If you drive down the A128 in Essex you will come across an intriguing sign that openly indicates that there is a Secret Nuclear Bunker nearby! If curiosity gets the better of you and you decide to follow the sign you will end up going down a single track road through a farmers field. The road meanders round the field until you eventually end up at what appears to be a bungalow...
Entering The Secret Nuclear Bunker
If you park up near the bungalow you will soon realise that this is the entrance to the now decommissioned Secret Nuclear Bunker. On entering the bunker you have the opportunity of picking up a 'wand' which will be your guide. There are numbers on the walls as you go around the bunker that if they are entered in to your 'wand' will give you some information on where you are and will give you directions around the underground bunker.
What Can You See?
As you leave the guards room and wander down a long corridor you are told on the 'wand' that it could withstand the force of a nuclear bomb!
You can then spend then next few hours (I spent over 4 hours there if I remember correctly), wandering around the bunker looking at where the government of the day would have fled to in the event of a nuclear attack!
It's as if one day someone had simply said "right, that's it we're now closed and everyone can go home", as all the rooms still have all the desks in place with all the computers, telephones and even newspapers that they would have used on them. Nothing is behind any glass like a typical sort of museum so you can even sit down at a desk that would have been used by someone top secret!!!
Top Secret!
The tour takes you in to every single room including the stationery cupboard which was laden with note paper that had TOP SECRET and ON HER MAJESTY'S SERVICE written on it - James Bond or what?!
You get to see everything from the BBC Television/Radio broadcast studio that would have broadcast to the nation if we were under attack, to the room where the then Prime Minister (John Major) would have slept in!
It was build in 1952 and was decommissioned in 1992 which is why the general public can now visit it.
Where Can You Find Out More Information?
For further information on the Secret Nuclear Bunker please visit the following web site:
www.secretnuclearbunker.com
