We prefer the great outdoors - Hack Green to Nantwich

Wednesday, 01 April 2009 16:02

The secret bunker was open! It seemed a shame to go underground on such a lovely sunny day, but who knows when we would pass this way again?

Epiphany moored at Hack Green

After our visit to the bunker we were glad to get away, through the two locks and into some more Cheshire countryside. It was really sunny and hot! It did not take long to get to Nantwich and we decided to go as far as the aqueduct to see if we could moor. This is about the best access for the town.

I was amused by this boat with its own bar:

The Moulin Rouge!

Are the pubs so far away? - if so he/she needs to get it in working order!

As we moored we got chatting to some fellow boaters who spotted our BCF (Boaters Christian Fellowship) sticker. They gave us directions to Morrisons and also told us that there is a folk evening at the Oddfellows tomorrow night. So our plan of a one night stop has extended to two! Thanks Roger and Mirjana on Maggie May.

Returning to the bunker - a very quick history. The Hack Green Bunker (were we temporary Hackers?) was built in 1940 as an RAF RADAR station. After the war the semi underground bunker became a Cold War defence against Russian nuclear attack. (As a child in the 1950'sand early 60s I remember the phrase "Watch out for the Reds under the bed")

In the late 1970s, Hack Green became a highly secret government project. It cost  £32 million to convert it to a safe place for national and regional government officials to sit out a nuclear war. It was fully operational from 1984.

During this time WMDs were stored there and BMEWS was active! Ok - Weapons of Mass Destruction and Ballistic Missile Early Warning System!

BMEWS Control Room

It was opened as a visitor attraction in 2004. As part of the experience, nuclear missiles can be seen and a nuclear attack experienced. A feel for life underground, how the bunker was maintained and who would have used it, is all part of the experience.

We found it a telling experience, in fact I came away rather depressed that mankind can be so "inhuman" to warrant such protection against "what ifs". Thank goodness it was never used.

Albert Einstein had it right

We lit the fire this morning again as it was so cold and now here we are sitting with the bow doors open and the swan doors too. The sun is blazing in making it a rather warm 25 degrees! Welcome to Nantwich!

>>> View Next Post		View Previous Post <<<