The Cold War Experience at Broadway Tower’s Nuclear Bunker

Fifteen feet below ground on the Broadway Tower Estate lies a relic of the Cold War. Our 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.

Manned by men and women of the Royal Observer Corps, they would be expected to spend three weeks below ground during a Nuclear exchange.

Our nuclear bunker was closed in 1991 when the Royal Observer Corps stood down. It has now been fully restored to how it would have been in the 1980’s at the height of the Cold War.

Step back in Time

We 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.

Our Nuclear Bunker Museum is open April to October on weekends and bank holidays. The guided tours last up to 45 minutes. Please book your admission through our website. Please ensure you arrive at the Tower Museum promptly for the time you have booked for your Nuclear Bunker tour.

As the Nuclear Bunker Museum includes a visit underground into the Nuclear Bunker, please do bring a face mask with you if you feel more comfortable wearing one.

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Important information about access to the bunker

Please be aware that access to our nuclear bunker is via a ladder. Because of this there is no disabled access and children younger than 10 are not allowed access underground. Anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Please ensure that you wear suitable clothing and footwear.

Special openings can be arranged in advance during the week for schools, history groups and private parties.

War Memorial

On the 2nd June 1943, the crew of a Whitley bomber on a training mission from Honeybourne airfield, crashed next to the Tower. Unfortunately, Pilot HG Hagen, Sgt EG Ekins, Flt Sgt DH Kelly, Sgt DA Marriott and Sgt RS Phillips did not survive.

At the time of this tragedy, the Tower was being used by the Royal Observer Corps, as a vantage point to track enemy planes over England. First on the scene were two members of the Royal Observer Corps, Albert Lowe and Ernest Hollington. Braving the flames, the two men pulled all five airmen clear and though four were dead, a fifth man was still alive. Taken to the shelter of the nearby tower, he died soon afterwards.

A memorial stone marks the spot where the Whitley bomber crashed. Everyone is welcome to come and pay their respects to the brave airmen who all lost their lives on that date.

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