History Preserved

In July last year I took the journey 12ft underneath the city to visit one of the most unique and under-appreciated wartime air raid shelters in the UK. This was no ordinary bomb shelter - reinforced with thick concrete and spanning about ten times longer than the average design, this was perhaps one of the safest places in the whole city. More than a dozen entrances lined up adjacent to a large building where thousands of people were working towards the war effort. In the event of a bombing raid they would rush underground and see it through, often for hours at a time. Amongst them we now know was a talented individual who decided to pass time by drawing those around him using only a stick of black charcoal. All entrances were heavily sealed following the war, and the artwork forgotten for seven decades before one of the entrances was uncovered. This was both a blessing and a curse - whilst I felt extremely privileged to have seen inside this place, I was far too aware of how delicate this artwork was. It would simply wipe off on your hand if you tried, and all it would take is one bad-egg of a person to destroy them forever. I didn't post anything about my explore or share it online whilst I knew it was still accessible as I didn't want to draw any attention, but I've now seen that the single entrance has been sealed and hopefully in the future somehow it can be preserved for future generations to see and appreciate.