Up and Down the Stairs of a Buckley Anderson Shelter near Castle Brickworks"

Pinfold Lane, Buckley

November 2006

This very well built and preserved Anderson Shelter is now (11.2006) being used as a wood store. It was built from bricks made at the Castle Brickworks in Pinfold Lane in the grounds of Ewloe Wood, for use by the Alletson family and the families of the brickworkers who lived in the row of four houses near the main house. It had benches and no beds.

Don Hughes:

My father was a manager and we lived in one of the houses. I remember using the shelter when I was eleven. There was heavy night bombing of Liverpool over about three weeks. We used to sit and talk for the two hours or so we were in there. It usually started about eleven or twelve o' clock at night. A fuller account follows.

World War II Anderson air raid shelter

Located at Castle Firebrick, O!d Works : Owner - Mr. Brian Lee

By Don Hughes

As a boy aged eleven / twelve, I spent numerous night hours in this Anderson air raid shelter along with my mother and father and some other Castle Firebrick workers and their families who lived in the four, nearby Company houses.

The shelter was built at the outbreak of the 2nd. World war by the Castle firebrick Co. Ltd. for Mrs. Alletson, who was the wife of the deceased General Manager /Director of the Castle Firebrick Co. Ltd., Mr. John Alletson, at their home near the "Castle Old Works" on Pinfold Lane. It was a well-designed shelter with internal lighting and with "back up" from candles, should the power supply fail.

The longest continuous periods we spent in the shelter, was in 1941 /42, when the German Luftwaffe bombed Liverpool and Birkenhead docks and the Oil refineries at Ellesmere Port The night air raids usually commenced around 9 to 10 pm and normally continued for upwards of two to three hours, over a period of 10 to 14 nights.

The time in the Shelter was spent sitting on cushioned wooden benches, drinking cups of tea from flasks, prepared by the mothers of the families as soon as the warning sirens were heard. The Grown Ups discussed many subjects whilst the youngsters listened, but to the anti aircraft guns firing, rather than the subjects being discussed by the parents. We children were more concerned about the amount of shell shrapnel and perhaps a parachute flare or even pieces from a German bomber that we might collect on the way to school at Northop Hall village, the next day.

It was cold and damp in the shelter, but everyone had put on heavy clothing at the first "wail" of the warning siren and the whole experience was full of excitement for us children. Thankfully, as children we were not aware of the terror the people of the U K may have experienced, if the Germans had won the war.

Many years later, in the early 1990's, my wife and I were invited to a dinner party at the home of Mr and Mrs Lee, who were now the owners of the "Alletson Property" which still included the Anderson air raid shelter. Also at the Party were two German friends of Mr and Mrs Lee who were keen to learn from me about my experiences in the shelter with the German bombers overhead. I related my experiences to them and on completing my comments, the German friend jokingly (I hope), then advised, "We missed you last time, but we will get you next time"

Author: Lee, Bryan and Hughes, Don

Up and Down the Stairs of a Buckley Anderson Shelter near Castle Brickworks"

Pinfold Lane, Buckley

Tags