HUNDREDS of people took a rare and 'chilling' glimpse at Cumbria's Cold War bunker, complete with metal blast doors and nuclear-hardened telephone exchange.

The top-secret suite of rooms, located in the basement at Kendal's County Hall, was unlocked to the public during Heritage Open Days, England's largest festival of history and culture.

The emergency control centre was built back in the 1960s when the world was fearful of nuclear attack, and was designed to accommodate 40 staff.

Saturday's open day hosted by Kendal Archive Centre attracted 450 people - "a truly amazing turnout", said archivist Margaret Owen. "It's chilling to think of what it was planned for, and luckily it was never needed," she told the Gazette.

"Members of the public said things like, it was really good to see a little-known piece of local history. They found it fascinating. Somebody referred to the fact it reminded him of his Cold War history lessons.

"People were asking whether there was any possibility of it ever needing to be used again, which we don't know, but that sort of consideration was certainly on their minds."

Evidence for the nuclear bunker's 1960s phase was recently discovered in the Westmorland County Council civil defence papers. Plans were first drawn up in 1961, a year before the Cuban Missile Crisis, and nuclear-hardened concrete blast blocks can still be seen in the grounds of Kendal’s County Hall to this day.

The suite of rooms with its dormitories, teleprinter and scientific offices was overhauled during the 1980s and items that are still in situ include metal doors designed to withstand a blast but not a direct hit; the original kitchen with cooking range and dishwasher; and a nuclear-hardened telephone exchange which Margaret described as "the size of a chunky fridge". Four-minute warning equipment was also housed there.

"You can still see on the windows the metal bolts where the blast panels would have been fitted," said Margaret, adding that the centre was decommissioned in the 1990s.

"We were just amazed at the amount of public interest in it, and delighted with it," she told the Gazette. "I guess the world situation at the moment might have prompted people to think a bit more about how awful a nuclear incident might be or might have been if it had ever taken place, and might be in future."

Meanwhile, Sunday saw 80 visitors brave horizontal rain to visit Calgarth Park at Troutbeck Bridge. The Georgian mansion was built in 1790 by Richard Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, and was transformed into a hospital for wounded Belgian and British soldiers during World War One.

From 1920 to 1970 it was the Ethel Hedley Orthopaedic Hospital for Children, and since 1974 it has been run by the Lake District Housing Association as sheltered apartments for people over 55.

The open day saw visitors enjoy costume and photo displays, as well as talks and home-baked cakes.

Among venues that also took part in Heritage Open Days were the estate church for Wray Castle, St Margaret of Antioch; Hawkshead hill Baptist Chapel; Holy Trinity Church, Langdale; Allan Bank, Grasmere; the Merz Barn, Elterwater; YHA Langdale; Drybeck Hall near Appleby; Appleby's medieval Moot Hall; Askam-in-Furness library; Steam Yacht Gondola at Coniston Water; Dalton Castle; Cartmel Priory Gatehouse; Colthouse Quaker Meeting House, near Hawkshead; the Strickland family chapel at Sizergh Castle; Farfield Mill, Sedbergh; a gunpowder trail walk at Crooklands; Gleaston Water Mill; Swarthmoor Hall,and the Royalty Cinema and Wurlitzer organ at Bowness.