Declassified document uncovers Manchester's master plan in the event of 1980s nuclear war

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine threatens to be the biggest risk to peace between the West and Russian since the end of the Cold War era.

In the late 1940s Eastern European countries became satellites of the Soviet Union – including East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Rumania. The US and the West responded with the creation of NATO in 1949.

In 1961 the Soviets built the Berlin Wall – a symbol of the Cold War. During the 1950s through to the late 1980s, the threat of nuclear war between the West and the Soviet Union hung over Europe and the rest of the world. The Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960s was when many experts believe the world came closest to tipping over into nuclear conflict.

Read More: 10 lost Greater Manchester schools that have been closed and demolished

Read More: Lost city centre 'landmark' was great place in Manchester to meet on a first date

The arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War, only heightened geopolitical tensions and fear for the general public. This would not end until 1991 when the Soviet Union's power and influence diminished and its Communism regime imploded.

For anyone born in the last 30-years, it's hard to truly understand the fears surrounding nuclear war people experienced even in the 1980s. There were public information broadcasts on what to do in the event of an attack; even children growing up in that decade were aware of the serious conversations surrounding the possibility of nuclear war.

In Manchester, a relic of this Cold War era still exists today as part of the Guardian telephone exchange. Also known as 'Scheme 567', it consists of a hidden web of tunnels and a bunker buried around 35