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THE GREAT ESCAPE
I’m digging a tunnel to my own hidden ‘man cave’ – it’s cost me £1,000s but my wife loves it
Dave is close to making a major breakthrough
A DAD is digging a 35ft tunnel from his home to an underground bar based on The Great Escape.
Dave Billings, 43, of the famous Allied attempt to escape a Nazi POW camp.
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The engineer has included a cart system which allows him to whizz along an expertly produced metal-clad passage.
He began his project at a well at the end of his garden, taking him 9ft below the ground.
Dave has dug all the way to his home and is close to breaking through to his basement.
It means he will be able to walk downstairs at home and slide on wheels to a hidden bar area.
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BUNKER BUILT
The dad has forked out thousands of pounds on the project since December in the back of his home near Derby.
He has recorded videos - - showing off his progress and his tunnel's impressive escape hatch.
Dave already has a bunker he built in his garden which he uses to store his kegs for his beer pump.
He got sick of lugging the heavy containers down steps in his well - so made an underground lift.
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The metalwork expert is largely a one-man band and he has mostly managed to create the tunnel alone.
Dave told The Sun: "I thought I'd put my engineering skills to good use and create something special.
"My wife Beth is totally supportive of what I'm doing. As long as I'm happy, she's happy. I've built loads of stuff before and she trusts it will work.
"I found a WW2 well in my garden so decided to dig that. I cut in and made a corridor to a bunker.
"The original bunker is a shipping container upside-down and clad brown inside.
"The latest plan is to connect that up to my house.
"You will be able to go through my front door, into the back, go down a hidden staircase hidden behind a bookshelf and then into the bunker and tunnel.
"I will have a bar and a party room. If you want to get a drink you can go down the tunnel on the travel cart, get the drinks from the bar and come back.
"It's based on the Great Escape tunnel. The biggest criticism I get is the size of it, but I want it to be based realistically on the original.
"I'm not buying anything, everything is built from scratch.
"I've got viewers watching my videos from around the world - and some want to make war bunkers.
"I want to build this tunnel for a pub, but there are people in places like Ukraine who take a different interest."
The dad - who spent 20 years making and repairing race cars - has previously held events around his well with a marquee, where he emerges with fresh beer.
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He will also add a downstairs bar area as the finishing touch on his project.
The audacious 1944 tunnel incident was immortalised by Steve McQueen, who wowed audiences in 1963’s Hollywood blockbuster The Great Escape.
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