Mr and Mrs Fawcett in their shelter, October 1940

This wonderful photo shows Mr. And Mrs. Horace Fawcett posing in their cosy air raid shelter in Cardigan Avenue, Burley. This shelter was a strengthened coal cellar, and the Fawcetts had obviously gone to great pains to make it comfortable. At the time, the Leeds ARP were getting many complaints from people about the lack of amenities in their shelters, and the Fawcetts were held up as a shining example of resourcefulness and ingenuity. When members of the ARP came to inspect this shelter, they found the walls neatly papered, electric lighting and a heater installed, chairs and a table, and pictures on the wall, with a cot for the baby in the corner. “It is a grand piece of work” was the comment of Cllr. HW Sellars, ARP chairman, “We only wish that other people would make the same sort of effort instead of rushing to the corporation with trivial complaints”.
Cllr. Sellars went on to say that there were many cases of householders refusing to have shelters originally, then demanding them as soon as trouble came.