greem

@[email protected] we came so close during Able Archer in 83 (I think!) and were only saved by a very brave Soviet man who refused to believe that the traces he was seeing were real.

I know you know this, but by crikey we were literal seconds from nuclear Armageddon and one man's intransigence pretty much saved the entire world as we knew it.

Like I said, what a mad time that was!

@[email protected] Yowzer. I've read about that before but it's usually just facts & figures about the distances, blast radius, expected casualties etc. Your piece adds the humanity that was present at the time, and that's pretty hair raising (not that I have much!).

I lived through the last 20 years of the Cold War. What a mad thing it was - total distrust of the "other side", it's a wonder we didn't end up in a nuclear winter.

(See also BBC's "Threads", utterly terrifying yet compelling viewing).

@[email protected] there may be a literal pair of smoking boots as the only remaining evidence.

@[email protected] that is a truly glorious looking building.

If it housed the transmission gear, the walls may have been that thick to prevent explosions getting out rather than in!

@[email protected] Apparently so.

It's a difficult building to get rid of, because the foundation for the tower itself are intertwined with the former telephone exchange beneath it - which is now an incredibly important fibre interchange point.

I was lucky enough to go up there in 2004 (or 2005) for a presentation lunch from Cisco. It's fascinating inside.

@[email protected] Before BT (in the UK) went to fibre, they had a wide variety of towers for MW backbone/trunk data/voice comms. Many were utilitarian extended metal tetrahedra or trihedra, but some were quite unique - perhaps the most obvious being the former Post Office Tower in London.

Many of them are now shadow of their former selves, with very few antennae attached.

@[email protected] have a look for the history of the Capenhurst tower in the UK, if you're not familiar with that already.

Kinda related, but slightly in reverse.