The man who built his own nuclear bunker (240)

Cold War Conversations

Ian Sanders

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 758 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2022

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Graham Bate was 30-year-old Civil Servant when he built his own nuclear bunker in the garden of his rural home 20 miles outside Hull in the UK. It was here that the Bate family expected to survive for at least 3 weeks after a nuclear attack. We speak with Graham Bate and his son Conrad who was 5 years old when the bunker was built and has vivid memories of the period. 0:00 Introduction and background 0:53 Guest Introduction: Graham Bate and his nuclear bunker 2:26 The inception and design of Graham's bunker 7:04 Family's experience and trial run in the bunker 13:27 Reflections on the bunker project 20:10 The family's nuclear emergency plan 29:11 Security measures and local perspectives on the bunker 32:37 Living conditions in the bunker 37:03 Graham's fame and bunker building business 43:39 Impact of the Cold War on the bunker business 46:03 Learning curve and survival in a post-apocalyptic scenario Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Cold War history is disappearing; however, a simple monthly donation will help preserve these accounts and keep this podcast on the air. You’ll get a sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. I am delighted to welcome Graham and Conrad Bate to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode240/ Special thanks to Al McCann who helped facilitate this episode. Please visit his website Northern Ireland's Secret Bunker. A Cold War 'Living' Museum situated in County Armagh https://www.facebook.com/nibunker/ If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.8	What did your neighbours think of this project?
0:08.6	Probably thought it was crackers, really.
0:12.7	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:19.2	If attack is imminent, you will hear the attack sound like this.
0:27.6	If the fallout warning sounds are heard, they will be like these.
0:52.3	Buy food well wrapped or in tins.
0:57.9	By the way, don't forget your tin opener and bottle opener.
1:04.4	If you knew here, you've come to the right place for unique first-hand accounts of the Cold War.
1:09.5	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app so you don't miss out on future episodes.
1:16.4	Graham Bate was a 30-year-old civil servant when he built his own nuclear bunker in the garden of his rural home 20 miles outside Hull in the UK.
1:21.8	It was here that the Bate family expected to survive for at least three weeks after a nuclear
1:27.0	attack.
1:28.2	We speak with Graham Bait and his son Conrad, who was five years old when the bunker was
1:32.8	built and has vivid memories of the period.
1:36.9	Now, Cold War history is disappearing, however, a simple monthly donation will help preserve
1:42.3	these accounts and keep this podcast on the air.
1:45.8	You'll get the sought after Cold War Conversations drinks coaster as a thank you,
1:50.3	and you'll bask in the warm glow of knowing that you're helping to preserve Cold War history.
1:55.5	I'm Tim from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I support the Cold War Conversations podcast financially because of the great
2:02.1	research and the quality of the storytelling. Just go to cold warconversations.com
2:07.7	slash donate. If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -1017 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ian Sanders, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ian Sanders and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.