As part of our Outdoor Education and in honour of the 80th Anniversary of VE Day Arbour Students recently visited an original air raid shelter where they got to experience life as it was during a 'black out' in wartime Britain.
Student and staff stepped back in time and experienced the sights and sounds of Britain's Home Front. They wandered around the original tunnels, authentically re-equipped, which provided them with first-hand experience of daily life in 1940s wartime Britain.
They ejoyed the displays and the state-of-the-art audio-guide which told the stories of local people who shared the experience of the war.
Opened in 1939, the shelters were the largest purpose-built civilian air raid shelters in the country designed to provide shelter for up to 3,850 people. They were extended in 1940-41 to accommodate 6,500.
In 1996 Stockport Council re-opened the shelters as a visitor attraction and this unique, award-winning museum became one of Stockport’s most significant attractions and educational facilities. Excavated into the natural sandstone cliffs of the town centre, the mile-long network of underground tunnels offers visitors a direct and exceptional insights into life on the Home Front.
