Air raid shelter reopens as 1940s bar

A disused underground station once used as an air raid shelter is to reopen as a 1940s-themed bar, recreating London’s blitz spirit.

Cahoots, located underground off Carnaby Street, was formerly a disco club and once used as an air raid shelter. However its latest incarnation has seen it return to its roots and transformed into a post-World War Two “tube station” complete with carriages, bunk beds and sandbags leftover from the Blitz.

It is the latest concept from entrepreneurs Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling, the owners of London’s tongue-in-cheek Italian bar Bunga Bunga and the Margaret Thatcher-inspired Maggie’s nightclub.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mr Stirling, said: “The venue has a long history of being a nightclub. The former owner said it was used as an air raid shelter in the war and told us a German pilot shot down over London was brought here for one last night on the town before being thrown in the slammer. Our concept is: it’s 1946, London is being rebuilt after the Blitz. A group of scoundrels stumble across a disused tube station used as an air raid shelter and start organising underground parties to try and rebuild the spirit of London.”

The bar will open on 5 March with a launch party featuring “dig for Victory-themed” cocktails featuring beetroot, potato and peas and ration book staples such as powdered milk and treacle.