A businessman has uncovered a ‘treasure trove’ of history in a Second World War air raid shelter tucked away underneath his office.
Entrepreneur Steve Shaw, from Stoke-on-Trent, made the discovery in the bowels of the Trinity Buildings in Hanley, Staffordshire.
The property has served as the base for his firm Euroseal Windows for more than a decade.
Mr Shaw says the shelter appears to have been used briefly as a photographic darkroom in the 1950s, but he believes that it has remained untouched ever since.
Items found in the cellar include original air raid signage, emergency supplies and tins of rations.
The 55-year-old business owner is now taking steps to have the items catalogued by the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.
Mr Shaw said: ‘I think the reason it’s been so well preserved is because there’s not much light down there.
‘You have to get down in the bowels of the building to see it – you need to go through two or three other cellar rooms to find it.
‘The signs really caught my eye. There’s also lots of old bottles down there which I’ve had a look at.
‘Fortunately, they’re all empty – there’s no dangerous chemicals in there.
‘I’ve no idea what stories might have taken place there, but it’s fascinating to think about.’
He told how he would get in touch with the local museum, as part of what he described as a ‘retirement project’.
Mr Shaw added: ‘Because there’s lots of stuff in there – not just the air raid shelter.
‘The building used to be an old estate agents, so there’s lots of old documents and deeds about the area, dating back to the 1800s.
‘They’ve also left a ruck of old Six Towns Magazine copies from the 1950s. They’ve more or less got every edition ever printed – they’re very interesting.’
A couple from Wiltshire recently told of being similarly shocked when finding a Second World War bunker under their summerhouse three years after moving in.
Catherine Milburn, 32, and husband Liam, 34, made the discovery while they were renovating their back garden.
They said they believed it to be the remains of an Anderson shelter which would have been constructed during World War Two, with only 14 of them thought left in the UK.
Mrs Milburn, a regional manager from Trowbridge, said: ‘There’s about a three-metre-long piece of concrete underneath a summerhouse in the garden.
‘When we were digging it out, we noticed steel bars. We thought it was a bit over the top for a summerhouse then we got to a corrugated iron sheet.
‘I thought ‘Oh my God, what have we found? We kept digging. We were so excited. Liam and I kept going until we ran out of daylight. Then we found the steps. It’s got water in it so we’re going to pump it out.’
Since the discovery, the family have ditched previous plans to build a garden room where the summerhouse stood because they want to preserve the shelter.
Mrs Milburn added: ‘It’s lovely to have that history in our back garden. We love the idea of making use of it and we want to do something different.
‘We want to get some light in there. I’ll definitely document it as we go. The kids are really excited and the school want to do a trip here. It’s so educational for them to learn about the history.’
An Anderson shelter was a small, metal air raid shelter built in gardens and houses during the war to protect people from bombs.
They were made out of two curved corrugated steel sheets bolted together at the top, and buried about three feet into the ground.
Designed to protect up to six people from shell fragments and bomber splinters, they are capable of withstanding a 100-pound bomb falling six feet away.
The government supplied them to low-income families for free, and later sold them to wealthier people.
About 1.5million were distributed before the war and 3.6million were produced in total.
They became popular after heavy bombing began in the summer of 1940 and were named after Sir John Anderson, the Home Secretary from September 1939 to October the following year.