In May 2025, the Cold War Network brought together historic sites across the UK for the first-ever National Cold War Heritage Week. Taking place between 16 and 23 May 2025, this nationwide event saw 15 museums, bunkers, military sites, and heritage locations open their doors to offer exclusive tours, special exhibitions, and expert-led talks on one of the most pivotal periods in modern history.
Major coverage of National Cold War Heritage Week appeared across the BBC and regional news:
- National Trust, Orford Ness, Suffolk: As part of Cold War Heritage Week, Orford Ness gained media attention for deploying robotic dogs to investigate sealed Cold War-era bunkers. East Anglian Daily Times and the BBC reported on the remote site’s eerie remnants of Britain’s atomic weapons testing infrastructure.
- Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire: BBC News covered how the site planned to open the formerly classified Avionics Building – originally designed to survive chemical/biological attack and process TR‑1 reconnaissance aircraft data.
- Nothe Fort, Dorset: The Dorset Echo, BBC News and Love Weymouth covered the launch of special Cold War tours at Nothe Fort. Visitors were guided through decontamination chambers, emergency planning rooms, and nuclear-blast-proof bunkers beneath the Victorian-era fortress.
- RAF Air Defence Radar Museum, Norfolk: The Eastern Daily Press highlighted the Radar Museum’s contributions, including Cold War exhibitions and expert lectures on Britain’s air defence network and its role during nuclear tensions.
- English Heritage, Dover Castle, Kent: BBC News highlighted how guided tours on 18 May would take visitors into the lesser-known “DUMPY” level of Dover’s wartime tunnels – designated in the 1960s as one of the 12 Regional Seats of Government, prepared to operate as a bunker in a nuclear crisis.
- National Trust, The Needles, Isle of Wight: The Isle of Wight County Press featured a rare tour of the island’s Cold War military research site, where early missile systems were tested and stored.
- Landguard Fort, Suffolk: Landguard Heritage organised Cold War site tours and exhibitions, uncovering Felixstowe’s past as a strategic Cold War coastal defence hub.
Cold War Heritage Week will be back in May 2026. Sign up to the free Cold War Network newsletter to find out how you can get involved!
