[Manchester Metro News excerpt - 28/4/06]The remains of a WWII bunker has been discovered on a mud bank in Cheadle and experts say it has probably been hidden since the war ended. Historian Ian Sanders, who runs a website dedicated to preserving Britain’s wartime defences, was told about the site by a fellow enthusiast. However, it had not been listed on any official records until now.
He says the bunker, just yards from the Wilmslow Road bridge, is an unusual find this far north.
During the war, the gun emplacement would have been used to hold a large anti-tank gun and would have been surrounded by a ditch allowing soldiers to hide. But now the ditch has become filled with mud and all that remains is a bracket – originally used to mount the mortar gun – sticking out of the ground.
Stockport Council conservation officer Paul Hartley said that there had been no record of anything on the site before Ian told the organisation about the bunker. Council officials have now contacted Manchester University historians, recommending it is added to Greater Manchester’s sites and monuments record.If the bunker is included on the list, this will mean developers will have to take the historic site into consideration when applying for planning permission. This could mean that potential developers would have to preserve the site.
[Photos from www.pillboxesuk.co.uk]
