I had cause to visit the Stockport Air Raid Shelters Tour recently as a parent helper with a local school. It was AMAZING! This is an actual remaining second world war air raid facility that has been preserved and now opened up again as a 'living museum'. The shelters are literally long caves that were hollowed out of the sandstone beneath Stockport during World War 2, and in their hayday would have provided shelter to around 3000 people during air raids in the 1940's. Not all of the shelters have been opened up, but many bits of it have been restored including the sick-bay, corridors where bunk beds were available to those sheltering, and the make-shift kitchens and prison cells which were part of this little underground city.
The tour is excellent, and on the occasion that I was there was conducted by two actors, one playing the part of an ARP warden and the other, a nurse. The tour was full of facts, interesting activities and role-playing, all of which captivated the minds of the class of 9 year olds that I accompanied there. I'd highly recommend the shelters tour to anyone, especially those with kids, and given that it is underground, you'll never need to worry about the weather! read more