The Return Of The Coldwar
As I grew in the uncertainty of the 1980’s I watched from a safe place, the destruction of the working classes. A place where miners fought for a long time for what was right. They striked for so long they took donations at Christmas to feed their families, more than once.
British Parliament was not televised when I was a child and I remember Margaret Thatcher’s voice quite distinctly, and Neil Kinnock’s too. Fascinated by the cold war I knew Russia was a threat and the U.S were our allies. Television propaganda allowed the drama of a nuclear war which became rooted in my psyche. I used to imagine the bomb hitting St Paul’s Cathedral, which I could see from my back garden, distant, but prominent. I would imagine the blast reverberating through south-east London, smashing through every building which stood in it’s way. As it met my house I would be in the safety of my den I had made. Whether I would have been save in reality is neither here nor there, I think I used my den to protect myself from my own thoughts. If my den had failed I would not have survived, a thought too big for a 10 year old to bare. I kept my thoughts to myself, alone, in a world of uncertainty. As I grew older I came to realise that I would be wiped out, I excepted my fate and imagined myself running towards central London.
I remember being allowed to watch the Frankie Goes To Hollywood video of Reagan and Andropov (I think), which was controversial and before it’s time. As I watch the video as an adult, the two leaders look very different to how I remember them. I thought they were spitting image heads, which was a political satire show who used obscenely exaggerated puppets of political leaders and celebs. I have in my possession a signed photo of Holly Johnson, who was the lead singer of FGH.
As the British Governments 34 acre, secret nuclear bunker was left to rot in Wiltshire, will there be a refurbishment as the political and economic climate develops? Made up of miles of tunnels it would house up to 4000 civil servants. As a child I was aware of this place although not its location and used to imagine the Prime minister and his cabinet around a huge table, making decisions about the world and it’s situation.
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