Hale Cold War Relic
Tag: history
Four Minute Warning
It’s still there! Had another day cycling around my old home turf of Hale and noticed that this once ominous relic of the cold war is still in place. This is the the siren that would have given the residents of Hale village the “four minute warning” so we could all scuttle into our makeshift (useless) home-made “Protect and Survive” shelters as megatons of nuclear firepower burst over the city and the nearby airport!
I vividly remember the chilling sound of this very siren being tested and creating a hellish drone beating with our local siren on the roof of the Unicorn (pub) hotel in Hale Barns; a mile up the road. The siren was originally hooked up to a nearby telephone pole and was activated by a special signal sent over the telephone network. This, at the time, secret civil defence system hidden in plain sight was known as HANDEL, the switching circuit in that box on the pole was constantly listening to the speaking clock until this special signal came along to activate the siren and warn us that the unthinkable was actually underway and the end of our technological civilisation and the lives of millions was suddenly a horrible reality — The sight of this thing dose bring back a lot of memories of my youthful anxiety about nuclear war.
- Aperture: ƒ/11
- Focal length: 50mm
- ISO: 100
- Shutter speed: 1/125s
If you are interested in reading more about this intriguing subject or just want to indulge technical geekery with a dose of miserabalism then you may find some of the links below interesting: –
My own piece on the “Backbone” tower at Sutton Common: BT Tower, Sutton Common
A detailed explanation of the HANDEL warning network: British Nuclear Warning System
UK cold war plans & exercises: Struggle for Survival
Macclesfield Gasometer
Tag: history
Another local icon or landmark that is no more. The old gasometer or gasholder was one of the most visible relics of the towns Victorian infrastructure and it remained in operation well in to the 2000s. I’m not entirely sure of its exact purpose but I gather that gasometers were an essential part of the old ‘town gas’ system, and that small parts of Macclesfield remained on this system long after its demise in the rest of the country. I’m still not sure where this coal based gas supply would have come from? But it (town gas) had a reputation for its very high toxicity in all states and I remember someone I knew, many years ago, quipping about the fact that Macclesfield was the last place in the UK were someone was still able to “gas themselves in a domestic oven!” Originally the gasometer would have been at the heart of Macclesfield’s Victorian street lighting system when this was the primary purpose of the early urban gas supply infrastructure.
The photo of the remaining holder frame above was taken in early 2016, it turned out to be a very lucky shot as none of this complex remains today. The photo of the gas holder in operation (or full) below was taken early 2007!
Prints of the above picture are available on museum grade paper, canvas or aluminium to large sizes – please contact for info. Exif data is generated automatically for the joy and amusement of photo geeks – see below.
Main picture exif:
- Aperture: ƒ/8
- Focal length: 20mm
- ISO: 100
- Shutter speed: 1/500s
- Aperture: ƒ/2.8
- Focal length: 6.3mm
- ISO: 200
- Shutter speed: 1s
Ford House, Prestbury – Historic View
Tag: history
The old Ford House, one of the architectural focal points in the historic village of Prestbury, Cheshire. A new large residential complex is currently being built on this site and is due for completion at the end of 2017. Prestbury village has changed a lot in the last 20 years in terms of demographics, land use, and building and much of this has to do with an influx of very high net worth individuals and families. It is quite a different place from the sleepy, old world and relatively modest but charmingly antiquated village that I moved into so many years ago having escaped from London.
- Aperture: ƒ/8
- Focal length: 55mm
- ISO: 100
- Shutter speed: 1/500s
Read more about Ford House
