Haxby man David Jenkinson buys Cold War bunker (From York Press)

Haxby man David Jenkinson buys Cold War bunker

7:30pm Friday 6th February 2009 in News By Richard Harris

A CONCRETE nuclear bunker 15 feet underground is not everyone’s idea of a “des res” – but it is the perfect project for a wartime enthusiast.

David Jenkinson, of Usher Lane, Haxby, is now the proud owner of a former Royal Observer Corps monitoring post – which generally sell for between £8,000 and £10,000 – after spotting it on the internet.

The post is one of more than 1,500 that were built underground to replace above-ground aircraft posts around the country to monitor nuclear strikes, the fall-out from nuclear strikes and the effects on the locality and people if the Bomb was ever dropped.

It was part of 20 Group, reporting back to the headquarters at the bunker in Acomb Road, Holgate, which is now in the care of English Heritage.

Mr Jenkinson’s bunker is in a village north of York, although he would like the precise location kept secret for the moment, to protect it from vandals.

But eventually he hopes to open it to the public.

He said: “When it is completed later in the year, it will be the only fully-restored monitoring post in Yorkshire and it is my intention to hold open days there in aid of the Royal Observer Corps Association.”

He said the bunker would have been manned by ten men. In the event of a nuclear strike the three who got there first could have been underground for three months – which is when the supplies would have run out.

The bunker was once kitted out with a chemical toilet, army rations, fresh water – which was replaced regularly – along with all the equipment needed to monitor the situation outside.

Staff would have climbed into a hatch and then down a ladder to get into the bunker – the monitoring room of which measured only around 17ft by 7ft.

The posts were mothballed in 1991 and Mr Jenkinson said his was in excellent condition – many of them have been flooded.

He said: “It was absolutely bone dry. There was a certain amount of equipment and paperwork down there as well, but no operational equipment, which I’m now hoping to trace.”

Mr Jenkinson would like anyone who was in the Royal Observer Corps Association and has photographs, stories or equipment from their time in the corps to get in touch. Anyone who can help should phone 07912 870814 or e-mail ninthmedia@aol.com.