From the late 1940s to the fall of communist Russia, Britain was at war.

To the general public much of it was imaginary, but the Cold War was real nonetheless. With lines of hostility drawn with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher on one side and Soviet leaders on the other, the Cold War was a stand-off between the super powers.

There are many remains today, from “secret” nuclear bunkers to missile sites, early-warning radar sites to spy sites such as GCHQ.

The bunker, above all, typifies the public’s view of the Cold War and few have caused some much interest as Corsham quarry or, to give it its full name, Emergency Central Government Seat, Turnstile Box Hill.

Pictures of the bunker, the largest in the UK, are published in a new book, The Illustrated Guide to Armageddon, by Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society review editor Bob Clarke.

The idea was that civil servants and ministers would retreat to the relative safety of the old quarries beneath Wiltshire’s limestone hills.

The site was earmarked in the early 1950s as the seat of Emergency Central Government and by 1957, plans had been drawn up for a centre capable of coping with 7,000 Government officials and support staff.

Passenger and goods lifts were installed in 1957-1958, as was a new ventilation system and, rather bizarrely, a bar known as The Rose and Crown.

The site was upgraded several times, as was the number of staff earmarked to use it.

Finally, the site was placed in “care and maintenance” in the late 1980s, just as three new super bunkers were nearing completion.

Among the pictures in Mr Clarke’s book are those of the telephone exchange, designed to help the Government maintain control after a nuclear attack.

Others are more of a domestic nature, such as the canteen, laundry, Prime Minister’s bathroom, coffee maker and broadcast station.

Other local pictures include Copehill Down, built on Salisbury Plain in the mid 1980s to simulate a typical Eastern European town and a sign outside Blakehill Farm in Wiltshire, which was taken over by GCHQ. Swindon Police Station, built with a War Room in the basement, is also included.

The Illustrated Guide to Armageddon, Britain’s Cold War Remains by Bob Clarke is published by Amberley, £19.99.