The Bunker's 86th anniversary day runs on Saturday 19 September. Packages are £35 or £30, all under-16s go free, and the Generator House opens free alongside.

The Battle of Britain Bunker holds its biggest day of the year on Saturday 19 September, and this year’s theme is the fifteen countries whose people fought in the battle. Hillingdon Council announced the programme on Monday. (Council honours ‘the 15 nations’ for Battle of Britain anniversary, Hillingdon Council, 1 September 2026)

The council’s announcement leaves out the two things most people will want first: what it costs, and what you can do without paying. Both are on the Bunker’s own event page. (Battle of Britain 86, Battle of Britain Bunker)

What it costs

There are two packages, and all under-16s go free:

  • Spitfire Package, £35 adults and £30 concessions: every Speaker Series talk, visitor centre access and a 15 Nations tour of the Bunker
  • Hurricane Package, £30 adults and £25 concessions: visitor centre access and every Speaker Series talk, without the Bunker tour
  • Hillingdon Heritage Membership, from £32 a year: both packages are free to members

For comparison, a normal adult ticket covering the Bunker and visitor centre is £14, and £8 for the visitor centre alone. Under-16s are free on a normal day too. The Spitfire Package is therefore a day’s programme rather than an admission charge.

One thing to check before you book. On a normal visit a HillingdonFirst card takes 50% off the admission fee, one card per visitor. The event page does not list HillingdonFirst against either package, so if you hold one it is worth asking whether it applies on the day. Booking runs through three steps, and the Bunker asks you to click through to the checkout page rather than stopping at the basket. Ticket queries go to 01895 238154 or bunker@hillingdon.gov.uk.

The day, hour by hour

Timetable of Battle of Britain 86 at the Uxbridge Bunker on 19 September 2026: 15 Nations tours at 10am, 11.45am and 3pm; Speaker Series talks on New Zealand at 10.30am, Ireland at 11.30am, the USA at 1pm and the Caribbean at 2pm; the flag dedication ceremony at 11.15am; the In Their Own Words tour at 1pm; the Friends Community Choir at 1pm; the tea dance at 2.30pm; and the climbing wall from 11am to 3pm
Two things clash at 1pm: the In Their Own Words tour and the USA talk. The choir also starts then.

Bunker tours. The 15 Nations tour runs at 10am, 11.45am and 3pm, lasts about 75 minutes and takes you into the Operations Room of No. 11 Group Fighter Command. It is built around 15 September 1940, one of the decisive days of the battle.

At 1pm there is a separate In Their Own Words tour, hosted by the author and historian Dilip Amin, built from first-hand testimony. That one runs about 90 minutes.

Speaker Series, in the auditorium, 45 minutes each:

  • 10.30am, Paul Beaver: New Zealand
  • 11.30am, Brigadier General Fry: Ireland
  • 1pm, Mike Peters: the United States
  • 2pm, Colin Douglas: the Caribbean

Elsewhere, through the day:

  • 11.15am, outdoors: dedication ceremony at the flagpoles, unveiling a new “15 Nation Flags” interpretation board
  • 1pm, mezzanine: the Friends Community Choir, singing 1940s material
  • 2.30pm, mezzanine: a tea dance, with live music. Period dress encouraged
  • all day, outdoors: living history displays including RAF, WAAF, French Resistance, US Air Force, US Army and Polish Air Force re-enactors
  • all day: 15 Nation displays on the mezzanine, family activity packs and trails, and drop-in sessions from Freshwater Theatre performing “Crossing Oceans and Continents”
  • 11am to 3pm, outdoors: a climbing wall, free and unticketed, run with thanks to Hillingdon West Scouts

What is free on the day

Two things need no ticket at all. The café is open to anyone, and the Generator House opens as part of Open House Festival, free and without booking. The Generator House holds the original 1930s standby generator that powered the Operations Room, and it is not part of the site’s regular paid tour.

That is worth planning around. 19 September is one of only four days the Generator House opens this year, and we covered the full borough line-up in our guide to Open House in Hillingdon. If the Bunker packages are more than you want to spend, the Generator House on the same afternoon costs nothing.

The 76 steps, and the alternative

The Bunker is Grade I listed, and the Operations Room can only be reached by 76 steps. There is no lift and no ramp. For visitors with reduced mobility the Bunker runs a short film in the fully accessible visitor centre instead, and a 35-minute virtual tour of the Operations Room runs all day in the large meeting room, available with any ticket.

Other practical points from the Bunker:

  • Parking is free for all visitors, with Brown Badge and Blue Badge bays
  • The site is inside the ULEZ zone, which the Bunker flags on its own visitor information. Budget for the charge if your vehicle is not compliant
  • The visitor centre has level access throughout and a lift between floors
  • There is no Changing Places toilet on site; the nearest is in Uxbridge town centre
  • The address is Wren Avenue, Uxbridge UB10 0GG, signed from the brown tourist signs
  • By tube it is Uxbridge, on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines; by bus the A10, U1, U3, U4, U7 and 427

What it means for you: decide first whether you want the Bunker itself. If you do, the Spitfire Package at £35 is the only route that includes a tour, and the 10am slot is the one that leaves the rest of the day open. If you are bringing children, the free under-16s policy, the climbing wall and the Freshwater Theatre sessions make the Hurricane Package the cheaper family option. If you want none of it, come for the free Generator House and the café.

Getting there is straightforward on the day, but check our roadworks and travel page first, and our Uxbridge parking guide if you are driving into town rather than to the Bunker’s own car park.

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