Air Raid Shelter
Unfortunately we have been unable to obtain any photographs of the interior of the Shelter at Wilkinson's. It is probable that there are none in existence given wartime wariness of those, other than officials, carrying camera equipment.
Wilkinson's shelter could hold 210 people.
It was divided into 3 rooms: Nos 1, 2 and 3.
From the main King Street entrance, you went down 4 wooden steps and through the doors into No 1 Room. The walls were bare brick and 2 bed high bunks lined each main wall.
No 2 Room was the central section of the shelter where the girls in particular liked a sing-along.
No 3 Room was a smoking area with a rear exit onto George Street.
The floors were concrete. The ceiling was not reinforced: the wooden floors of Wilkinson's factory with its machinery were just above.