# Air raid shelters Leeds. March.



## phill.d (Mar 17, 2010)

The smell of war loomed large in 1938. Like many other Northern cities, Leeds prepared for the worst. 
The recreation grounds across the city were dug up, large public air raid shelters were constructed underground. The shelters were sealed up, and forgotten about after the war. But many of these time capsules still survive to this day.






Here's a recreation ground shelter been built in Chapletown, Leeds in 1938.
The first shelters were built of brick like this one.




Once you know what your looking for, it's easy to spot the tell tale earth mound on top of the shelter.
This is one of the shelters in Wortley, Leeds. There are no such visible clues to today's shelter. It really is well camouflaged.




The massive Gotts park has not one-but two subterranean shelters. One is relatively small, the other is much bigger and harder to spot from above. It's amazing to think such a hidden warren of tunnels run underneath this well tended park.




Down into the shelter we go!
This is the view of one of the shelter entrances, large amounts of brick rubble were tipped into the entrances, they were grassed over, and sealed shut after the war. You wouldn't know these doorways existed a few feet away on the other side. You can see the remains of the wooden door, and hinges on this shot.




Enter the darkness!
You never quite know what you might find in these long forgotten places.




Welcome to the world of the Bunker!
A warren of dark, and narrow, war time tunnels sprawls out under Armley Gotts park. With all the exits sealed, the air would become thin as we ventured further into the bunker complex.




War baby!
This 1940's pram has been left down here for 65 years.




There are no visible clues to this shelter on the surface, you simply can't tell how big it was going to be. We first thought it was just a single bay shelter, that was until we peered over the pile of brick rubble, then we could see the shelter extended further. It was a very tight gap to get through, but onwards into bay 2 we went. We had to navigate these brick obstructions at every entrance. 




Stencil painted signs from WWII were to be found in remarkeable condition throughout the shelter.




No escape!
This escape hatch would have been used in an emergency, should any of the entrances be damaged during a bombing raid. The rusty hatch has long since siezed up, you wouldn't know it existed above ground today.




This shelter is made from prefabricated concrete, the different sections would easily slot together in kit form. This shelter was built when the war machine was well organised, and in in full flow. Large amounts of water poured down the walls in the last bay number 5. You can see one of the many brick rubble blockages in the distance, we had to navigate one of these every 30ft i would say. It certainly was slow going to get yourself, camera gear, and lights into the next section. Then we had to do it all again on the way back out.

How did it feel to know you couldn't get out of this place in a hurry? It was best not to think about it at the time i guess.




The creeping!
We've now reached the claustrophobic confines of the last bunker. Here we could see Mother nature was closing in fast, she was reclaiming this place once again. Tree roots were crawling down the wall, plant life was hanging from the ceiling. Pieces of soil would occasionally fall into the shelter. Navigating the tunnel by torchlight, our feet shuffled along, the fine strands of hanging roots would unexpectedly tickle your face and neck. This is how it feels to be under the earth for sure.




THE THING!
Suddenly...the horrible ghostly specter of WWII Tommy Aitken appeared.
He was stood staring menacingly at me. The apparition was caught in the torch light for a split second. Heavy breathing through the gas mask respirator getting louder......Tempreture rising, the heart beats faster. A pungent smell of pure evil filled the air!!!

The whine of the air raid siren rose in the night air, the drone of the Luftwaffe bombers was heard overhead. The Nazi war machine was pounding the city less than a mile away. We were now back in time....It was shortly before midnight on the 14th of March 1941. This would prove to be the worst air raid attack in Leeds. 4,600 houses would be damaged, 100 of them destroyed, 65 people killed, and 260 injured. Leeds Town Hall, Kirkgate Market, City Station, Leeds General Infirmary, City Square, the Leeds Museum, Quarry Hill Flats and Kirkstall Power Station would also be hit by bombs tonight.




The Specter!
A hazy swirl of ectoplasm surrounded the heinous apparition, the haunted soul vanished as quickly as he had come.




When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes into you!




HALT...who goes there, Friend or foe?
He who fights monsters must take care lest he become a monster!

*(Friedrich Nietzsche) *




*WAR PIGS!*
Generals gathered in their masses. Just like witches at black masses. Evil minds that plot destruction. Sorcerers of death's construction. In the fields the bodies burning. As the war machine keeps turning!
Now in darkness world stops turning, ashes where the bodies burning.
No more war pigs have the power, hand of God has struck the hour. Day of judgement, God is calling, on their knees the war pig's crawling. Begging mercy for their sins. Satan laughing spreads his wings.

*Black Sabbath.*





The shelters were divided into mens, women and childrens sections. Drinking water, toliets, and wardens posts were alternately situated in the corners of the shelter.




The shelter was in amazing condition, there was no vandalism, or grafitti to be seen. The brick piers had small stoves in them for the Winter months. You can see metal brackets that carried the chimney stacks above ground. The wooden benches had been stripped out, but everything else was well preserved. Small pieces of coal can be seen on this picture.




A 1939 archive picture of the East End park recreation ground shelter.
The Gotts park shelter is identical to this one, you can see the small stove, chimney stack, and benches to good effect here. I was really pleased to tick my second Leeds shelter off the to do list. It was near midnight when we emerged. Our hands and knees were a bit battered, and bruised, but we were well happy with the nights work!




This diagram gives you a good idea to the Gotts park shelter layout. There were 5 bays in total, all the bays were linked by connecting corridors. Entrances were on both sides of the shelter. The Gotts park shelter was huge once inside. I've worked it out to be around 80 yards long (240 ft) by 8 yards (25 ft) wide. I think this is roughly the same size, and layout as the Beeston Cross Flats shelter seen below.




This is a similar sized shelter on nearby Cross Flats park. I think this shelter has to be the easiest to spot on aerial photographs. The raised mound of earth is clearly visible. There is no such luxury with the Gotts park well camouflaged shelter.

There's more Leeds shelters, and surviving war relics on my blog here
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=265602590&blogId=497370934


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## mexico75 (Mar 17, 2010)

The shelter wasn't seperated into men, women & children. Those alcoves that it is written above are the toilet cubicles, they would of had a privacy curtain (you can still see the mountings for the rails on some of the wallsl) and a chemical loo. It would of been a bit draconian to stop women and children from sitting with thier husbands and fathers. The layout differs slightly from your diagram too, the adjoining corridors aren't in the middle.


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## fluffy5518 (Mar 18, 2010)

Once again phil stunning,simply stunning !!!


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## phill.d (Mar 18, 2010)

fluffy5518 said:


> Once again phil stunning,simply stunning !!!



Thanks for the positive!

Cheers


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## Black Shuck (Mar 18, 2010)

Well done Phil thats absoluteltly brilliant.


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## pricejs (Mar 18, 2010)

Unbelievable. I don't know how you found that place, I have spent plenty of time on Gotts Park and didn't have a clue that this place existed. It looks fantastically well preserved.


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## Engineer (Mar 18, 2010)

*Shelters.*

Excellant report and pics.


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## chris (Mar 18, 2010)

Superb pctures and tunnels - really impressive


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## mexico75 (Mar 18, 2010)

pricejs said:


> Unbelievable. I don't know how you found that place.



He saw it on my flickr


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## phill.d (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks for the great comments and feedback fellas!
Your all too kind


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## phill.d (Mar 18, 2010)

pricejs said:


> Unbelievable. I don't know how you found that place, I have spent plenty of time on Gotts Park and didn't have a clue that this place existed. It looks fantastically well preserved.



Thanks mate. If your interested in the other Leeds shelters, i documented them all in some detail last year. The full story is here
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=265602590&blogId=497370934

Cheers!


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## Badoosh (Mar 18, 2010)

Top work again Phill for getting in. It looks well worth the effort. I'm proper loving the original signage & items left down there. I really like the different type of construction to the shelters here in Plymouth. Fantastic pics too, keep up the good work dude!


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## silverstealth (Mar 18, 2010)

pricejs said:


> Unbelievable. I don't know how you found that place, I have spent plenty of time on Gotts Park and didn't have a clue that this place existed. It looks fantastically well preserved.



He found it by trawling urbex forums..


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## chris (Mar 18, 2010)

Just looked at your blog - I love that tunnel system at the Grinkle iron mine - if I ever get to visit Boulby that's got to be part of the same trip


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## KingElvis (Mar 18, 2010)

LOL Phil, Mex and were looking at this three weeks ago, nice to see that use use our forum for leads LOL


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## hnmisty (Mar 18, 2010)

Wow, thanks for that! I'm just on your site, I've noticed that lump of concrete in Hyde Park so many times and always wondered why it was there, very furstrated now I know though! 

I always like seeing the ARP sign on the wall in uni, I hope they don't let it get worn away by the weather. Do you know if that's the original paint or has it had some TLC over the years? 

May definitely have to stay in Leeds next year so I can try to find some of these places, I'm completely fascinated!


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## silverstealth (Mar 18, 2010)

hnmisty said:


> . Do you know if that's the original paint or has it had some TLC over the years?



You are probably better off asking Mexico about this..


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## mexico75 (Mar 18, 2010)

hnmisty said:


> Do you know if that's the original paint or has it had some TLC over the years?



Its original, if you look closely you can see that the original signage was originaly white on the bare concrete, the place was later whitewashed and the signage re done in black over the top. when we got in we were the first in 65 years so theres no way it had been redone since the war. There were also the remains of original posters over the top of it and penciled on graffitti from 1943.


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## tommo (Mar 18, 2010)

fantastic looking place and some very nice pics, looks in rather good condition and what is with prams in underground spaces


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## hnmisty (Mar 19, 2010)

It must have felt pretty strange to be the first people inside for all that time. I got very confused though- I meant the ARP sign on the wall in uni, brain warped out when you said you were the first isdie for 65 years! lol. 

Do you know if the uni had any (I'm guessing it did due to that sign) shelters or if any still exist somewhere?


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## phill.d (Mar 19, 2010)

hnmisty said:


> It must have felt pretty strange to be the first people inside for all that time. I got very confused though- I meant the ARP sign on the wall in uni, brain warped out when you said you were the first isdie for 65 years! lol.
> 
> Do you know if the uni had any (I'm guessing it did due to that sign) shelters or if any still exist somewhere?








Yeah it's a well preserved sign to say it's outdoors.
I don't think there are any shelters still around the campus though. They utilised basements and celars as well.


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## night crawler (Mar 19, 2010)

What can one say Phil only "your the man" another excelent report putting many of us to shame


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## krela (Mar 19, 2010)

Next person to make personal attacks and bring politics onto this forum gets banned.


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## Faing (Mar 19, 2010)

thats good urbex, well done an thanks for the good picturs and info.iam surprised it isn't vadnalised.


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## borntobemild (Mar 19, 2010)

Great pics Phill.

I've heard there's one under Woodhouse Moor somewhere.


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