New Brighton war tunnels open for VE Day tours

Fascinating hidden wartime tunnels beneath a New Brighton indoor fairground are set to be opened to the public to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day next month.

During the Second World War, the barrel-vaulted space beneath the Art Deco New Palace Arcades on the Wirral resort’s waterfront housed 200 women who made vital small armaments for the war effort.

In 1944, a national newspaper report on the ‘underground grotto’ at a ‘north-west seaside town’ described how the female war workers turned out 250,000 machine gun bullets a week while holiday makers and day trippers strolled, oblivious, along the promenade above.

While the women departed at the end of the war, some of the heavy machinery they used was left in the tunnels and now, 80 years later, they are being restored to open to the public – and are believed to be one of a kind in the north of England.

The special VE Day underground tours will take visitors through some of the areas where the women worked in eight-hour shifts below ground, keeping the machines running around the clock.

Above: Women war workers in the tunnels below the New Brighton amusement arcade. Top: The tunnels today.

The current arcade, which stands next to the Floral Pavilion, was opened by Whilma Howe 'Will' Wilkie – grandfather of current owner David Wilkie - in August 1939 as the New Palace Amusement Centre. The building, which cost £11,000 (around £920,000 today) stood on the site of an older indoor arcade.

When war broke out weeks later, the enterprising Wilkie decided to switch the from amusements, including dodgem cars and a shooting gallery, to armaments, clearing out the 100-year-old tunnels which were full of sand, rubbish and stalactites.

The secret underground world, presided over by the former manager of the amusement park and originally staffed by fairground assistants, included a machine shop complete with lathes and other precision machines, and tool store.

But it also boasted a canteen and dance hall, complete with bar and fairground jukebox, which the women workers named the ‘Creep Inn’. Air-conditioning was also installed in the tunnels, along with a 'sun-ray' room where the underground workers could enjoy some artificial sunlight.

Above: The New Palace Amusement Centre was opened in August 1939.

In February 1944, Forces’ Sweetheart Vera Lynn made a detour from performing at the Liverpool Empire to entertain the women workers on the site.

Meanwhile when America joined the conflict, GIs used the amusement arcades on ground level to repair military vehicles.

After the war, Will WIlkie bought a second-hand circus tent and opened WH Wilkie's Mammoth Circus at the popular Wirral resort. Then in the 1950s he moved to South Africa where he ran the Great Continental Circus.

David Wilkie took over the family business in New Brighton from his father Bill in the 1980s.

The wartime treasure trove beneath the arcade was rediscovered eight years ago, and Wilkie Leisure Group is now working with other cultural figures in the area to bring the tunnels back to life as a unique heritage attraction.

Beneath the Arcade tours take place on May 8 from 11am to 5pm. Tickets cost £10 with £7 concessions and there is free entry for service personnel. More details HERE