Headhunters on the map!
QUESTION
Why is there a strange wiggly bit in the middle of the otherwise straight line border between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia? NEW Guinea is a large island in the Pacific. The western half, Irian Jaya, is part of Indonesia with Papua New Guinea, the Louisade Archipelago and the Bismarck Archipelago to the west.
The imperial scramble of the late 19th century engulfed the island, with Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands establishing claims. In the early 1880s, they agreed to the island’s partition.
The Dutch claimed all the land to the west of a line marked by the 141st meridian, roughly dividing the mainland in two; to Germany went the northeast region of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Bougainville; and to Great Britain went the southeast region of New Guinea and the Louisade Archipelago.
In 1893, the southern British portion was plagued by a rash of headhunting activity. The problem was solved by a deal that moved the border a little to the east, to the mouth of the Bensbach River, in exchange for the adoption of the Fly River border, further north.
This enabled the British to use geographical boundaries to help protect their territory.
Thus, the border now runs about 250 miles south of its northern terminus at Wutung, on the Pacific coast down the 141st Meridian until it is diverted west along the course of the Fly River.
The bend strays west across the 141st meridian for about 40 miles. Following the thalweg (a line connecting the lowest points of successive cross-sections along the course of a valley or river) along its twists and turns, the riverine border adds up to about 95 miles in total. The border then resumes its straight southerly course, though about two miles east of the 141st meridian to the mouth of the Bensbach River. James Cross, Hexham, Northumberland.
QUESTION
Are there any nuclear bunkers or similar shelters in Ireland? IRELAND has several structures that were built as nuclear bunkers in the 1960s and later, as well as remnants of air raid shelters from the Second World War.
When the Cold War was at its height in the 1960s, several nuclear bunkers were built in Britain.
In Northern Ireland, one was built just outside Ballymena, Co. Antrim. It was the last one to be built as part of the UK network and was the most technologically advanced.
It’s large, covering 46, 000 sq. ft, and was designed to have space for 235 people.
Facilities included dormitories, a kitchen, a television studio, meeting rooms, decontamination chambers and plenty of space for storing food.
The bunker was built largely underground and its roof was grassed over. It has three entrances, each with double blast doors, while the concrete walls of the bunker are three feet thick.
The existence of this bunker was only revealed in 2007; two other similar nuclear bunkers were planned for the North, at Craigavon and Omagh, but were never built, although a smaller nuclear bunker was built just outside Portadown. Last year, the bunker near Ballymena was put up for sale with a price tag of close to £1million.
This nuclear bunker near Ballymena was the most advanced built in Ireland, but in this part of Ireland too, similar facilities were also contructed.
In the early 1960s, beneath Costume Barracks in Athlone, an underground command centre was built to accommodate 100 top government officials and military personnel in the event of a nuclear attack on Britain.
In 1968, plans were made for a much larger nuclear-proof bunker in Athlone, that could accommodate up to 300 people, but these plans never came to anything.
A couple of other similar structures were built in Ireland. Just off Patrick Street in Limerick, a bunker was constructed to accommodate 30 key local officials for a month. It was built in 1985 by the then Limerick City Council and the cost of £100,000 was met by the Department of Defence. Later it fell into ruin.
Co. Galway had taken the lead in the construction of bunker facilities back in 1966, when a new vocational school was built at Moneenaguisha Cross in Co. Galway. It was built with a basement designed to be used as a nuclear bunker that could house 55 top officials, including military personnel from the nearby Renmore Barracks. The bunker was subsequently used as a storage facility by local civil defence personnel.
Cold War fears led to some extraordinary developments in terms of nuclear bunkers.
In 1986, Jackson’ s Hotel in Ballybofey, Co. Donegal, announced that it was making available an underground disco as a nuclear shelter and that up to 400 people could take cover there, at a cost of £25 each.
In recent times, the nuclear bunker industry in the US has gone into overdrive, while the most recent development has come in Sweden, where hundreds of nuclear bunkers built during the Cold War are being upgraded and being made ready for use again.
During an earlier period of the Second World War, many air raid shelters were constructed in Dublin. One was even built beneath Merrion Square and the mound can still be seen today.
Many basements were turned into air raid shelters, such as the one in Mary Aikenhead House in St James’s Street. Number 69 Grafton Street, once the Vero Moda shop, now a Dune shop, had a basement shelter.
Air raid shelters were built close to where Lower Baggot Street joins Lower Pembroke Street and even the basement in what is now Heuston station was made available for people to take shelter.
Fortunately, all the shelters built here during the Second World War soon became redundant, while similarly, the few nuclear bunkersthat were built on the island of Ireland were never put into operational use. Micheál MacAonghusa, Rialto, Dublin 8
QUESTION
How accurate has Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi film Blade Runner proved in its predictions of what the world would be like in 2019? FURTHER to earlier answers, there are other predictions not mentioned. In one scene, Deckard (Harrison Ford) uses a video phone booth to invite Rachael (Sean Young) for a drink – this was many years before Skype was even dreamed of.
In another scene, he uses a ‘lie detector’ to determine whether Rachael is a human or a replicant. Lie detector tests are now common in the US. While we don’t yet have flying cars, Google is looking at prototypes. David Evans, North Wales.
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