Lost nuclear bunker rediscovered in castle grounds

A Cold War nuclear bunker has been rediscovered after lying almost forgotten in the grounds of a castle in North Yorkshire for well over half a century.
The subterranean monitoring post at Scarborough Castle, dating back to the mid-20th Century, would have been staffed by volunteers from the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) if a nuclear war looked like becoming a reality.
The bunker was closed and sealed in 1968 and was assumed lost until an archaeological dig by English Heritage successfully pinpointed its location in the castle's grounds.
Tim Kitching, a former ROC volunteer in Yorkshire, said: "It's fascinating seeing it being unearthed. It's a part of history." In total, about 1,500 such underground observation posts were built, dotted around the whole of the country during the height of the Cold War, which saw heightened tensions between Nato countries, including the UK, and the Soviet Union.
The bunkers would each have protected three ROC volunteers who would have helped map where Soviet nuclear bombs had exploded, with rations for the occupants expected to last about two weeks.The exact location of the ROC post in Scarborough had been a mystery since its closure, with websites pointing to it being buried somewhere between the castle and the North Sea.
Kevin Booth, head curator of collections at English Heritage, said its rediscovery had proved a scintillating prospect.
"We wanted to pinpoint it and see if we could reopen it and see what was inside," he said.
"Old mapping gives a sense of where it might be, but it really comes down to survey, looking under the ground with radar to find the big black blob that is a concrete structure."When the archaeologists chipped away at the grass and soil from around the bunker's ventilation shaft and entrance, a sense of just how small it would have been became clear.
Other similar ROC bunkers measured about 15ft 6in (4.7m) in length and 7ft 6in (2.3m) in width, and were just high enough to stand up in.
"Probably 'cosy' would be a diplomatic statement," Kitching said.
As an ROC volunteer, he trained at a post in West Yorkshire, with his exact volunteering role remaining confidential at the time as he had to sign the Official Secrets Act.
"The entrance shaft is a very tight space, you were 15ft down that ladder," he remembered.
"You didn't need the hatch to be closed to feel isolated when you closed the door on the monitoring room."