WW2 Anderson shelter
In early 2015 the idea to reconstruct a World War two shelter on plot 229 was brought to the Allotment committee by plot holder Simon Coleman.
The shelter had been turned into a shed which was a common practice after the war, the plot holder who owned it kindly agreed that we could have the shelter. Research was carried out on how Anderson shelters were constructed and which sections needed replacing or repairing. See image below of the shelter construction diagram and completed shelter.
Rebuilding the shelter
The six curved panels were in poor condition, with the lower two feet missing from rust corrosion, we repaired these sections with corrugated sheeting found on the allotment. We were able to find a few pieces of genuine Anderson shelter on the plots around the allotment which shows that once dismantled the shelters panels (especially the flat sections) were used on this allotment. The bolts had been put in upside down when it was a shed, but it was so badly rusted we left them upside down when rebuilding to make them match. Below image is the shelter when found on plot 162.
Changes to the original design
We decided to improve the access by not replacing the front lower panel and added a step on the front allowing us to walk into the shelter. We also only dug the shelter two feet into the ground, rather than the three feet they would have been. We used the soil from the hole in the sandbags. We did not replace the front and back bars and escape handles, as we did not have them. We also did not have genuine panels for the back section and instead used old sections of corrugated metal from the allotment.
There were various companies that produced shelters and this shelter is the made by “Merino” which can be seen on three panels on the inside (see photo). Image below Completed Anderson shelter
Additional note: Old photos from the 1960s show an Anderson shelter next to the Model Cottages near Occupation Road. It had no original front panels, which was typical when shelters were being used as a shed after WW2.
On Plot 162 there was an old Anderson shelter which could have been the one from model cottages or just another one. The obvious sign that it was built as a shed was that it was not the regulation 3ft in the ground and that the front entrance had been replaced by a wooden door and wooden front panel.
Image below shows the model cottages in the 1960s and air raid shelter on the far left.
