It might not be so hidden anymore, but for decades this vast underground bunker was one of the UK's best kept secret defence sites. Not even local residents had any clue what the concrete entrance hub was hiding deep in the Cheshire countryside for decades at
Hack Green. It was cloaked in secrecy until it was officially decommissioned in 1993. Now the secret nuclear bunker is a unique tourist attraction - to serve as a lasting reminder of the threat of the Cold War, the name given to the geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union and America and its Allies in the 1970s and 80s. Visitors can now walk the eerie corridors where civil servants prepared for the threat of nuclear attack. During its active years it would have become the Regional Government Headquarters in the event of a national emergency. READ MORE: People are queuing late at night for Trafford Centre's newest addition While it is now a family attraction, there are some rooms deemed too scary for children to enter. There is a special Small Spies trail to help younger visitors to understand the exhibits. Rooms inside the bunker include the former BT Communications office (Image: Manchester Evening News) The attraction has recreated key spaces in the bunker, including a radar room, a decontamination room, huge underground water tank and dormitory where around 150 civil servants would have been able to live in the event of a nuclear attack. The museum also houses the largest public display of decommissioned
nuclear weapons in the country. The museum takes visitors through the history of the site, as well as interactive exhibits - including a terrifying nuclear shelter experience where you can feel what it would have been like for a
bomb to go off in the north west and the messages you would have received while sheltering. You are given a warning before it begins though - that those with medical conditions or children should not enter. The concrete building was originally a radar station built in the 1950s to counter any nuclear threat. Then in the 1960s it became a more developed station, looking after airspace and mobility of civilian traffic all over the north west. Inside the Secret Nuclear Bunker (Image: Manchester Evening News) Later in the 1960s its radar role was closed down. In the 1980s, then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher revamped the armed forces and the UK's civil defence headquarters to ensure that the Government could continue in the event of a nuclear war. Officials then redeveloped Hack Green into a Regional Government Headquarters in the event of a war at a cost of £35mn. It would become one of three in the
UK that would have run the country in the event of a disaster. Naturally, the world continues to be on high alert - and so while Hack Green was decommissioned, the Government has gone on to build NEW secret bunkers. As that is all classified information it's anyone's guess as to where they are located. Museum founder Rodney Siebert inside the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker (Image: Manchester Evening News) Rodney Siebert was the mastermind behind turning the bunker into the extraordinary public attraction we see today. He had previously worked in finance while also having a parallel career with the Government preparing the nation for nuclear war. He knew about the site, so when it came up for sale bought it to develop initially as a communications site. But as only a small section was being used for that business, the idea was raised to turn the remainder of the site into a museum. Rodney says: "I had an interest in the Cold War having been involved myself, so I had some bits and pieces myself, but it was completely empty. The site extends to over 35,000 square feet, and we were only using a small part of it, so it was mooted that we should open it as a museum with the unused portion of the bunker. I had no idea at that point that it would grow to the extent that it has." Visitors can explore the bunker (Image: Manchester Evening News) The attraction opened in 1998 and soon caught the public imagination. Rodney says: "It's been mad ever since". Even people in the local area had no idea what the site had been used for, save for its past history as RAF Hack Green. Rodney said: "It had been an RAF base in the 1940s, but nobody around here knew what it was later turned into. They didn't know this was being converted to a radar station, let alone a nuclear facility in the 1980s, it was all top, top secret." It was built to withstand the force of a nuclear bomb, as well as provide the necessary life support, water, and supplies to ensure people could survive for three months following an attack. While many of the radar and computer systems are now 'obsolete' all of the life support systems are maintained and are working. Recreated dormitories inside the bunker (Image: Manchester Evening News) Rodney says: "It has its own generators, water supply and air conditioning system - they are all maintained and working. Without resupply, these were designed to run for about three months with 150 people in it." Every Easter weekend Hack Green hosts the largest Cold War re-enactment event in the UK. Over 100 actors head along and re-enact various scenarios from the Cold War through the 1950s up to the Gulf War. They set up a camp and the building gets shut down as if it's a nuclear war. The Cold War Living History Weekend will be held over Saturday and Sunday March 30 and 31. The Cold War re-enactment will take place across the Easter Weekend (Image: Tim Marsden) The unique nature of the building has also appealed to film crews - with a number of movies and TV shows filming here. That includes the updated version of the Ipcress Files and Ghost Boat with David Jason. A room created especially for the set of Ghost Boat remains in situ in the underground section that people can now visit. Rodney says seeing thousands of visitors continuing to enjoy exploring the extraordinary building buoys him on. He says: "We never market it at people who are interested in any particular war, we find people still come in their thousands anyway. "My main thrust was to preserve the bunker, and provide a good day out for families that is both exciting and educational as well. So that's where we come from." Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker is at French Ln, Nantwich CW5 8BL. Entrance is £15.80 for adults and £10.50 for children or £45 for a family ticket.