The Safety Notice in Carshalton Park above the Air Raid Shelter hole....

Air raid shelters were created just prior to World War Two. The government at the time wanted all local councils to arrange for surveys to be made in their areas to ascertain suitable premises in shopping, business and other aeras where the public were likely to congregate more than seven minutes’ walk from the homes. 

Councils for fairly built-up areas such as the old Carshalton Urban District Council had to provide a system of trenches in their public parks and open spaces such as Carshalton Park to the rear of the even-numbered houses in Ruskin Road between the tennis courts and The Park.   They were built and more or less completed by the end of September 1939 just a few weeks after the outbreak of the war. We’ve been told by the local Council archivist from Sutton Council that the Carshalton Urban District area shelters were built as follows:-

Jill, Alan and Hamish by the fenced off air raid shelter hole in the ground...