Scotland's Secret Bunker

Most tourist sites take trouble to make it easy for visitors to pick them out.
Scotland's Secret Bunker however does the very opposite.  Part of its appeal is that it is almost impossible to spot, and it was deliberately designed that way.

Built in the 1950's by the Ministry of Defence when security services were obsessed with the "Soviet threat", it is a vast underground bunker, 40 metres below ground and reinforced with so much concrete and tungsten rods that it could withstand a blast force of two tons.

A mass of underground tunnels provide enough accommodation for over 300 people, but there is no information available about who were the lucky ones selected to sit out an atomic onslaught in the bunker.

Even the entrance looks innocent because it is designed as an old fashioned Scottish farmhouse surrounded by grasslands under which the bunker lies.  Once inside the farmhouse however everything changes, for it turns out to be the gateway to a 150 metre entrance tunnel leading deep into the bowels of the earth.

Below ground is fascinating.  The whole interior is hermetically sealed and there is a plant room with enough machinery to satisfy a mad scientist. The entire air system is capable of being changed every 15 minutes, and the air can be heated, cooled, deodorized, ionised, dehumified  or filtered for atomic particles.  The heating system is designed to maintain a temperature of 15 degrees centigrade throughout the bunker?s vast area and, if fully on, it costs £200 an hour to run.

Obviously the people who were to sit out an atomic war in the bunker could not go in and out so, there are sleeping areas and a vast canteen capable of seating 300.  The kitchens are 1950's state of the art, and today's tourists can eat there.  The menu offers such delicacies as soup, baked potatoes, hot dogs, chicken and chips and pizzas ? did restaurants offer pizzas in 1950? 

Visitors can also book afternoon teas in this amazing place and there is a retail shop offering bullets, shopping bags, decorated mugs and T-shirts, and, best of all, a junior secret agent kit.

Scotland's Secret Bunker still belongs to the MOD and is situated by the side of the B940 between St Andrews and Crail.  It is hard to spot but nearby is a hamlet called Kingsmuir.  Put your spy hat on when you go looking for it.

The secret bunker is open to the public from the end of March till the end of October, seven days a week between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.  Entrance price is around £8 a head for adults but family tickets for two adults and two children can be bought for £25. 

Kids and all lovers of the novels of John Le Carre and Len Deighton will love it. 
The telephone number is 0333310301, and the e-mail is mod@secretbunker.co.uk
Don?t phone out of season because the only person there is a confused sounding security man.