Nelson Square

[MoreJoe]

Originally Posted by Jim Procter

I cant remember the names of the streets but I remember that the street which ran from the Grammar School on Blackburn Road down towards Hyndburn Street met up with a large cinder covered field about the size of a football pitch.The Air-Raid Shelters that I remember were under this field. During the War the kids from the Grammar School used to play in the shelters at dinner time. There were 4 entrances and the passages were concrete lined with wooden seats along their length.There were Electric lights throuhout.We used to go in there when it was raining otherwise we played Football on the cinder covered Field.

Jim-
That would be Lister Street and it ran from Blackburn Road down to the "Rec" which was short for "Recreation" I think? I went into those shelters too but they were small and in a simple square layout. The shelters under Nelson Square were vast by comparison with a more complicated arrangement of tunnels and dead ends. If you went into the Nelson Square shelters you needed a good flashlight and a lot of batteries.

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by Jim Procter

I cant remember the names of the streets but I remember that the street which ran from the Grammar School on Blackburn Road down towards Hyndburn Street met up with a large cinder covered field about the size of a football pitch.The Air-Raid Shelters that I remember were under this field. During the War the kids from the Grammar School used to play in the shelters at dinner time. There were 4 entrances and the passages were concrete lined with wooden seats along their length.There were Electric lights throuhout.We used to go in there when it was raining otherwise we played Football on the cinder covered Field.

I remember the Rec, adjacent to HP school, football, and the girls from HP provided the entertainment, but I don't remember the shelters - '50 - '55, maybe they had been sealed off by then.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

I always knew them as air raid shelters. Never went in, the smell put me off, never knew what you'd step in.

Ya ducks on lodge next door were wearing um as wellies Gordon

[Gordon Booth]

The 'rec'-kids played football on there, imagine falling down on those cinders or doings one of those 'slide on your knees' when you scored a goal-your legs would be worn down to stumps.
When you compare the size of the shelters on the 'rec' and those on Nelson Square it makes you wonder if there was some sort of military complex near the Square. Or a factory producing military hardware? I don't remember any.

[MoreJoe]

I think they just had a lot more space to work with on Nelson Square. Their purpose was general population shelter. The equivalent of Londoners spending the night in the Tube.