A lasting reminder of a dark time in recent history - York Cold War Bunker

In a suburban area on the outskirts of York is a lasting reminder of our Cold War past, York Cold War Bunker.

This is a fascinating, if somewhat scary, place to visit!

The bunker was built in 1961 during a time when the threat of nuclear war was at an all time high. This partly subterranean building was constructed to be the headquarters of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Number 20 Group and was one of 31 bunkers of it's type across Britain.

The ROC was set up in 1925 but during the Cold War, in 1954, adopted the role of nuclear reporting across the country. In the event of a nuclear explosion on British main land the ROC would be able to gather data and issue warnings.

York's bunker had only three full time staff employed by the Home Office, an observer, a secretary and the deputy commandant. Anyone else who worked in the bunker, around 50-60 people, were ROC volunteers. These volunteers were split into three crews - each expected to operate for at least two weeks in a nuclear environment (should they need to).

They would meet for a three hour session in the bunker every week and a two day (weekend) full training session every two weeks. In these weekend session they would stay locked down in the bunker and wouldn't be able to leave until the training was over. The first stop when they could leave the bunker? The chip shop! The local fish and chip shops number was added by hand to the emergency phone numbers list.

The bunker has many rooms set across three levels - there is the canteen, kitchen, plant room, operation room, officer's room, dormitories, a telephone exchange, aerosol filter chamber and, as you would expect, a decontamination room.

This bunker was used for nearly 30 years until it was stood down in September of 1991 and finally closed in 1992. Interestingly the volunteers who dedicated many hours of their lives to the ROC and the bunker weren't notified by the Home Office that the bunker was being stood down. The paid officers were informed but the volunteers only found out when they showed up for a training session following the stand down.

This really is a fascinating place to visit even if it does leave you with a slightly funny feeling inside. It's sickening to think of nuclear war and how devastating a nuclear attack could be.

It's also sickening to think of the poor men and women who would, in the event of an attack, be trapped underground collecting data, unable to see of contact their family, listen to the news or know what is happening outside for up to two weeks. To think that when they finally would leave they would be met with no help, no army escort to a safe place. Instead they would be civilian again, leaving the protection of the bunker to face a potentially radioactive wasteland.

Thankfully that never happened and there was never a nuclear explosion in Britain, nor has there been since. The Cold War ended and life returned to normal. The bunker was left standing and in 2000 was obtained by English Heritage who now open it as a visitor attraction. An attraction I would urge you to visit.


Interesting features:

• The various instruments used to detect and pinpoint the impact location of a nuclear explosion and the fallout from such explosion. You can see some of them in the picture below.

• A row of pressure gauges that have permanent marker marks drawn on for where the dials should be - sometimes the simple ways are the best!

• The interesting colours on the walls - deep blue was thought to help keep you focused on work, mustard yellow was thought to keep you calm and the light blue was to keep you cheery. Not sure colour psychology really works in a place like this!