York Cold War Bunker (English Heritage)

Monument Close
York
North Yorkshire
YO24 4HT
England

Website

www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.17373

Telephone

01904 646940

All information is drawn or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.
An exterior view of York Cold War Bunker

English Heritage's most modern, most unusual and perhaps most spine-chilling site, 'No. 20 Group Royal Observer Corps HQ' is the semi-subterranean bunker which would have monitored nuclear explosions and fallout in the Yorkshire region. In service between 1961 and 1991, the Bunker's control rooms display 'colour psychology decor' together with original monitoring and communications equipment. Decontamination rooms with air filters and special sewage ejectors were intended to seal off the 60-strong workforce from the devastated outside world. A guided tour, enhanced by a striking 10 minute film (PG rated) and interpretation, tells the story of the Cold War's 'Mutually Assured Destruction.'

Venue Type:

Museum, Castle or defences

 Admission charges

Discounts

  • English Heritage
Events details are listed below. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all. For events that don't have a specific date see the 'Resources' tab above.
Detail of Operations room at York Cold War Bunker

Museums at Night Cinema & Tour: Goodbye Lenin!

18 May 2013 *on now *Fully booked

An unusual opportunity to see York Cold War Bunker at night, with a special screening of 'Goodbye Lenin!' Experience the end of the Cold War in this tragicomic film, screened in the atmospheric Cold War Bunker.

See how the bunker would have functioned during a nuclear attack in an introductory tour!

Goodbye Lenin: Cristiana is a committed Socialist. Seeing her son brutally attacked by police in communist East Germany is so shocking it causes her to have a heart attack. While she is in a coma, the Berlin Wall crashes down, Germany is reunited and the world she knows is destroyed. Convinced the shock will kill her, her family go to elaborate lengths to disguise the collapse of Communism.

In German with English subtitles, rating 15.

Suitable for

  • 18+
  • 16-17

When

7-9:45pm

Admission

£10 (English Heritage members £8).

To book please call 01904 646940

Cold War Cinema

26 July 2013

In this special family session, learn how to make your own pinhole camera, experiment with photosensitive paper and get hands on with our cold war collection.

Suitable for

  • Family friendly

When

10:30am-2:30pm

Admission

£3.00

Website

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/events/cold-war-cinema-yor-26-jul

Pinhole Camera Family Activity Day

26 July 2013

Discover how simple photographic technology was used at York Cold War Bunker during the Cold War, and experiment with light to make beautiful images to take away! Visitors can also handle objects from the collection, as well as seeing the living quarters of this Cold war relic.

Part of CBA's Festival of Archaeology.

Suitable for

  • 5-6
  • 11-13

When

1-1:30pm

Admission

£3 (English Heritage members: £1)


To book call 01904 646940.

Resources listed here may include websites, bookable tours and workshops, books, loan boxes and more. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all.
 Face to face resources

Hot War, Cold War Discovery Visit

Explore the development of the nuclear arms race and discover the role of the Royal Observation Corps nuclear bunker in the Cold War. This unique self-contained bunker is a time capsule of the 1960s-1990s. In the event of a nuclear strike, 60 people would have lived in it. Led by a knowledgeable guide, visit the dormitory and operations room, handle original artefacts and view a short audio-visual presentation with footage of the period and films focusing on life inside and outside the bunker during the 1960s-1990s. An essential visit for GCSE Modern World!
Duration: 1 1/2 hours
Key Stage: 3, 4, AS and A level History

How to obtain

Call 01904 646940 to book a 1½ hour session. Price £60 per group of up to 30 pupils until April 2009, £75 per group after April 2009. Visit http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.19519 for more information.

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