[Tech1] The inevitable

Wed Mar 3 11:23:34 CST 2021

When filming Monocled Mutineer on the Somerset levels, Spec FX has explosive charges a plenty left over from the trench scenes.
They piled them together in various thunder pots and let rip.
I had placed spot Sennheiser MD 441s quite close for the bang
It was enormous, the whole peat surface formed a wave and shook violently
FX still had some short ends and were rigging a final blast when a irate Farmer screamed up in his Landy and told us in no uncertain term to desist.
He was milking in his parlour some 2 miles away and the dairy herd had gone berserk.
One of my 441s went missing , 6 months later Design returned it, when they were clearing the site, it still worked perfectly.

In Belfast filming a Man Alive story on the Falls we were staying in the Europa and had the inevitable bomb warning, the camera man Tony Pierce Roberts and I decamped to the convenient pub across the road all Brass and Mahogany
Tony was straight out of the shower dressed only in a towel..
We had a fun night.
There was a controlled explosion and we returned to our rooms @ 2 am.
They had all been burgled in our absence.

Roger
I enjoyed recording machine guns from Bapty
The Lewis gun in particular firing wooden blanks, a tremendous bark
The Vickers and the Hun MG not quite as terrifying, but they were firing  wadding blanks.

> On 3 Mar 2021, at 16:37, Nick Ware via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> My next door neighbour used to design Exocet and other missiles, his wife tells me. He’s 88 now, with advanced Parkinsons, triple heart valve replacements, deaf, Altzheimer’s and it seems just about every ailment going (apart from Covid). They are only here part time, having a large house in Cowes, and another also on the IOW, which they don’t use because it’s a shrine to her mother. They have ‘staff’ who cut the grass and polish the silver at whichever ones they’re not at! He’s one of those people I would dearly love to spend time chatting to, but sadly he’s not up to it now. She was a head teacher for seversl decades at a posh girls’ school. Another useless fact about them is that they have three sports cars that never get used because neither of them can get into them. Looking at them, neither should be allowed on the roads anyway.
> So, it seems there’s money in missiles and posh girls’ schools if anyone’s interested.
> Cheers,
> Nick.
> Nick Ware - Sent from my iPad mini 5
> 
>> On 3 Mar 2021, at 15:36, Peter Hider via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> I was making a tv series called 'Echo Beach' for ITV at the Longcross Studios near Chobham which was formerley an army testing site for, among other things, transport, lasers and gyro systems. When it was made over to civilian use the army did a final sweep for munitions and the all-clear given. As the site was being developed as film studios the Site Manager was called out urgently by one of his ground staff to look at a tarpaulin covered mound which had pointy bits sticking out. The Bomb Disposal squad were called and confirmed that there were three armed Exocet missiles. The Sargeant in charge immediately took out his phone and asked for the M3 to be closed, trains to be diverted and Heathrow to change their flight paths. The controlled explosion that followed could be felt for miles. He said if one had gone off it could have reached Guildford.
>>  
>> At the height of the 'troubles' Grandstand was on the air in G at Lime Grove. Brian Cowgill was in full flow such that when a very respectful member of the Corps of Commissionaires slid in to the gallery nobody took any notice for some time. Finally the TM2 noticed him and asked what he wanted. He said there had been a bomb warning and that the studio should be evacuated. Ginger's ears pricked up at this point and turned to asked what time it was going off. The Commissionaire looked at his watch and his piece of notepaper and sheepishly said "Oh I'm sorry it seems I've waited so long we've missed it." Ginger went back to firing and shouting at P.A.s
>>  
>> I have to add that I was not present for either of these events so can't vouch for their veracity but I've been told about them by different people.
>>  
>> Peter Hider
>>  
>>  
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2021 at 10:33 AM
>> From: "Graham Maunder via Tech1" <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk>
>> To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk
>> Cc: "Graham Maunder" <grahamthecameraman at icloud.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] The inevitable
>> The only time I ever worked with some ammunitions, I was unfortunate to be travelling through Heathrow the next day with the same camera assistant that had been with me on the army base.
>>  
>> I went through security and scanning etc with no issues (even with the camera etc) but was suddenly aware of a big police presence surrounding the adjoining checking area.
>>  
>> Sure enough it was my poor assistant with his trusty Billingham bag and they obviously didn’t like what they found when they had ‘swabbed’ it!!
>>  
>> Luckily with yesterday’s call sheet in my backpack and some understanding officials, we put their mind at rest that we had indeed been near explosives but for a legitimate reason.
>>  
>> Took a few swift ones at the bar to calm him back down though.
>>  
>> I often reminded him of the need to be nice to me after that as I could have just walked away!!!!
>>  
>> Graham Maunder
>> <mime-attachment.jpg>Awfully Nice Video . 30 Long Lane . Ickenham . London . UB10 8TA
>>             Tel: 07000 345678   Mobile: 07831 515678   Visit Us: www.anvc.tv <http://www.anvc.tv/>
>>  
>> On 3 Mar 2021, at 09:49, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk <mailto:tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk>> wrote:
>>  
>> I have a particular interest in that Exeter bomb, as my younger son spent a year living in halls just a few yards away (bottom left). The bomb was top right.
>> 
>> <doohaejmfgicflhp.png>
>> 
>> I don't have much experience of bombs, but perhaps a little more than most, having spent some days filming on a bomb disposal course - "Everyone has to blow something up, even you". 
>> 
>> <kkdfbgnbpipcpgmj.png>
>> 
>> At one point I was changing tapes and my assistant Antonia appeared with four sticks of plastic explosive that she had been handed, to use to blow some stuff up.  Well, we'd filled in the risk assessment.
>> 
>> Anyway, that particular Exeter explosion - intended to burn the explosive rather than actually explode - did seem to be a bit energetic, as if maybe they'd screwed up. Unlike this one, at Shoeburyness.
>> 
>> <dieoddhfihdmempd.png>
>> 
>> B
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>  
>> On 02/03/2021 23:01, Mike Giles via Tech1 wrote:
>> This may have reached you by other routes, but it had to happen!
>>  
>> Mike G
>> https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1176382472790953&id=100012576342772 <https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1176382472790953&id=100012576342772>   
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