About
Fifteen feet below ground on the Broadway Tower Estate lies a relic of the Cold War The former monitoring bunker was once part of a wider network of similar structures all over the United Kingdom, built to study and report the effects of nuclear explosions and the resulting radioactive fallout. They offer you the chance to step back in time and witness how our country would have coped if the Cold War had ever turned hot.
What we thought
We arrived at Broadway Tower 5 mins before our tour is due to start, it turns out that this was an error as it’s a good 10/15 mins walk from the Broadway Tower car park to the bunker. This walk is also mostly over grass with no pathways, so could be tricky in wet weather, luckily the rain was holding off as we approached, but it was unfortunate that we weren’t aware of this before arriving.
We were delighted to get inside the museum which is housed inside a Nissen hut as it was bloody windy on that hill. The museum is described as a pop-up but when we enquired how long it would be running we are told by the staff that it should be there long term. Speaking of the staff, they were incredible, hugely knowledgeable volunteers, some of which were employed by the Royal Observer Corps before they were disbanded.
The small museum contained a number of exhibits showing Royal Observer Corps uniforms, nuclear testing equipment, facts about the nuclear bunker, a video presentation and timelines on what happened where and when, and you even get to play with a real-life emergency siren if you ask nicely.
After a talk from one of the volunteers describing everything we could see on the surface above it was time to go down into the bunker itself.
Climbing down into the bunker was an unpleasant experience as the tunnel that houses the ladder is narrow which made it difficult for me, a tall person, to descend, meaning I was bashing my knees the whole way down. We entered the bunker one at a time and shouted ‘Clear’ when reaching the bottom to allow the next person to make their way down.
The bunker itself is small with seating for the visitor party along one wall as your guide talks you through the fixtures, features and fittings, explaining what the process would be if they detected a nuclear attack. Following this you are given a small amount of time to look over the bunker yourself, but this felt a little rushed and we were ascending the ladder into the fresh air before I had sufficiently sated my intrigue.
Conclusion
The site could do with some interactive elements, a photo opportunity and some more pocket-money-friendly merchandise, we would have loved a magnet for example.
We can’t stress enough how fantastic the staff were, they are the soul of that museum and we wouldn’t have enjoyed it half as much without them, their knowledge and stories.
This isn’t an attraction for families or people with short attention spans, but if you enjoy historical information and consider yourself a Dark Tourist this could be for you.
