From Pittenweem to the Cold War

One of our days out during our Scottish holiday featured a very curious combination of destinations. We began at the delightful fishing village of Pittenweem, on the Fife coast.

After a stroll through the village we ended up at the harbour where we found a plethora of colourful fishing boats. Chatting to one of the locals we learnt that the iron structure pointing out from the top of the harbour building a winch which is used to fill the boats with ice to keep the catch cold.

As we stood on the harbour wall, a trawler returned to harbour, followed by a flock of gulls.

Click on any image to see it enlarged.

One of the local inhabitants.

After a tasty fish and chip lunch we headed back out into the Scottish countryside and found a flock of sheep who were intrigued by our presence!

During our drive to Pittenweem that morning we’d noticed a tourist sign announcing ‘Scotland’s Secret Bunker’ (not so secret now!) which piqued our interest so we headed there to investigate. This unassuming house was the access point for a bunker where the government would have kept track of nuclear radiation over this area of Scotland and helped keep what was left of the country running in the event of a nuclear attack during the Cold War.

There were a number of these scattered around the UK and we’ve visited the one at Kelvedon Hatch (not far from our home) in Essex before so it was interesting to compare them. Like its Essex counterpart, the Scottish bunker is accessed via a long corridor and some stairs, leading you deep beneath the surface.

As we explored the building we saw the different activities which would have taken place there, from monitoring the weather and wind (to see which way the nuclear fallout would have travelled) to keeping the core functions of government going.

Because staff would have lived here for many months the bunker also has dormitories, a chapel and a canteen.

Rather unexpectedly we learnt the bunker is home to two cats these days - no doubt tasked with keeping the mice under control. One of them, called Cleo, obligingly posed for a photo. Of course, the cat flap is a more recent addition - it certainly wouldn’t have been up to the task of keeping out the nuclear radiation!

Many of the spaces were decorated to give a sense that the staff had just popped away for a moment. These human details and the dramatic lighting made these places quite eerie.

Telephone switchboards and weather monitoring. One of the tools that would have been used to learn more about a nuclear attack was a giant pinhole camera positioned on the surface. In the event of a nuclear blast someone would have been sent above ground to unload the photographic paper from the camera and then develop it. The image of the explosion would then have shown the direction and size of the explosion. Fortunately none of these plans were ever needed but it’s a fascinating glimpse back at this period of history and how government would have continued if the worst had happened.

The station doctor has evidently been here a very long time!

Photos taken 28 April 2023.