Essential maintenance works are set to transform Stockport’s World War Two experience museum, as the council prepares it for a refurb next month.
The Stockport Air Raid Shelters will be closed for just under three weeks from Thursday May 2 to Tuesday May 21 in a bid to improve the existing facilities.
Alison Farthing, team manager of culture and tourism at Stockport Council, explained the works are being done out of necessity.
“The air raid shelters are a hidden gem,” she said. “You can’t improve on the overall authenticity of the tunnels but there does need to be some basic maintenance.”
Due to the nature of the museum, Alison said they face a number of challenges with maintaining the condition of the tunnels.
“It’s quite a hostile environment down there,” she explained. “There’s very poor circulation and it’s quite damp.”
As a result, works to fill in holes in the compacted sand floor and repair lighting is viewed as essential while new information boards will be put throughout the museum.
This will go hand in hand with a new state-of-the-art audio guide and there are plans for some original 1940’s collections to feature in a new, larger, shop area.
Councillor Iain Roberts, executive member for economic development and regeneration, said he hopes the new works will boost visitor numbers to the museum.
“Stockport is proud to be home to this unique museum,” he explained.
“The improvement works will further enhance the visitor experience and I encourage everyone to make a date in their diary to come and experience the wonderful new facilities.”
When the tunnels opened in 1939, it was the biggest purpose build civilian air raid shelter in the country, designed to accommodate 6,500 people.
The town stayed safe from German bombing until October 1940 and the tunnels opened almost every night until 1943, by which point air raids were less common.
Stockport Council re-opened the shelters as an attraction in 1996, and it currently has around 24,000 paying customers a year exploring the many passageways.
It is carved in to the natural red sandstone cliffs in the town centre and the museum aims to offer an insight in to life during 1940’s wartime Britain.
Picture courtesy of 4Cryingoutloud, with thanks.
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