The Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker is a former government-owned nuclear bunker located at Hack Green, Cheshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The first military use of the area was in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when a Starfish site was established at Hack Green. Its purpose was to confuse

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

bombers looking for the vital railway junction at Crewe. A

ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was ...

(GCI) radar station was added. In the 1950s, the site was modernised as part of the

ROTOR Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering * Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator *Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...

project. This included the provision of a substantial semi-sunk reinforced concrete bunker or blockhouse (type R6). The station, officially designated RAF Hack Green, was also known as Mersey Radar. It provided an

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

service to military aircraft crossing civil airspace. The site was abandoned and remained derelict for many years until taken over by the Home Office. The R6 bunker was then rebuilt as a Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQs) – one of a network of 17 such sites throughout the UK – designed to enable the government to continue in the aftermath of a major nuclear attack on the UK. In about 1992, following the end of the Cold War, the Home Office abandoned its network of RGHQs and sold many of the sites. The Hack Green Bunker was purchased by a private company and subsequently opened to the public in 1998 as a museum with a Cold War theme.

Current status

The bunker is open to the public most of the year. It has a substantial collection of military and Cold War memorabilia, including one of the largest collections of decommissioned nuclear weapons in the world. It also houses

Ballistic Missile Early Warning System The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS, "474L System", Project 474L) was a United States Air Force Cold War early warning radar, computer, and communications system, for ballistic missile detection. The network of twelve ra ...

equipment originally from

RAF High Wycombe RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s ...

.Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker: BMEWS
/ref> The museum includes information about the function of the bunker during the Cold War. There is a simulator designed to simulate conditions in the bunker during a nuclear attack. Visitors can watch the BBC film ''

The War Game ''The War Game'' is a 1966 British pseudo-documentary film that depicts a nuclear war and its aftermath. Written, directed and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC, it caused dismay within the BBC and also within government, and was subseque ...

'', produced to inform the public of what would be likely to happen in a nuclear attack on Britain. Younger visitors to the museum can navigate the rooms in a game to find the "Cold War Spy Mice" (a large number of toy mice positioned in numerous rooms), the objective being to locate as many mice as possible and return their report to the desk for a prize; this avoids the more disturbing aspects of the bunker, such as the medical room, where a mannequin is depicted with symptoms of burns and radiation poisoning.

On television

Hack Green was featured in the television series '' Most Haunted: Midsummer Murders'' episode two in which the team investigates the murder of a soldier. It featured once again in Series 11. The band

Everything Everything Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, sociopolitical lyrics, the band have released six albums to date – 2010's '' Man Alive'', 2013's '' Arc'' ...

filmed the video for their 2009 single " MY KZ, UR BF" inside Hack Green.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker
Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker

Tourist attractions in Cheshire Museums in Cheshire Nuclear bunkers in the United Kingdom Emergency management in the United Kingdom Military and war museums in England Cold War museums in the United Kingdom Continuity of government

History

Current status

On television

See also

References

External links