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Stolen from Subrit
Where there was space on a factory building site, an external shelter was likely to be the favoured solution, reducing the likelihood of the staff air raid shelter being crushed by the building above collapsing on it or the escape route being blocked by post-impact debris. At the Littlewoods site in Edge Hill, the shelter was built at the eastern edge of Wavertree Park and was aligned parallel to the factory building to allow rapid filling via several gateways. The factory itself is an attractive 1938 art deco building, which surprisingly for its date was not built with an integral heavily protected basement shelter.
Littlewoods was one of the most famous shopping catalogue companies formed in 1928, though like many factories its production was turned over the military ends during the Second World War. It was then used for various activities in support of the war effort, including printing National Registration forms (on the outbreak of war 17 million were printed here over 3 days), assembling the floors of Halifax bombers, and by the code breakers of MC5, the government office that intercepted mail to and from suspected enemy agents.
Covered many times before so Im sure you are all aware that "what its all about" is the extraordinary charcoal drawings down here that remain a bit of a mystery.
Im reckoning they were simply an artist who retreated down here & sketched various people in the vicinity but whatever the reasoning they are an amazing piece of history that really should be saved.
Its fair to say the rest of the bunker is boring yet extensive network of repetitive concrete tunnels, so here is the rest of the pics.
