Last week, The Atkinson had a brilliant donation from a local gentleman, Martyn Griffiths. Meet the newest piece in our collections, a WW2 Street Shelter Key for Chester Road in Southport.

A small rusty key with an attached fob that reads “Street, Shelter, No.” “Chester Road” and is believed to have come from an air raid shelter that would have been situated on Chester Road, Southport. Martyn came across it when he was clearing the effects of a Mr Hukin and Martyn believes he was the key holder back in the second world war.



You can see this remarkable piece of Sefton’s local history on display outside of the lift on the first floor. The Atkinson are desperate to hear some stories from people who remember the shelter or have memories of using any of the local air raid shelters during WW2. Get in touch and let us know your stories galleries@theatkinson.co.uk

I love old interesting stuff like this but cant help wondering why they would put a lock on an air raid shelter?, isn't it a bit like locking a fire door until there's a fire, imagine hearing the air raid siren on one of those times when you just cant find your keys.