
Man built a bunker under Hampstead Heath and lived in it for two years - oska
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/mar/05/invisible-city-how-homeless-man-built-life-underground-bunker-hampstead-heath
======
mattlondon
I live near the heath and regularly walk and run through it - would have loved
it if there had been some pictures of it, or even a diagram/map or where it
was or what it looked like!

There are a few pictures here:

\- This one shows the entrance hatch
[http://camdennewjournal.com/article/homeless-man-living-
on-h...](http://camdennewjournal.com/article/homeless-man-living-on-hampstead-
heath-jailed-for-making-and-burying-gun)

\- [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/hampstead-heath-
breaki...](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/hampstead-heath-breaking-
badstyle-crystal-meth-lab-found-in-north-london-park-a3937186.html)

\- [https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7265542/real-life-breaking-
bad...](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7265542/real-life-breaking-bad-outdoor-
meth-lab-uncovered-london-hampstead-heath/)

Based on those pictures, the description in the article, and some local
knowledge of the layout around there, I am guessing it was approximately in
this area:

\-
[https://goo.gl/maps/FNxHU6MVZ2B9phkU7](https://goo.gl/maps/FNxHU6MVZ2B9phkU7)
or
[https://goo.gl/maps/hNwBfC1tcYGpeDzFA](https://goo.gl/maps/hNwBfC1tcYGpeDzFA)

~~~
mindslight
That first link has a picture of the "gun", which appears to be a PVC pipe of
the type used for a bathroom sink drain. It wouldn't hold water pressure,
never mind an exploding bullet. And it's the wrong diameter for a gun barrel.
I wonder if there is actually a metal pipe inside that (with the PVC for a
nicer grip or something), or if this is another thing the police dramatically
mischaracterized.

~~~
J-dawg
This seems to be just another story about the UK's dystopian legal system.

Unless some major details are being left out of this story the evidence behind
his conviction seems ludicrously flimsy.

Firstly the assertion that the "gun" belonged to him, just because it was
found near his shelter and had his DNA on it. That thing looks so unlike a gun
that he could have easily brushed against it or picked it up and not even
remembered, leaving some skin cells behind in the process. The fact that a
person's DNA is found on objects in the vicinity of where they have been
living doesn't seem particularly surprising.

Secondly, who gets to decide what a "firearm" is? All kinds of objects could
_potentially_ contain an explosion and fire a projectile.

I fail to see how a jury could possibly reach the standard of "beyond all
reasonable doubt" in this case (unless, as I mentioned, some very important
details have been left out).

~~~
mjlee
> Secondly, who gets to decide what a "firearm" is? All kinds of objects could
> potentially contain an explosion and fire a projectile.

The Firearms Act does:

[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/section/57](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/section/57)

Whether or not the firearm is offence worthy:

[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/section/5](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/section/5)

~~~
anfilt
Look at pictures the pipe has 43mm for diameter stamped on it. It' way too
large even for a shotgun shell. This is the police just being idiots or saving
face. This guy really needs a better lawyer. I am honestly amazed a judge
would not even question it.

I bet it was just a container to keep stuff dry from the moisture in the dirt
since it sounds like this guy hid stuff in the ground in caches.

------
contingencies
A homeless man I befriended to some extent once took me to a shelter in East
London. It was scary how many people there were. I stuck out like a sore
thumb, and felt I drowned in a sea of eyes alternately a million miles blank
or like daggers. Perhaps a similarly welcoming feeling to admission to some
prisons. My friend introduced a well kempt, multilingual man with an
education, an admirable history and sincerity who had simply fallen off the
society's radar. The most of them seemed to be just getting by on little more
than hope and memory, they were not just the aged, the mentally ill,
desperados and addicts. Without an address, it is hard to get back in to
society. I learned more in that visit than I cared to about how globalized
first world societies treat their poor. Really humbling. It shocked me.

~~~
simmanian
did you feel like you were in any danger at any point? would you recommend
people volunteer at these shelters?

~~~
tim333
Crisis organize some volunteer stuff. I've done the Xmas volunteering which
was quite fun. [https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-
involved/volunteer/](https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/)

------
pjc50
The reference to the Great Escape seems most apt to me; this tiny underground
wooden construction, ultimately doomed to discovery. But in his case he
encounters the London anti-terrorism command rather than the Gestapo. And it's
a form of escape, but from high property prices. Effectively tunneling _into_
a society that doesn't want him. The mirror image of the mansion owners
digging out another sub-basement for another swimming pool.

There are lots of weird illegal living situations in London; "beds in sheds",
hugely overcrowded slum housing, illegal sublets. Talk of providing social
housing, but what's there can sometimes also get illegally sublet:
[https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/jailed-man-who-
lived-...](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/jailed-man-who-lived-in-
garden-shed-while-renting-750000-council-house-on-gumtree-a2927551.html)

------
wpietri
I really admire this guy. His energy, his resilience, his improvisation. Had
my life gone a bit differently, this could easily have been me. But I can't
help but think: what could have he done with his smarts and his drive if he
didn't have to spend every day on securing the very basics?

~~~
londons_explore
Many people _choose_ to live like this.

Not being chained to the day job to pay the mortgage to keep the roof over
your head and the children's school fees paid is very liberating.

I have a proper house, yet once quit my job and went on a hike with just a
handful of coins and a tshirt. That hike turned into a 3 month trip round
Europe. My total earnings and expenses were probably sub-$10 per day, and I
rarely had a bed for the night, yet my quality of life was arguably higher
than my current 9-5, 6 figure job.

~~~
malcolmgreaves
Don't take your financially privileged position and claim that homeless people
want to be homeless.

~~~
icanhackit
The parent poster said "Many people choose to live like this." which is very
different to claiming "that homeless people want to be homeless".

I'm friends with a homeless Australian Aboriginal lady and she chooses to
remain homeless/jobless despite offers of help as it provides her with a level
of control over her life (she had a violent past), but not for a second would
I say all people in similar situations want the same thing.

The part that's hard to grasp by well-intentioned people is that you can't
always help. Two truths, neither cancel out the other: [1] We need to invest
in permanent shelters (i.e. homes) for the poor/homeless who want to pull
themselves out from their misfortune and live a more normal life. [2]
Homelessness is something we need to embrace by providing covered/sheltered
well-lit public spaces where someone can set up a 0-day camp to safely rest
without someone tapping them on the shoulder to ask if they're OK.

Two more truths: [1] Many homeless have mental health issues which, if
treated, could help them live a better life. [2] Many homeless are mentally
fine, in control, and your offers of help are somewhat patronising. They'd
prefer a nice cold beer or bottle of red than your free pass to a hostel.

------
omarhaneef
When I saw the title, I wondered how a survivalist story got to front page on
HN.

Then I read it and saw it was really a story about high rents, and then of
course it made sense.

My sense of where the highest rents are doesn't keep up with the times though.
Tokyo became relatively inexpensive long before I figured it out. New York
beat London at some point, and when Vancouver had overtaken San Francisco I
was floored.

~~~
goatherders
I spend about 70% of my time in Vancouver. My rented house there is half the
size of my place in Austin and costs 3x as much. My wife and I joke
occassionally that we could leave Van for almost any other place on earth -
including Manhattan - and see our COL go down.

~~~
flyGuyOnTheSly
That's true but why would you?

Vancouver is an awesome/beautiful place to live.

They don't even have the building restrictions that san fran does. They're
building like crazy in that city and the price per square foot just keeps
going up because it's in high demand.

The rents are high for good reason imho.

~~~
nathancahill
High demand != foreign (read, chinese) investment.

~~~
chrisseaton
The foreign investment is part of the high demand.

~~~
TeMPOraL
High demand for a place to offshore money != high demand for a place to live.
The former is why the price per sqm is high. The latter would communicate that
a place is actually nice to live in.

~~~
chrisseaton
The market doesn't care _why_ you are demanding a property.

~~~
AngryData
Maybe it should when the very future of that market is decided by those
factors. If people aren't going to be living or utilizing those spaces the
market value and actual demand will continue to deviate until at some point
where it crashes and fucks over the people living there. Meanwhile the foreign
investors, who likely won't be hurt by losing a property they didn't even use,
won't give two shits.

------
Waterluvian
Something like this happened in Toronto years ago:
[https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mysterious-toronto-bunker-
buil...](https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mysterious-toronto-bunker-built-as-man-
cave-1.2259779)

~~~
rtikulit
Except we didn't prosecute and convict the builders.

~~~
lostgame
Well, they weren’t homeless; why would they?

I was under the impression law enforcement mostly existed to oppress the lower
class, but maybe that’s just my personal experience.

------
lostgame
In a period of homelessness over a summer, I lived in a makeshift village
created by a friend and I in the Don Valley forest here in Toronto.

You’d be shocked how regularly this kind of thing happens.

------
WoodenKatana
It's sad to see where the current payments and rents push people.

~~~
rootusrootus
If he was unable to work in his former profession, it isn't likely that it was
just high rent that kept him from having a place of his own.

------
ricktdotorg
i will admit to being more than a little disappointed that the author
apparently did not directly ask Van Allen if the weapon was indeed, his.

~~~
exhilaration
The article suggests that he's consistently denied it, do you think he'd
change his story when talking to a reporter?

~~~
ricktdotorg
fair point!! but in such detail-laden [long!] expository articles, i expect
more than _suggestion_ around the central premise of this man's ultimate
imprisonment for 5 years. no?

------
kwhitefoot
Anyone know if his appeal succeeded? It seems that most of the comments here
are just whining about the writing or lack of photographs but how about a
follow up about the man and his current situation?

~~~
vidarh
He was only sentenced in August. I don't think his appeal has happened yet.
Advice I found from a UK barristers chamber suggests that a simple appeal
against the _sentencing_ only typically takes about 5 months, but that appeals
in general should be processed in less than about 10 months. I'm guessing he's
appealing against the overall conviction, not just the sentence, and that this
is likely to bring him closer to the 10 month mark.

He's eligible for parole early 2022 if his appeal fails.

------
sorokod
Reminds me of Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere".

~~~
oska
Reminded me of the second half of _Rogue Male_ by Geoffrey Household. [1]

Also, _The Machine Gunners_ by Robert Westall. [2]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_Male_(novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_Male_\(novel\))

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Gunners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Gunners)

~~~
underthebridge1
Reminds me of my life. I live nowhere. At this very moment I'm acctually in a
hotel room half a planet away from home and I have (extremely crappy, but
still) internet and a roof. I also have money in my pocket but not enough to
turn my life around. My credit is bust.

I have a job though, working for people who think I'm trustworthy enough to
give me lots or responsibilities but I can't tell anyone about my situation
because that would most likely break the bond of trust that we have. I'm
abroad to help my company land a deal and to coach a team through the
implementation phase. I'm very, very good at what I do. Better than most
people I've met. But. I. Just. Can't. Turn. My. Life. Around.

I used to do drugs. I still do. But I used to, too. Not so much anymore,
though. A joint now and then.

Not looking forward to going back to my "home" country. Being on a business
trip is bliss. Just blissfull.

EDIT: In my mind I got here by following a dream. I followed it too far. Damn
you HN. You keep inspiring me to try to do great things.

We're just one-upping one another, right?

~~~
circlefavshape
> We're just one-upping one another, right?

Yes. That's what "following a dream" really is about. Hope things improve for
you

------
georgehaake
Disappointed as I came for pics.

------
vidanay
Am I the only one who dislikes this style of expository writing where the
story line is non-linear and written with an excruciating abundance of
adjectives?

~~~
CPLX
This is called storytelling. It is one of the great gifts of being alive and
human that we are able to create or enjoy a well told story.

While it’s not appropriate for every subject, or every hour of ones day, it is
really a lovely thing and we should cherish those who expend the effort to
create long and detailed narrative works.

If you’re not in the mood for a story of this kind and just want to know what
happened, the headline is a pretty accurate summary.

~~~
arkades
No, it's not just "storytelling", and your answer is pretentious in the
extreme, painting an aesthetic preference as some fundamental appreciation for
human life, and the opposite by implication as crass.

Storytelling is about narrative. It's about conveying a sequence of ideas in
such a way as to make an impression. One can achieve storytelling _without_ an
abundance of irrelevant details ("Sometimes a travelling circus unfolds itself
on the hard-packed sand of the heath’s carpark" does nothing to further
establish our sense of setting, nor to characterize anything at all) and just
being over-dramatic (leading with an inset quote about little at all, but
making sure to lead with the title 'Counter-Terrorism Command').

Just because it's storytelling doesn't mean it's /good/ storytelling. The
whole thing stays just one shade shy of purple. _That_ is annoying as hell for
a lot of people, and not at all "a great gift of being alive" that is "a
really lovely thing." On the contrary: that's something a lot of even-literary
editors would take a hacksaw to.

~~~
CPLX
This comment probably could have been reduced to one paragraph, with fewer
parentheticals and italics.

Nonetheless I’m glad you posted it. I think it’s a positive thing when people
expound at length on subjects that interest them.

~~~
arkades
Bah, humbug.

------
lerie1982
A little disappointed to see that it's just a story of a vagrant and where he
lived.

~~~
corndoge
Read the article?

~~~
lerie1982
Yes, two drunks illegally built a "dwelling" under a park, peed in bottles
(which he emptied where?), ducked the police, stole construction materials, I
guess I am just failing to see how this can be justified? Is it because he
didn't want to spend money to room with someone (I'm assuming he would rather
spend it in the bar).

He could have chosen a location where he wouldn't have been bothered, off in
the woods, he could have used his travel card to get back and forth, but he
didn't. He could have even done this somewhere he could have eventually won
squatters rights for his dwelling. But he didn't.

So again, I was disappointed to read that is was just a story of a (somewhat)
vagrant, "scaff monkey".

~~~
vidarh
> Yes, two drunks illegally built a "dwelling" under a park, peed in bottles
> (which he emptied where?), ducked the police, stole construction materials,
> I guess I am just failing to see how this can be justified? Is it because he
> didn't want to spend money to room with someone (I'm assuming he would
> rather spend it in the bar).

Nothing in the article suggests they were drunks. The article suggests he
spent time waiting in a pub for the heath to empty out and at one point
mentions "his usual beer", not that he was a drunk. Nothing else in the
description suggests any substance abuse problem. Given you describe the pub
he used to wait in as "the bar" perhaps you're not from the UK and unfamiliar
with UK pub culture, but it is not at all unusual for people to use a pub as
their social meeting space and not go there to get drunk, or even drink much,
if at all.

Nothing in the article suggests he stole construction materials. He was not
charged with any thefts either. The other person worked as a labourer at a
building site, so maybe he did, but then again they might also just have known
where to get the supplies; you'll note at least one mention of spending money
on some of the supplies. But again you're jumping to conclusions. It's
possible they stole it, but the article does not provide evidence for that.

Nothing suggests he had sufficient income to make not rooming with someone in
a proper flat a choice - this one is a particularly insidious "accusation"
seeing as he 1) roomed with someone in his shelter, 2) invited others in when
he came across someone that looked like they were in a bad place, so he
clearly was not adverse to sharing.

You're inferring a whole lot of things that suggests you're intent to judge
him from the outset. You might want to think about why you're so quick to jump
to conclusions.

As to "how this can be justified", I'd ask another question: How can a society
as rich as the UK justify underfunding social services so much that people
like this are unable to afford housing or get social housing? Someone who
_does_ work, but is facing health issues limiting what he's been able to do.
It's disgusting.

Personally to me, his situation would have justified some petty theft and the
by accounts very limited vandalism given the care he appears to have taken to
make his dwelling largely invisible, and his lack of access to housing.

You'll note this was also not what he was charged with or convicted for. He
was convicted over circumstantial evidence he might have handled an improvised
firearm. Now, if he did make that, and it was somehow intended for defense,
then I would not have any sympathy for that, but the evidence does not appear
particularly strong.

> He could have chosen a location where he wouldn't have been bothered, off in
> the woods, he could have used his travel card to get back and forth

And, where, pray tell, do you imagine would fit this description in London
without doubling or tripling his monthly costs to get too and from the
locations where he was able to find work? If you're about to suggest outside
London, consider that the article sets out plenty of reason why so many
homeless people stay in London: Access to other services. Access to work.
Ability to fit in among the crowd.

> He could have even done this somewhere he could have eventually won
> squatters rights for his dwelling. But he didn't.

Did you miss the part where squats have become increasingly competitive and it
became increasingly dicier for him? Did you miss the part where he had been
squatting for years, but had to give it up when the law was tightened up
significantly in 2011, and it became harder for him to keep up and secure his
position in the dwindling number of squats?

In any case after squatters rights in the UK were gutted it is exceedingly
rare for people to win rights to property this way, as it takes 10-12 years of
continuous occupation and the means to prevent you from getting to that point
are many.

> So again, I was disappointed to read that is was just a story of a
> (somewhat) vagrant, "scaff monkey".

I'm disappointed to see someone so lacking in empathy to dismiss a story like
this the way you have in this comment.

