Also there is a story that the caves were used during the Second World War as Air Raid Shelters, and from Newspaper reports in 1938 the possibility of using the caves was investigated. In fact the large cave system that is entered from Phoenix Wharf was never used as shelters, but the small cave at the bottom of the ramp that leads from Redcliffe Parade was used as an Air Raid Shelter until 1942 when the major air raids on Bristol ceased. This small cave, in which about twenty to thirty people from the Redcliffe Area sheltered was fitted with bunk beds and paraffin heaters. The vicar of Redcliffe prayed with them, they had singers and entertainers and according to one lady who sheltered there “they had a fine old time.”
Photograph : Alan Gray
Photographs of the inside of this cave - http://redcliffecaves.wikidot.com/small-cave