On the site of a former school
(opened in 1859, closed in 1968) at 192 London Road, the buildings
that made up 'Churchill's' Snooker Hall had fallen into disrepair and
during 2006 the site was redeveloped. During building work the
contractors obligingly opened a hole through the roof of the air raid
shelter beneath the old playground for inspection before immediately
re-sealing it.
The shelter is of typical low-budget trench construction with a
reinforced concrete roof, screeded walls and arched ceilings -
basically this would have provided light protection from a near miss
but would not have withstood a direct hit from a bomb or shell. The
interior was still in good clean condition when inspected, with
minimal damage from vandals who had managed to gain access in previous
years. A small kitchen area had survived quite well, and water pipes
to this and other parts of the shelter were visible. The tunnels were
approximately 6' 6" high at the centre point of the arches, and 5'
wide with internal blast walls that formed small alcoves for toilets.
Modern power cables had been routed through the site (probably from
when the hall was used as a social club by a ferry company)
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