REF Blakelaw was a Second World War Royal Air Force Fighter Command station based at what is now Kenton Bar in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Underground

( 1 ) PLANT ROOM

( 2 ) OPERATIONS ROOM

( 3 ) CONTROLLERS CABIN

( 4 ) AOC's OFFICE

( 5 ) MESS

( 6 ) SLEEPING QUARTERS

( 7 ) TOILETS

( 8 ) PASSAGE TO WEST EXIT

( 9 ) AUXILIARY BATTERY ROOM

( 10 ) PASSAGE TO EAST EXIT

Once the visitor has passed through the double gas sealed doors underground he or she will find that the bunker consists of two levels.

If entering from the West entrance (No 8 on map), directly ahead lies a corridor with doors to the Plant Room on the left (No 1). The corridor in front of these doors contains a stairwell that goes down to the lower level and the Operations Room (No 2). Beyond this were teleprinter rooms leading to the East Exit (No 10) and toilets (No 7). Also along this corridor lies the Auxiliary Battery Room (No 9) which would have been used in case of power failure. This room contains racks of acid filled glass batteries and a maintenance log book. Indeed the last entries in the log book are from the late 1960's when the bunker was used during the Cold War.

Right next to the Battery Room are some stairs that lead to the upper level. Going up these stairs one can find the Sleeping Quarters (No 6), a mess room (No 5) and more toilets (No 7). Around this area is the Air Officer in Command office (No 4), just across the corridor from the Controllers Cabin (No 3). This is where Air Force and Naval representatives would have overlooked the plotting table through curved glass windows in the Operations Room (No 2).

Maps

airfield

airfield