Site Records
Site Name: Bedminster Sub Control
Banwell Close
Bedminster
Bristol
Bedminster (Bristol) Sub-Control by Nick Catford There were originally
4 civil defence sub-controls in Bristol, the only one of the four to
still exist is located in a residential area of Bedminster opposite
No. 10 Banwell Close. It is a single storey concrete blockhouse approximately
100 feet by 30 feet with a flat concrete roof and a door at either end.
It was built in 1938 as a civil defence control centre and after the
war was used by the Royal Signals then the Royal Artillery (with guns)
and then nurses of the St. John Ambulance Brigade. In the early 1950's
it reverted back to Civil Defence being used as a sub-control until
the mid 1960's. Since then it has remained locked and unused although
externally maintained by the local council who kept the grass and weeds
cut until a few years ago. They have also painted the walls with anti-climb
paint although this has now dried.
Photo:
External view of the blockhouse
Photo by Nick Catford
The years of disuse and saurprisingly lack of vandalism have left the
whole building internally lines with cobwebs. The building consists
of a main 3' wide spine corridor with operational rooms to the right
and domestic rooms to the left. There are six rooms on the left, the
use of the first room is unknown although it contains a table, chairs
and a board with the following headings, 'Locations Board' and underneath
that five columns with the following headings 'Control', ' Locations',
Subordinate', 'Rendezvous' and 'Remarks'. There are a number of papers
in here relating to Civil Defence and the operation of the bunker. There
is also a wooden sign which once must have been fixed to the outside
of the building. It said 'City and County of Bristol Civil Defence Control
Enquiries C.D.O. 30 Cotham Park, Bristol'. The next room is the male
toilet which has all its fittings intact. This is followed by an 'L'
shaped kitchen/dining room. Again this has its fittings intact with
a sink, water heater, work top and cupboard containing fifties crockery
and cutlery. Beyond this is the female toilet with its fittings intact
and then a large empty room which would probably have been the dormitory.
The final room on that side of the corridor is the plant room. Here
there is a standby generator, ventilation plant and control boxes and
switching equipment. Everything appears complete and undamaged and in
reasonably good condition. From the rear of the control room a door
leads into a short 'L' shaped passage leading to the rear exit (locked)
and a door into a room on the right hand side of the building. Here
there is a large cupboard containing more papers relating to civil defence
and the running of the bunker. On the far room there is a glass window
into the control room.
The control room is the biggest room in the bunker with glass windows
into rooms on either side and a window into the corridor. All the glass
in all the windows is intact and unbroken. There are a large number
of tables and chairs arranged in a semi circle with a small lectern
on one of the tables. There are a number of wall boards to which maps
could have been pinned. At one end is a large board 6' high and 7' wide
with various painted headings. The board is divided into three columns.
The left hand column is headed 'Available' and under this are eight
columns divided by twelve horizontal lines. The right hand column is
titled 'Allocated' with seven columns and twelve lines under it. The
middle colimn has a title for each of the parallel lines under 'Reserve'
and 'Allocated'. They are 'Depot or rendezvous area', 'Rescue', 'Ambulance',
'Sitting case cars', (Requisitioned private cars for minor injured to
save using an ambulance)'Cas. col. parties', (Casualty collection parties)'M.F.A.U.',
(Medical Forward Aid Unit - a kind of first aid post)'Reconnaissance'
and 'Field Cable Parties' (A specialised sections of the CD Corps with
cable laying trailers for laying armoured field telephone cables). The
board shows what is available and where they are i.e. still at the depot
or at the rendezvous point.
Beyond the control room is a communications room, again furnished with
tables and chairs and 6 acoustic booths along one wall; this room has
windows into the control room and into the final room on this side of
the corridor which has no obvious use. There are two further boards
in the comms. room; one is titled 'Locations Board' with the same headings
as the other 'Locations Board'. The third board is headed 'Display board'
with 'Date' and 'To be seen by' under it. There are 5 columns. Throughout
the bunker is fitted with fluorescent lights with all the tubes still
intact and radiators on the walls in all the rooms. Although the building
is a little damp in places it is in surprisingly good internal condition
with no vandalism at all. The adjoining lock up garages have been badly
vandalised (recent newspaper report) and it has been suggested that
the whole area has should be cleared which would be a shame as this
is a unique piece of post war civil defence history in Bristol
Home Page
Last updated 14th March 2004
© 1998-2004 Subterranea Britannica
|