> Bullough Moor Primary School Shelter 📍

An apparent shelter existed here, with steps leading down to a set of four perpendicular tunnels. The shelter was accessible via a hatch until at least the seventies. You can see the outline of the steps on Google Maps aerial view on the embedded map shown below.

This location was reported by Phil Barnes, who writes:

There is a long forgotten shelter under the playing fields of what was Bullough Moor Primary School in Heywood. There was concrete stairs going down to it and further along a short brick chimney? I remember the cover being removed from the chimney by kids revealing the shelter below there could be seen 4 corridors at 90 degrees to one another 2 ran parallel to the school and regent st of which one would connect I assume to the concrete stairs. One headed towards the school and the last towards the centre of the field. This was in the 70s as a child as time passed the stairs where infilled with soil the chimney was removed and capped. The area is just rough grass area next to the playing field and now seems totally forgotten about. I don't know how far the tunnels expand as I wasn’t "as a kid" brave enough to climb down the rope other kids had put there. Would be interesting to know more about these tunnels.

From the junction of moor st and regent street head south past the bowling green and hug the fence to your left (this is the site of the old school now demolished) now hug the fence heading east till you are halfway along that fenceline. Turn sound and pace out about 3-4 paces. You are now stood on the stairway entrance which descended as you travel east to a steel door. Further to the east and slightly south from memory is the where the brick chimney was (similar to the guardian ones at Salford and Ardwick but not as tall and no ladders) thats where the 4 way junction in tunnels was.

The Manchester Evening News ran a piece referencing the shelter, which mentions the shelter being covered with an old stone bearing the Heywood crest. Heywood History has a page about shelters in Heywood, also mentioning this location.

I remember in the late 70 early 80 as a kid the bullough moor shelter steps going down which where later backfilled. also at one point a square hatch was removed which was parrallel to the steps. when you looked down 4 corridors extended in all directions. one towards the stairs one away from the stairs. one towards the school and one towards the centre on the field. I assume its all still there just buried. you can see concrete bits in intervals along the long grass part on the field

I was at Bullough Moor from 1959 to 1966...my Dad was Headmaster there from about 1948 to 1968. There were two sets of stairs leading from the playground down into the shelters built under the playing fields at the back of the school. Needless to say they were bricked up but I remember a square hatch being broken open and being able to see down into the corridor of the shelter below. Not much to report..damp with bits of debris. - Martin Johnson

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