Working up near Blackpool 20 odd years ago, my Mrs was an EHO for the local council. They had an emergency plan for if the Heysham nuclear reactor went up. There was a list of key personnel to be contacted in the event who were to make their way to a secret underground destination in Preston.
She was on the list on the assumption that EHO’s would be necessary to deal with urban environmental issues in a post-apocalyptic world.
Also on the list we’re local councillors & members of the Women’s Insiitute (to help with organising things)
They had enough provisions to stay underground until the radiation was deemed safe enough to come out
I was not on the survivor list & to be honest would take my chances rather than have to go through that
One fun place to go for this sort of affair is the Cold War Bunker in York. You have to book in advance, I think, guided visits only, on the hour. Surrounded by a residential estate because the whole thing was in essence going to be partly citizen manned. The idea being to act as a co-ordinating centre to get messages from nuclear monitoring outposts to the central hubs if the balloon went up. Volunteers had to spend 2 days in there every year on practice exercises.
And it was meant to be a suicide mission. If there was a war, you went in there, leaving family behind, in there for 30 days, then the air runs out, and that's it.
There's one up in St Andrews too, I think it is. They were manned by the ROC (Royal Observer Corps) which was originally devised in WW2 to spot German bombers coming over on air raids.
There are loads of the little nuclear detection posts out there still if you know what you're looking for. Used to be one on Tythe Barn Lane, dunno if it's gone now though
The Italians are afraid of the number 17.
“While many countries avoid the number 13, Italians are more fearful of the number 17. This fear stems from the fact that the number 17's Roman numeral, XVII, is an anagram of VIXI, which means “I have lived” in Latin. Some consider this a bad omen as it implies that death is just around the corner.“
MacAttackThe Italians are afraid of the number 17.
“While many countries avoid the number 13, Italians are more fearful of the number 17. This fear stems from the fact that the number 17's Roman numeral, XVII, is an anagram of VIXI, which means “I have lived” in Latin. Some consider this a bad omen as it implies that death is just around the corner.“
I knew that one as some airlines don't have a row 17.
TyphoontechieThat's a different thing - an actual command centre. York is the only observational centre still extant.There's one up in St Andrews too, I think it is. They were manned by the ROC (Royal Observer Corps) which was originally devised in WW2 to spot German bombers coming over on air raids.
If you are ever in Alnwick in Northumberland, go into the White Swan Hotel. It has the interior fittings of the Olympic, one of the two sister ship to the Titanic which were purchased when the ship was broken up.
[www.google.com]
wasn't there someone on here who used to work at GCHQ or was it just one of Magnas stories ?
Both myself and SpionKop worked there ...... he got treated horrendously during the trade union ban dispute, i just left
I think there was 8,000 people working there then - so it'd not unusual to know people who did. If you live in the Cheltenham area it's easily the biggest employer
In fact i worked there 3 times - once as an employee and twice as a self-employed contractor.
Obviously i can't tell you exactly what i did - but it was basically, for me, detailed analytical figure work - all sources of the data were removed before they got to me and none of it seemed at all "spy-ish" or "dodgy".
Obviously with 8,000 employees there are a massive multitude of different people, levels and roles.
I don't know what most the people i met there did - but some of them were very "interesting" and remain useful friends (still don't know exactly what they do mind)
The stepson of my wife’s best friend works there in some ‘unspecified’ role and was looking to move to the Cotswolds - obviously an expensive operation.
My wife asked her how ‘the house buying was going’, at which her friend looked a bit alarmed (she’s also a bit mutton), and said, ‘Sorry, we really can’t talk about that!’. My wife asked why ever not - apparently she had heard ‘how is the spying going’.
The stepson of my wife’s best friend works there in some ‘unspecified’ role and was looking to move to the Cotswolds - obviously an expensive operation.
My wife asked her how ‘the house buying was going’, at which her friend looked a bit alarmed (she’s also a bit mutton), and said, ‘Sorry, we really can’t talk about that!’. My wife asked why ever not - apparently she had heard ‘how is the spying going’.
😄😄😄😄
but honestly - an awful lot of the work there is very mundane. Exactly the type of work i enjoy mind.
bluearmyfactionOne fun place to go for this sort of affair is the Cold War Bunker in York. You have to book in advance, I think, guided visits only, on the hour. Surrounded by a residential estate because the whole thing was in essence going to be partly citizen manned. The idea being to act as a co-ordinating centre to get messages from nuclear monitoring outposts to the central hubs if the balloon went up. Volunteers had to spend 2 days in there every year on practice exercises.
And it was meant to be a suicide mission. If there was a war, you went in there, leaving family behind, in there for 30 days, then the air runs out, and that's it.
Am I missing something or is that absolutely pointless?
wasn't there someone on here who used to work at GCHQ or was it just one of Magnas stories ?
Spion Kop.?
Madeira BluebluearmyfactionOne fun place to go for this sort of affair is the Cold War Bunker in York. You have to book in advance, I think, guided visits only, on the hour. Surrounded by a residential estate because the whole thing was in essence going to be partly citizen manned. The idea being to act as a co-ordinating centre to get messages from nuclear monitoring outposts to the central hubs if the balloon went up. Volunteers had to spend 2 days in there every year on practice exercises.
And it was meant to be a suicide mission. If there was a war, you went in there, leaving family behind, in there for 30 days, then the air runs out, and that's it.
Am I missing something or is that absolutely pointless?
No, because you spent the 30 days "safe" corresponding with other governments, etc, passing messages around about safety, etc, but you can't leave it as it's designed to be sealed. If nobody went in, potentially no messages could be shared. If it wasn't permanently sealed, the incumbent would presumably be at risk of radiation poisoning and die before the 30 days anyway.
👍
14 years before Titanic sank, author Morgan Robertson wrote the novella Futility. It was about the large unsinkable ship "Titan" hitting an iceberg in the Northern Atlantic. The story described how Titan had insufficient lifeboats..Coincidence?