... the IRA detonated the largest bomb ever to explode in Great Britain, in the centre of Manchester. Amazingly, no-one was killed, but it made a hell of a mess.
The fire service took a bunch of photographs, then stuck them all in a cupboard.
Until today.
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/manchesterfire/sets/72157645173763345/
I remember it well.
I was cleaning my car and my great uncle had been shopping and came back saying he had heard the IRA had bombed the Arndale.
I went to the city the day after and couldn't believe it. The main thing I remember is all the glass everywhere and the noise of the alarms in what is normally a busy area was weirdly quiet apart from the alarms.
I went a few times that week just to get my head around it. I remember buying a car radio from a shop at the bottom of Deansgate which was about 1/2 mile as the crow flies from the truck which blew up and they said everything fell off their shelves.
At least no one was killed.
The Lineker add made me chortle for some reason.
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Wow. It really is amazing no-one was killed. What's the story behind giving a warning before a bombing? Seems quite a civilised thing to do in the grand scheme of things. Do the Iraqi's etc get a warning before we bomb them? Is it a standard tactic?
Lun Poly and C&A, it has been a long time.
I was close when the bomb went off. I was on foot on my way to M&S to buy a suit for an interview. The whole world shook like you see in a disaster movie coupled with the sound of the explosion itself and breaking glass, falling brickwork etc. Scary stuff.
What's the story behind giving a warning before a bombing? Seems quite a civilised thing to do in the grand scheme of things. Do the Iraqi's etc get a warning before we bomb them? Is it a standard tactic?
Warnings were given before most of them, it was a way of causing fear, panic and damage.
I was in the air having flown out of Manchester and my then girlfriend now wife was meant to be going shopping with friends in Manchester.
No mobiles, dodgy time zones and news reports that weren't that clear initially (she'd heard a report that it was the airport that had been bombed) meant that it was almost 24hours before we'd confirmed to each other that neither of us was where the bomb was.
Meanwhile... A friend was in Russell Square for a conference when London was bombed a few years ago, turned to a colleague and said "that sounds like a bombs gone off". The response was how would you know. Ah she says well I was in Manchester when the IRA did the Arndale.
Don't go to big cities with that lass - or if you do stay very close; she survived both without a scratch.
I was there yesterday by coincidence and did wonder about what it was like before. I must say that having a bomb in the middle of those '70s concrete buildings appears to have inadvertently improved the look of Manchester. The Arndale area now is very smart by comparison.
Nice that they picked Father's day,I am sure that they made their dads proud.
The Arndale area now is very smart by comparison.
There's the joke that the IRA bombed Manchester and caused millions of pounds of improvements.
If I remember correctly Granada TV took a call that a security guard answered. They was based in the City till recently before moving to Salford. They were called about 90 mins previously and told a Bomb was due to go off and given a code word in the call which the police intelligence knew meant they weren't messing about.
They just wanted to cause damage. They destroyed everything apart from that post box outside M&S which is still there with a plaque about the bomb on it.
There's the joke that the IRA bombed Manchester and caused millions of pounds of improvements.
No joke, they did Manchester a massive service in the long run.
I've still alot of images taken from inside the cordon no one has ever seen, I was thinking of doing a exhibition at some point 🙂
They just wanted to cause damage. They destroyed everything apart from that post box outside M&S which is still there with a plaque about the bomb on it.
Forget who said it - some American author - but in most countries post boxes are lightweight boxes that you put letters in. In Britain, they are built to stop a tank.
Known in NI as the Republican Redevelopment Corporation.
Anyone remember the previous ones in Parsonage Gardens and Cateaton Street in 1992?
That one scared me more - no proper warnings and 60 odd badly injured.
Nice that they picked Father's day,I am sure that they made their dads proud
It was saturday when it happened so not fathers day.
Best thing that ever happened to Manchester.
I was out riding around Rivi and remember seeing the plume of smoke and dust.
There was one woman with life changing injuries as a result iirc, but otherwise the power of serendipity was strong.
If you consider how the Trafford Centre was starting to be developed at the time, the city centre could have died - the IRA saved Manchester.