Recollections 3 (1986)

1986 was the year of the Domesday Project. It was also for me a year of childhood fear and the unknown.
I knew that we could all be blown up but I didn't know why or by who. I know it was something no one wanted to talk about very much. I know my parents never spoke about it unless I forced them to, but they never acknowledged the fact that we were living in the most volatile period since the Second World War and that much was being made of something called 'MAD' and cruise missiles. There were always pictures on the TV news with women holding hands around wire fences, sometimes fighting with police or being dragged into the back of police vans. I didn't know why - I just though it was normal. In fact most of the decade was spent asking 'what if' and this was fueled by a plethora of films designed to terrify young and old. Just take 'Threads' from 1984...
My curiosity was rewarded when I met a chap from the local CND campaign group. He explained to me what could happen to us if we continued on the course we were on and he convinced me that nuclear weapons were a bad thing. I remember vividly being discovered by my mum and being dragged away while she accused the chap of brainwashing me. In fact, he had told me the truth and more than I had ever been told by my parents or by anyone else around me. From that point, I was convinced that we lived in a mad, bad world and that we could all be blown to pieces in an instant.

Another big event in 1986 was of course the Chernobyl accident. I do remember the news reports and being haunted by the images of the destroyed reactor and the men sent to clear up in the aftermath. Little did I know that they were living their final hours. The news reached us late. By the time it was on the Nine O'Clock News, a radioactive plume was already over a large part of Western Europe. I know not quite understanding what had gone on but looking back, I do question the decision to send me and others to school as normal the following morning. I say this because we know that large swathes of Scottish grazing pasture has been contaminated for years to come by the radiation released from Chernobyl. So what exactly was in the air above us while we made our way to and from school and played on the field? We'll of course probably never know.

I'm a little angry I think. I'm angry at my parents for not talking about these topics. Maybe they knew and simply didn't want to discuss it. Perhaps it would be discussed when I was tucked up in bed, hearing only faint muffled voices through the floorboards. Or maybe they just didn't know. Thanks to so called 'freedom of information' we know that right up until 1991, huge underground cities were kept at a state of readiness. We know that Royal Observer Corps posts up and down the country were continually staffed and linked by a secondary telephone system designed to function in time of war. I know this to be true as I've worked with those who looked after it.

I know it has been remarked that we live in a more dangerous world. But is there the fear nowadays that enveloped society back in the 1980's? Surely nowadays we live in a more open society, some would say a free-er society. Is the fear of the unknown what really makes the world a dangerous place? We know more now than we ever did back then. We relied solely on the media - the TV and printed word. Basically we were fed fear by our government - and it worked. For me, I am more fearful of that period now. I look back and wonder how exactly we managed to emerge from that period unscathed - it's nothing short of a miracle.

I will one day tell my son of those days. I can as I have a greater knowledge of what I was seeing and hearing at the time. I now understand - I didn't then. Those who did know, didn't want to tell.
One thing's for sure, 1986 was for me a year of knowing we weren't safe. It was a year of secrets, radioactive clouds and silence. 1986 is a year I am able to live now, today, with the knowledge I needed then. I now know 1986... and I wish I didn't.

Domesday Reloaded

Today the BBC have unveiled 'Domesday Reloaded'. I expect few people will remember the Domesday Project of the mid-80's. I do. It was a project headed by the BBC to record what life was like in the UK during 1986. It involved many thousands of people contributing articles and photographs, all of which was put together into a vast electronic library and written to laser disc. Unfortunately the cost of the machines needed to play the discs placed the Domesday records out of the reach of most people except the odd school, library or museum. But now, the data has been converted to today's standards and it has all been released on the Internet for all to enjoy - 25 years after it was produced.
I do remember the hype surrounding it and I also remember our school submitting material for it. It was a big event but back then I didn't realise just how important it was. It was something the grown-ups were doing. I do recall not longer after, seeing BBC Micro computers springing up in libraries and I recall seeing one at our central library down in Bromley - where I grew up. Of course by todays standards, it was basic but back then it was way ahead of its time and cutting-edge.

I've had a browse through it online and I'm amazed at what has been captured. Unlike a typical reference site, the information is made up of small articles. They are all written in a very basic format - as if by youngsters and provide a vaulable nugget of information for any place in the UK during 1986. The photo above shows Raglan Road, the road in which I went to school. The houses are typical of where I lived and grew-up.



It is all the more fantastic as all the articles are based on random everyday things. One such article reads;

We found that most of the shops
that are in Chatterton Road do not
sell food. Some of the older people
that we interviewed said that they did
all their shopping here because you
can buy everything you need and it is
such a friendly place.
Some we interviewed said that they
found the shops a little more
expensive than in Bromley ad so they
did their main shopping at large
supermarkets nearby.
In Chatterton Road there are four
takeaway food shops, a chemist and
Post Office in the same building and a
supermarket. There are several shops
which sell household goods and car
accessorioes. There are quite a few
service shops such as an estate
agent, two hairdressers, dry cleaners,
travel agents and hire shops.
The road is often very busy.

For instance, the M25 is mentioned as being not quite complete. The A17 bypass near to where I live hadn't been built and the subsequent traffic through the village of Long Sutton is mentioned.
It really is an amazing accomplishment and I take my hat off to all involved.
Another wonderfully written article gives a view of public transport in Bromley at the time...

Our transport these days in London 10th
July 1985 is not very good.The
transport takes too long to come_
that's buses.They are always late and
when they come the buses are packed and
they say only one on top sometimes.
The old people sometimes have to go up-
stairs and when their not even half way
up he rings the bell and they could
easily fall and hurt themselves.And
when somebody's running for the bus the
conductor does see him or her and rings
the bell so that the bus goes.Some
people jump on the bus and they could
easily fall and hurt themselves.On the
rectangled buses there are 28 seats
downstairs.And they let them still
stand on the bus.

So wonderful. This is another example of a genuine article;

Today 1985 their is alot of electric
equipment about. eg televisions, light,
microwave ovens. I will explain which
each one is about:
TELEVISION: This is a form of
entertainment. Actors and actresses
perform; films, soap operas, music
plays, series, and things like that.
Television has been around for about
since the 1950's.
MICROWAVE AND OTHER COOKING EQUIPMENT:
Microwave is a oven but this cooks
food quicker. A kettle is something
you boil a cup of tea or hot drink in.
Oven's and hobbs are something that you
cook your meals in. soda stream is a
fizzy drink's maker. Mr Frosty is a
milk shake maker, there are lots more
kitchen appliances but they are not so
well known.
VIDEO: A Video is connected to the
television and it can record things

I recommend a visit to this unique window on our past: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday