Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker is well worth a visit just see the building and to get some idea of what the political atmosphere was like in the middle part of the 20th century. It is quite impressive to see the resources were plowed into preparing for a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union. This bunker and many other facilities like it are scattered through out the UK. The vast majority are closed to the public and slowly deteriorating so I personally jumped at the opportunity to see inside a preserved one.

Firstly the good parts. The bunker tour was interesting and it was obvious that in the past a lot of effort went into preparing the place for people to visit considering that there was very little left of the original equipment when the new owners took over. The owners had to buy in whatever vaguely relevant stuff they could get and it shows. The recorded guide you get via the 'wand' that you carry with you throughout the tour was very informative. Video presentations at various points along the tour were very interesting. One in particular was fascinating. It was a training film made about 1960 and shows Kelvedon Hatch bunker as it was then. You will recognise parts of the bunker you have just passed through. Other films address the thinking throughout the cold war period of what the effects of a nuclear war will be and how the general population should cope.

Unfortunately the bunker tour is let down by the constant background noise from a tannoy system that adds nothing to the tour and makes hearing the good information in the wand difficult. The place is also extremely untidy and quite rough in its presentation. A little effort above ground to clear away the apparently abandoned non military vehicles and some time spent with a broom and a power washer on the guard room exterior would help. Below ground the tatty signs made from gaffer tape, cardboard and black marker need improvement. There is junk of questionable relevance piled up in the corners of many rooms.

The Nuclear Bunker is worth visiting because it is quite unique but the place suffers from being not very well looked after by the current owners and needs some effort to bring the tour up to a reasonable standard. As a museum it falls well below par apart from the recorded guide. The content is there to make it outstanding its just that the place is left down by lazy management.

I can honestly say I did not meet a single person in the whole two hours I was in there. There are cameras everywhere and signs saying that you are being watched in every room. At the end of the tour in the canteen there was nobody. I eventually found where to put the wand and where to pay for the tour and a couple of curios from the gift shop into an 'honesty box'....