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Old 1st Jul 2017, 7:57 pm   #1
PaulM
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Default BT Tower 14th Floor video

This BT piece about the old GPO Tower is quite interesting:

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/secr...1637f=e0b68ea4

Shows a lot of period kit and tells the story well to a lay audience.

Best regards,

Paul M
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Old 5th Jul 2017, 7:19 pm   #2
crackle
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

blank screen for me
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Old 5th Jul 2017, 8:45 pm   #3
AC/HL
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

Have you got flash enabled?
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Old 5th Jul 2017, 10:06 pm   #4
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

It did start to play using Chrome on an Android tablet without Flash, but it crashed the browser after a few seconds.

The PO Tower was highly classified until the 80s, as it was a key part of the Backbone military comms network. There were attempts to keep it off maps in the early days, which was clearly a bit mad given its obvious prominence on the skyline (and the fact that it had a posh restaurant at the top of it). The underlying structure was originally designed to survive an atom bomb attack on London, though it wouldn't have survived a hydrogen bomb.
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Old 6th Jul 2017, 9:34 pm   #5
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

Could not download was all I got. It would have been interesting to watch, as I've had a guided tour of the communications suite ,way back in the late 60's. ( mate & I went for interview at Dollis Hill, and having time to spare before train , we managed to get up to the comms suite.)
Interesting point on the bomb resistance ,as from what I'd heard most buildings of this era had "blow out panels " designed that in case of an attack, the panels would blow out, possibly along with the equipment ,but not demolishing the building ,which could then be refitted.
Only other option was at Oban, where the transatlantic terminal was housed deep inside a mountain , with air purifying equipment and "bomb proof ?" doors , but with no water purifying/ canteen facilities inside the cave.
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Old 6th Jul 2017, 9:54 pm   #6
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

The PO Tower would have been left a concrete skeleton after a medium yield nuclear attack, but it would have been possible to refit microwave horns and key equipment within days. This was important as the government was still planning to stay in London in bunkers until the early 60s, and the tower was needed to reach the various regional and military bunkers. I've no idea at what stage this idea was abandoned, but it may have been when the Corsham bunker was commissioned.
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Old 6th Jul 2017, 11:30 pm   #7
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

Paul -that was my impression of the thinking behind the 60's design of UK exchange buildings. BUT- the Anglo Swedish system was housed in the basement on UK soil.
Oban(TAT1) terminal was designed to be atom bomb proof.
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Old 6th Jul 2017, 11:41 pm   #8
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

It's certainly true that the many exchange buildings built in cities in the 60s have a distinctly fortress like appearance. The thinking in the 70s was that this was to make them easy to defend if civil disorder or revolution broke out, but with hindsight it seems much more likely that they are just blast resistant buildings to preserve comms after a nuclear attack.
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Old 7th Jul 2017, 12:44 am   #9
cheerfulcharlie
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

News report of the IRA attack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG_KdXLIjxQ


Don't you think it all seems a bit "oh well never mind" compared to the sometimes hysterical news reporting of today?
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Old 7th Jul 2017, 10:07 am   #10
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

The IRA attack was pretty serious and did a lot of cosmetic damage, but the powers that be did all they could to minimise coverage and speculation because most of the tower's operation was still classified in 1971. They just fixed the damage and quietly closed the restaurant. In a way it was a wakeup call revealing the security vulnerability of having a public restaurant inside a critical piece of military infrastructure.

It isn't clear if the IRA were aware of the tower's function.
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Old 7th Jul 2017, 5:20 pm   #11
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Default Re: BT Tower 14th Floor video

I worked on the platform above the revolving restaurant a few times in the late '80s (temporary radio links) and having a stroll round the empty restaurant floor was both fascinating and slightly spooky- it seemed a big shame that this spectacular location wasn't available to the public. At the time, the received wisdom was that closure was more to do with spooks' attempted earwigging of sidelobes but Paul's explanation seems more prosaic and realistic.
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