Bunker site now has very different fate...
Sunday Sun MARCH 7, 2021
IT might once have become the home of an autocratic governor who ruled over a decimated population in the wake of nuclear war.
Now, the Hexham Bunker site is set to become home to a Lidl supermarket, a Travelodge and a car park.
But during the 1980s it was set aside as one of Britain’s key hopes of survival in the event of a devastating atomic attack.
The site, just off the main road, close to the Northumberland market town’s Tesco, has lain empty for decades, and while it is widely known as the bunker, many may not be aware of the strategic significance the site was once meant to hold.
This is the fascinating history of a cold war panic which foresaw the Tyne Valley playing a crucial role in running a post-nuclear Britain.
After the Second World War, the British government decided it needed to spread strategic sites across the country, in case of future attacks. From the these fortified war rooms, the fight against the enemy (at that time, likely to have been the Soviet Union) would have been planned and directed.
In the 1950s, a former RAF operations room at Kenton Bar, in Newcastle, was identified as the Northern hub, joining a network of around 15 sites set across the country, according to the BBC. But even before the network of sites had been completed in the 1960s, it was clear they could be defunct. The 1955 Strath Report made the horrify
ing consequences of nuclear war clear, declaring in no uncertain terms that even a “limited” nuclear attack could see “the social and economic fabric of the country destroyed”. Up to 12 million people would eventually die, with food and water contaminated, the NHS overwhelmed and industry out of the question.
These small sites weren’t sufficiently fortified to withstand nuclear blasts, and many of them lay too close to cities that would likely be targets.
A new plan was needed, with Strath recommending a network of nuclear bunkers across the country to protect the populous. But the multi-billionpound cost of such plans made them practically impossible.
Instead, the British state would be preserved with Regional Seats of Government (RSG). It was understood that normal democratic government would be on hold, giving way to what a Home Office representative called in 1982 a “more autocratic” style of government. Regional Commissioners would have full control of the governance of their region. Sub-regional commissioners would be put in charge of the likes of law and order and morale among the survivors – who would have been left to take their chances outside the bunkers.
The Home Office initially hoped to construct specialist protected accommodation for these officials, with Hexham earmarked as the right spot for the Northern Hub. But, once again, cost got in the way, so instead of the creation of bespoke bunkers, preexisting sites would be made secure for the teams who would run their section of the country.
That’s where the former Second World War cold store just outside the Northumberland town comes into the story. According to Historic England, the bunker was of a standard type, often referred to as Buffer Depots, which was designed to hold strategic stocks of food. The body, which investigated the site in 1997, said it was unclear exactly when the conversion into an RSG took place, but “substantial rebuilding work” was underway there in 1983.
The records of the Hexham Historical Society show that local anti-nuclear group Northumbrians for Peace highlighted the presence of the seat in the cold store as part of its anti-war campaigning activities in the 1980s.
But, of course, the Strath report’s worst fears did not come true.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the world’s fears of nuclear destruction were eased – and the need for country-wide bunkers faded alongside them.
In 1996, Historic England records show the site was bought by a local builders’ merchant, with the bunker demolished by 1997.
In more recent memory, the 5.5 acre site has lain empty, with calls for a long-stay car park among the more prominent peacetime hopes for the land. It was put up for sale in 2016, and was purchased in October 2018 by Union Property Ltd. Plans for a supermarket, car park and hotel were given the green light by Northumberland County Council in late 2019.
Last year Esh Construction won the £10m contract to turn it into a 60-job hub featuring a 69-room Travelodge, a Lidl food store and a 250-space car park. There will also be a new roundabout and a main access road.
It’s now hoped that what might once have been the focal point of North East government, will instead bring a “£2.16m visitor spending boost” to the popular market town, helping the region recover from a very different sort of crisis – the Covid-19 pandemic.
Work has now officially started, with a planned completion date of April 2022 on the cards. All in all, a very different future for the site from that envisaged by the doomsday planners of the 1980s.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the world’s fears of nuclear destruction were eased – and the need for countrywide bunkers faded alongside them.
A taxi driver was attacked by a drunken city centre thug who tried to steal his car and called him a racist name.
The victim was sitting in his vehicle on Newcastle Quayside when he was approached by John Armstrong and two other men.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Armstrong asked to be taken to South Shields just after 1am on July 15 2019 then suddenly attacked the cabbie as he looked up the location on his sat nav.
Now Armstrong, whose barrister said has a brother who is a professional footballer, has been jailed for 40 months.
Graham O’sullivan, prosecuting, said: “The defendant approached the driver’s door and the complainant asked what he was doing.
“The defendant grabbed him round the throat with sufficient force that he struggled to breathe and began punching him repeatedly in the face.
“He tried to push him off and the defendant grabbed him by his top and pulled him out of the car.
“He landed on his knees and the defendant started to kick and punch him all over his body. He was on the floor trying to defend himself.”
As the victim tried to run away, Armstrong jumped into the driver’s seat and tried to start the car.
The cabbie came back and tried to grab the keys from the ignition, at
which point he had his thumb bent back with force.
Armstrong, 26, of Lameden Mill Court, Lemington, Newcastle, then tried to get out of the taxi but the victim pushed the door closed.
Mr O’sullivan said: “The driver’s window was open and the defendant put both of his feet through the open window, trying to kick him in the chest so he would move and the defendant could get out.
“The complainant grabbed his feet to stop him kicking and he tried punching the complainant. He kicked the car wing mirror causing it to crack.
“The victim was shouting for help and asking someone to call the police.”
He managed to keep the car door shut until police arrived to arrest him.
As he was taken to the police van, he shouted “He is a p***””.
Armstrong then lunged towards a police officer as if he was going to assault him and he was taken to the ground, swearing at police.
The taxi driver was left with a sore head and face and pain in his thumb, wrist, chest, neck and knees, grazes to his face and difficulty swallowing.
His phone was smashed and the cost of repairing that and the wing mirror was £600.
He had two months off work, which left him £3,000 out of pocket, and was left scared to do his job but had to return to provide for his wife and young child.
Armstrong, who has previous for wounding and excess alcohol, was subject to a suspended prison sentence for producing cannabis and abstracting electricity at the time.
He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, attempted theft, criminal damage, racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and being in charge of a car while over the drink drive limit.
Rachel Hedworth, defending, said: “He is extremely remorseful and is shocked and sorry about what took place on this particular evening.
“Having seen the footage
and heard the effect it has had on the complainant, he is extremely remorseful about what took place.
“He was highly inebriated. It’s something that would not have taken place had he not been in the state he was that particular night.
“It was disgusting behaviour and he is extremely sorry.”
Miss Hedworth said there were a number of references about Armstrong’s usually good character from people who are shocked at the racist language he used, which is “entirely out of character and doesn’t represent the person he is”.
She added: “He behaved irrationally when he’d had far too much to drink. He certainly does not hold any racist views whatsoever.
“He comes from a hard-working and respectable family. He obtained 10 GCSES and has always been in work. His brother is a professional footballer.”