WW2 air raid shelter wanted for visitor attraction

Nick Taylor and Nick Moore have teamed up to renovate Fort Paull

A recently restored World War Two visitor attraction is looking for an air raid shelter.

Fort Paull, on Battery Road, east of Hull, is asking residents to help them locate a Anderson shelter to add to the heritage site.

The tourist attraction, which reopened in September this year after being closed for four years, dates back to the 16th Century and was used during World War Two to store ammunition.

Nick Moore, who ran a campaign to keep Fort Paull open, teamed up with Nick Taylor, a former Royal Marine, to renovate the site.

Mr Moore has asked for help locating an Anderson shelter and a Morrison shelter.

As Hull was one of the most bombed cities during the war, Mr Moore said he thought it likely that someone in the area would have a shelter that is "unloved and unused".

"It would be cool to let people experience what it would have been like to shelter in an Anderson during a raid," he added.

'Man caves'

Anderson shelters were made of corrugated metal sheets and designed to be constructed in private gardens.

People were advised to sink the shelter – which had room for up to six people – about 3ft (90cm) into the ground and cover it with 2ft of earth.

Morrison shelters, which doubled as a large steel table, were designed as an indoor refuge from falling debris, should the house be bombed. There was space for two adults and a child (or two small children) to sleep inside it.

Mr Moore said Anderson shelters were still popular in some quarters. A Facebook group is dedicated to people who restore them or use them as "man caves".

People have already reached out to Mr Moore and he has located three sites that have panels from Anderson shelters in their gardens.

He said he was yet to decide where to put up the shelter within the grounds, but hoped it would "create a unique experience".

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