What would you do?

[Les Marshall]

Does anyone remember the tv series 'SURVIVORS'? Used to be shown back in the 70's. I watched an old episode on my mates ancient video the other day, and it got me thinking about how I would deal with a situation like that.
I kept on coming up with different ideas, but could not make my mind up how I would deal with it. :?:

 

[bushwacker bob]

Wowzers your as old as me! loved the survivors at the time but suspect I'd view it in a different light now.Range Rover,guns, but no people.... sounds a bit like heaven

 

[Les Marshall]

I must admit the video was a bit dated, but the story was still as good. I agree with your comments.

 

[Gary]

Les I remember that series although I was a kid - always remember the rabies one.

Thing with that situation is there wasn't a survival situation - their only real threat (after it had all happened and if I rememeber it was aplague or something) was each other and food. Initially you could live very well if you planned ahead.

They think it would take 30 years for nature to start to regain the world from the mear like mess we have made - so ultimately in a survivors like situation your best bet would be to teach the children how to use their resources wisely and except the fact that a generation or two will suffer much hardship.

Of course if we had the fore sight of many native people we would always plan two generations ahead and as such such an event would mean little except the extermination of much of our species - but unfortunately we don't.

Les your name rings a bell btw - have we meet?

 

[Kath]

Oooh I loved that show! Just what the children of the bomb needed wasn't it - something else to worry about?? :roll:

But it was a big influence and did help to instill the whole idea of 'surviving' in me ... so that and my 'Good Life' style childhood probably counts for a lot along with When the Wind blows and Doomwatch etc.

I watched a few episodes of Survivors a while back and it did seem very peaceful and not nearly as shocking or scary as I remembered. Perceptions change I guess ...

:wave:

 

[Les Marshall]

I agree with what you say Garry, but I wonder if someone would remember to do something with the nuclear power stations? would there be any danger from them? When the series was made, I don't think there were many, but today there seems to be quite a few, especially on the continent. Yes we have met, you were my instructor on my fundy course with Mr Mears a few years ago, I have sent you an email in the last week re King Arthur.

Kath, what an interesting phrase you used, but you are right, we had quite bit to deal with in them day's, how ever did we manage? :-o

 

[Gary]

Thought the name rung a bell - as for the email it never arrived. Was it anything interesting? Try sending it to my gary@bearclawbushcraft.co.uk account.

Cheers.

 

[Kath]

Kath, what an interesting phrase you used, but you are right, we had quite bit to deal with in them day's, how ever did we manage? :-o

We did and I think that's why so many of us are into survival and/or bushcraft. For me the cold war did represent a lot of terrors. And as kids I think we honestly felt like we were on the front lines!

For example we used to watch the light on the top of a nearby military mast because someone somewhere had said it was an early warning beacon - so we watched it, taking turns in shifts! ): We were convinced that if the light went out we had only 3 minutes left! We used to time things that we wanted to do in the last three minutes (like running home to our mum or get our teddybear or cycling to a friend's house) to see if we could do it fast enough. And we had lots of plans of what we would do to save ourselves - like going down our 60' deep brick-lined well as a shelter. (I went down it on a rope once and my candle went out when I was near the bottom! :shock

We also used to take turns keeping watches on a nearby military depot from cover of a woodland at the perimeter fence, because we were CERTAIN that was where the nukes were kept! The guards used to chase us off in their land rover!! ): Not sure why we watched, thinking about it? I suppose it was because we didn't really understand what it all meant and just felt we kids had to do something! Although I do remember one scheme to stop nuclear fision that somehow involved collecting fairy liquid bottles and filling them with water!?! :?: :rolmao:

We built up all sorts of dread fantasies about the place really being underground and I for one had plenty of nightmares about the place as a child. Funnily enough I was horrified a couple months back to find the depot up for auction with photos and descriptions of the different underground magazines - some of which were INDEED for nuclear weapons! Vindication!! :super:

Looking back makes me realize that kids really are different now. My kids mount the same kind of precision campaigns as we did - but against the neighbor's cat! ):

Funny thing is I realize we never told our parents about our fears - or any of our hairbrained schemes! (Mum, if you're reading this - "Sorry!" )

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

:shock:

i don't recall survivours but i recall the terror of the cold war!

my parents were also very pushy in the anti war area. the whole family went to anti nuke demos in london, my mum did time for cutting "the wire" at a USAF air base, we alkso went to some "albion fairs" which i reckon rings a bell with some of us!, they also had various demo's, shows, and information on nukes.

i remember "gone with the wind" also, "threads" woah, that shocked me for years!
i was encouraged to watch all sorts of films and documentaries on bomb tests, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, christmas island, ect ect ect...stuff that a 12 year old boy should never have to see or even think about!
thankfully it has made me a better person, and not an insane, survivalist in a bunker hiding somewhere

hey kath, we've probably met! :rolmao:

 

[Ed]

i remember "gone with the wind" also, "threads" woah,

I remember threads... what a program... I wonder if they will ever repeat it? maybe on one of those nostalgia nights on TV. Even today alot of what went on in that time sticks in my mind as at the time we lived quite close to greenham common air base which was always in the news.

Ed

 

[Kath]

hey kath, we've probably met! :rolmao:

Maybe but I doubt it. We were just little kids at the time. And I don't think we were 'protesting' as such. I don't really know what we were doing to be honest. :?: Maybe just keeping an eye on the adults to make sure they didn't blow up the world?! ): It was, I suppose, just important for us to be doing something in order to deal with the stress of it all..

As adults we can live with the general unspecified threats in society and put it to the back of our minds, but it's important to remember that it's different with kids. Mine have seen programs like Chris Ryan's recent shows (the title escapes me at the moment :roll and they've needed to discuss it afterwards in order to get it into perspective. I don't recall ever discussing things like that with my parents, even though they were a big topic of discussion with us kids at the time.

Good on your mum BTW for being so principled! I've met a few women over the years who were at Greenham Common and I've got a lot of respect for them. (I never joined in with the whole CND thing because I couldn't understand how us getting rid of nuclear weapons would work if our enemies still had them??? Nice idea though ...)

I do remember the protesters on tv when I was a kid and I remember seeing the nuke convoys driving around (what were those mobile ones called???)

I don't think the protesters ever found the miliary place that we watched as at the time I honestly don't think people knew what it was used for - except us kids of course!

Ed- I'd forgotten about Threads. That was another scary one. Didn't that have the scary ending where the woman holds up her baby and screams?? :yikes: Brrr! That still gives me cold chills...

 

[Les Marshall]

Kath, what mil base are you talking about? I might have been one of those guys in the landrover!

 

[Kath]

Kath, what mil base are you talking about? I might have been one of those guys in the landrover!

Dean Hill - it was an armaments depot. Navy I think...

Did you have a bunch of kids that used to stalk you guys then too??? :-D

 

[Les Marshall]

Nah, I was a brylcreem boy. Most of my service was in Norfolk/Suffolk/Germany. Did a stint at Greenham as the yanks were frightened of an international incident, good time there though.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

you may have met my mum then??

she was one of the "greenham common protesters!"
they lived in pretty much shanti towns and were bulldosed everynow and then.

my mum remebers some of her friends breaching the fence and having a tea party on one of the silos!

"threads" it is that one, (i just typed a short explanation, but actually i don't really want to remind myself or others. i saw the film when i was 12! :sad:

i remember digging holes in the garden, (secret, bunkers) some over 7ft deep i had to use a ladder to get out. my parents main concern was the sides colapsing!
i used to play in dissused buildings and found an old air raid bunker i figured i could make it in 4 minutes, on my bike!


one night (out of many sleepless)about 4am, i heard the local siren go off, :errrr: i just froze solid and just waited for ages just to see what would happen, nothing did! i guess they were just testing!

:aargh4: if i ever catch the person that started the siren.... :tw:

for years in the back of my mind was the constant terror, it eventually stopped when the cold war collapsed.

i will never go into detail about the things i have seen and known:shock:

 

[Justin Time]

Kath
In case you haven't found this site you can find out more about Dean Hill here

 

[Les Marshall]

Kath, I might well have met your mum, but I do not think she would have liked me very much, we were quite aggressive I'm affraid. I feel that now the cold war is over, there is greater danger. At least with the soviets, we just had one enemy to worry about.

 

[Kath]

Kath
In case you haven't found this site you can find out more about Dean Hill here

:biggthump Yeah cheers I've seen it - that's where I found out that it did have nuclear shipments going through there! I also remember doing some checking on the railway sidings that led into the depot - which if I recall correctly weren't listed as being in existence on that branch line! It just goes to show what can be just down the road from you. And thinking about all the plans we made for protecting and surviving, with that place on the doorstep we wouldn't have even seen the flash... :smiley-fa !!

 

[Kath]

Kath, I might well have met your mum, but I do not think she would have liked me very much, we were quite aggressive I'm affraid. I feel that now the cold war is over, there is greater danger. At least with the soviets, we just had one enemy to worry about.

I should point out that my Mum was WASN'T at Greenham Common (she'll brain me if she reads that!) I think it was Rappleby's Mum that was... :wave: :super:

 

[Les Marshall]

oops, sorry!