Along with beards and vinyl radical record , another forgotten craze from the 1970s that ’s making a riposte is the lingering scourge ofthermonuclear bomb .
atomic warmight be back on the docket once again , but it ’s nothing the humanity has n’t face before . During one of the hot period of the Cold War , the UK was so paranoid about an attack from the USSR , they drew up a top - private leaning of cities and town they trust were the most “ likely atomic butt ” .
In 2014 , the National Archives free the document to the public for the first clock time since it was produce in 1972 . They were even tolerant enough to also free a mathematical function ( below ) of the possible hitting - list to aid you avoid being blown to smithereens .
The metropolis on the listing of possible nuclear targets include : Glasgow , Birmingham , Liverpool , Cardiff , Manchester , Southampton , Leeds , Newcastle / Gateshead , Bristol , Sheffield , Swansea , Hull , Teesside , Coventry , Wolverhampton , Leicester , Stoke - on - Trent River , Belfast , Huddersfield , Sunderland , Gillingham , Rochester , Chatham , and Maidstone .
Along with the 24 civilian towns and urban center , the document also cite 14 meat of government , 23 Royal Air Force bases , and over 20 military ascendance and communication adroitness . outstandingly , as you might have noticed , central London is only mentioned as a center of government , not a civilian town of grandness .
Of course , a lot has changed since the 1970s : the world ’s geopolitical club has had a big mix - up , nuclear capabilities have become more advanced , and the importance of UK cities has changed dramatically . As a Ministry of Defence spokesperson toldThe Guardianin 2014 : " These are historical records and like many other documents released every year by the National Archives have little or no relevance to the present daylight . "
Anyway , lease ’s just trust those cities have a few courteous gin mill where we can have a nice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over , just like last time .
