Saint Andrews Off The Beaten Path

"The Bunker" has been Scotland’s best kept secret for over 40 years, until now - a bunker designed for the cold war is hidden beneath a Scottish Farmhouse. A tunnel leads you to a 24,000 sq ft bunker accommodation on two levels, 100 feet underground.

You can walk down the 150m entrance tunnel, through the hermetically sealed 3 ton blast proof doors into an environment which reveals one of the darkest periods of Scotland’s history and the worlds. You can choose one of the seven sections available here and explore the Bunker. It still contains much of its original equipment, a testament to the skill of the engineers who built and maintained the plant.

To filter the air against radioactive particles; gas and biological warfare, the plant moves 1500 cubic meter's of air every minute. This changes the entire air contents of the bunker every 15 minutes. In the event of a fire a smoke system can remove smoke at a rate of 2200 cubic meter's a minute (52 000 cubic ft) and there is a 24 hour fire detection system in operation. Air can be refrigerated/heated, ozonated/deozonated, humidified and de-humidified.

The bunker retains a natural temperature of 18 degrees celsius with little variation. To run the heating system alone would cost over £200 per hour.

In the event of a power failure the bunker has its own emergency generator that can produce 750kva for up to three months! That is enough to supply the coastal villages in Fife.

We didn't visit here - wish we would have known about it when we were in Scotland. I found this information while researching Scotland's history and thought it might be an interesting "Off the Beaten Path" activity. They even have the canteen open as a restaurant, you can book parties and it's even been a rock concert venue.

Located on B1940 between Locrity & Crail
Open from: Sat 27th March 2004 , until the end of October, 7 days a week 10am last Admission 5pm Close 6:00pm.

They have a unique website to visit for more details..

This is a jeurney back in time to the twilight world of the cold war. Scotland?s best kept secret for over 40 years: Hidden beneath a Scottish Farmhouse, a tunnel leads to Scotland?s Secret Bunker. A nuclear command bunker .This amazing underground labyrinth, built 100 feet underground, and encased in 3 metres of reinforced concrete, is where central Goverment and Military Commanders would have run the country had the UK been attacked and nuclear war broken out.