Lost Places & Forgotten Faces is an urban explorer who has visited a number of derelict and demolished sites across Derbyshire – with his most recent adventure taking him inside a Second World War bomb shelter in Ilkeston.
These 11 photos show inside the “extensive labyrinth” of tunnels that were constructed to protect workers from German air raids. Lost Places & Forgotten Faces can be found on Facebook here.
1. Bomb shelter
Lost Places & Forgotten Faces has delved into an old bomb shelter in Ilkeston. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces
2. Air raid tunnels
The Stanton Ironworks Bomb Shelters are an extensive labyrinth of air raid tunnels which were constructed in 1940 on a site adjacent to the now demolished Stanton and Staveley Ironworks. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces
3. Shelter for munitions workers
The tunnels served as shelters for hundreds of munitions workers employed by Stanton during German bombing raids in World War II. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces
4. “Exemplary” site
From the late 1930s, all new factories were obliged to provide purpose-built air raid shelters, so their survival is not unusual. However, this shelter may be a prototype and its presence on the manufacturer's site makes it exemplary. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces