Cold War nuclear bunker could become tourist site

5 days ago

Joe Willis

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The bunker was built in 1958 during the Cold War

SDL Property Auctions A concrete tunnel with steps leading towards an entrance at the top. — The bunker was built in 1958 during the Cold War

A Cold War nuclear bunker could be turned into a tourist attraction after it was bought at auction for more than double the guide price.

The 1958 Royal Observer Corps monitoring post in the Yorkshire Dales National Park was acquired for £48,000 in July last year.

According to an application for retrospective planning permission submitted to National Park Authority, the owner intends to use the site near Dent for open days, visits from schools and history clubs and arranged individual viewings.

It said: "The change of use to a visitor attraction would enable this important part of Cold War history to be shared with members of the public, schools and historical organisations on scheduled days."

The bunker is in Dent in the Yorkshire Dales National Park

SDL Property Auctions A concrete bunker in a large green field. Rolling hills are in the background. — The bunker is in Dent in the Yorkshire Dales National Park

The bunker was one of about 1,500 built by the Corps across the country at the height of tensions with the former Soviet Union.

It was designed to protect ROC volunteers following a nuclear attack, allowing them to measure blast waves and radioactive fallout.

The structure, which is accessed via a ladder, had space for three observers, with enough food and water to last them 14 days.

The ROC was a civil defence organisation, mainly made up of volunteers, that was disbanded in the 1990s.

A handful of the bunkers have now opened as museums, including one run by English Heritage near Acomb in York.

The bunkers were equipped with a landline and radio communications, with the Dent bunker understood to still have a working phone line and broadband connection.

They were decommissioned in the 1990s after the threat of nuclear war reduced.

Many were bought by telecom companies and were used as sites for mobile phone masts.

The bunker was designed for three volunteers to survive 14 days in the event of a nuclear attack

SDL Property Auctions 1960s style furniture in a white washed concrete room — The bunker was designed for three volunteers to survive 14 days in the event of a nuclear attack

The Dent bunker sold for more than twice the guide price of between £15,000 and £20,000.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the application is for a new area of hardstanding, a path and a pod.

The supporting documents said there were five or six posts in the Yorkshire Dales but the only two not destroyed or sealed were the Dent bunker and one at Grinton in Swaledale.

Visits by schools and clubs would be limited to about 12 people arriving in no more than two vehicles and open days would be limited to 20 to 30 people spread across the day at timed slots.

The pod would contain picture boards showing the history of the bunker.

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