Report - Mesnes air raid shelter - Wigan - March 2014

[paulpowers]

Last time I visited I didn't have a tripod so I decided to pop back down as I was passing

Sadly this time I managed to get a smudge of vandal grease in the middle of my lens

The shelters were designed to shelter a few hundred people

A CAMPAIGN to save air raid shelters under a Wigan park has been launched by two students.

Many homes across the borough had home-made Anderson shelters dug into their back gardens to escape the Nazi bombs of the second world war but virtually all are now long gone.

But the maze of air raid shelters which protected hundreds of workers at the Rylands Spinning Mills and Pagefield Iron Works complex are still bearing witness to the hostilities more than 60 years after the end of the conflict, even if they are now securely capped against intruders.

Now two Wigan school pupils who are interested in history are trying to save the concrete tunnels which are said to run under Mesnes Park in Wigan town centre.

They face an uncertain future because they lie on the boundary of land bought by property developers MCR Properties for a housing redevelopment scheme which will include the former Pagefield Mill, latterly the Pagefield annexe of Wigan and Leigh College

As I popped my head out I was greeted by a handful of surprised students and a man that I presume was a lecturer or a peado all of which stood there looking shocked

I said a cheery hello and made a quick retreat before anyone had time to ask any questions

And a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEygl5UNow

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[ARC1990]

so so awesome. I live on the road next to the park and i've been reading these threads all day, desperate to go and explore the bunker now!! And after the fire in the mill/old college thats meant to be easier to access now too

 

[Snake Oil]

I wouldn't bother with the mill, its well f00ked.