of the trip something a bit different, being a visit to a once-secret Nuclear Bunker – great for Halloween!

The day started with everyone meeting for breakfast at the very hospitable Hunters Meet Hotel in Hatfield Heath. I must confess to having been worried about the weather and sadly the forecasts were correct. That morning the heavens opened forcing a last-minute change, making space available in the car park rather than parking on the venue’s very own heath! I could have forgiven anyone looking out of the window that morning and deciding that a day trip wasn’t the best idea, but what a great bunch of absolute troopers our members were steadily arriving, splashing into the car park, many with seasonal decorations and costumes! We even had a couple of members arrive who hadn’t managed to book but nipped along to say hello and join us for part of the route!

The weather also meant that while normally my better half Lukas is in the passenger seat, roof down, taking photos and videos of the day, clearly with torrential rain that wasn’t going to happen. So, we had brought our other car with us and Lukas kindly led the convoy while I drove on ahead to capture some photos and videos.

Our stop was Bretts Farm Shopping Village, and it was pouring down as the fleet of Figgys pulled into the car park where our hosts had kindly roped off some parking spaces for us. Bretts Farm had a great assortment of shops from a garden centre, to a home/craft store, along with a Farm Shop and Restaurant. Plenty to have a look around as the weather lifted and finally the sun came out, giving members and other visitors the time to take photos of our lovely cars.

From here we headed out across open countryside which formed part of The Rodings, the remnants of an ancient Anglo Saxon community. The downpour had resulted in some flash floods, but undaunted our members drove on through Fyfield and into Chipping Ongar where I was ready to shoot a bit of video to capture the day and some beep-beeps in the town centre.

And so onwards to our final destination, we headed out of Ongar through some wooded areas, and now in glorious sunshine onto the site, following the sweeping road round to park up and get ready for our investigations into the once-secret nuclear bunker! Over the last few events, it’s become a bit of a tradition to ask everyone to stand by their cars and beep their horns as a fun start to the day, but the weather washed out that idea, so instead, we gathered our members outside of the bunker entrance and did a vocalised “beep beep” to the camera!

Together we entered the non-descript bungalow which forms the entrance, collecting our audio guides, and headed down a long tunnel, through the blast doors and into the three floors of communications rooms, sleeping quarters, offices and medical facilities, all in place for the 600+ people who would have had to live here in case of the worst. With original videos to watch as we went round, it was quite a surreal experience, difficult to digest at times, but something definitely worth seeing, especially when you consider the measures required to keep the air clean and live-able for months of being underground, as well as other practical considerations! I don’t believe anyone witnessed any ghostly sightings, although a couple of members were spooked by the odd creepy noise here and there!

By the end, our party gathered in the canteen, reflecting on what had been quite an unusual day, but one which was most definitely memorable with brilliant friendly members, some of whom we had met for the first time that day!

And so we headed out to collect our cars in the car park… to discover one last mystery… a solitary lapis grey Figaro that we didn’t have noted down as attending. The Figgy appeared to sparkle in the sun, or was it something more ethereal? We left a note to say hi, or think we did… in was in fantastic condition … was it real? It was Halloween after all!

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