Community group launches ambitious bid to open Bidston tunnels to the public

Sep 30 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

AN ambitious project has been launched to open a network of tunnels under Bidston Hill to the public.

Wirral was given funds to establish two deep air raid shelters in 1941, one in Tranmere and another under Bidston Hill’s Rhododendron Garden, its entrance facing Hoylake Road.

The Bidston shelter had 2,213 bunks and 793 seats, as well as a canteen, staff dormitory, toilets, medical aid post and a ventilation shaft which could double as an emergency escape hatch.

The tunnels, which were 7ft wide and 6ft 6in wide, were rarely used and the entrance was eventually sealed up.

Now consultants have been asked by a Bidston community group to look at how the shelters could be brought back into use as a tourist attraction.

Peter Crawford, of Bidston Preservation Trust, said: “Our plan would be for the rhododendron garden to become a memorial garden to all those killed during the war.

“Hopefully we would be able to open up little sections inside the tunnels and recreate it as it would have looked.