3rd - 4th Jun 2018
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| Pripyat town sign (a new one) |
The 'model' town of Pripyat, on the bank of the River Pripyat, was built to house the scientists, engineers, and others who worked at the Chernobyl nuclear power facility. About 3km from the site, its population was 48,500 and it was considered to be the ultimate in Soviet-style luxury. It was planned to double in size (as was the power station) with foundations already laid on the other side of the river. After the explosion at the #4 reactor residents were told to stay put (just a minor fire, they were told).
After two days they were told they were going to be 'temporarily' evacuated for a few days so to "leave everything, including pets, behind. Just take overnight kit". 1000 buses were assembled to carry out this task. They never returned.
Left: A view over deserted Pripyat towards the nuclear site from the roof of a long-abandoned 16 floor block of luxury apartments. Good exercise getting up there. The lifts didn't seem to be working!
Shown below are copies of some old photos of the town in its heyday.
Right: The main thoroughfare.
Right: I think this is the sports hall, including the swimming pool.
Right: The iconic 'big wheel' at the amusement park.
Left: The sports arena and football pitch.
....AND NOW.....
Right: Walking across what was the football pitch towards the grandstand.
Left: The grandstand.
Right: What was an 'executive' apartment block at the entry to the town.
Left: The major shopping centre.
Right: Inside the supermarket. As with all these deserted buildings, anything of any salvage value has, long ago, been removed or looted.
We were under strict instructions not to remove anything....as if it was tempting!
Left: What was a 'posh' restaurant.
Right: The big wheel. Still there but rusted up.
Left: The dodgems what dodge no more..
Right: In the 'props' room behind what was a very lavish theatre. They had been preparing for May Day parades and celebrations.
Left: A poster in the props room displaying one of Comrade Lenin's learned slogans. Forgotten what it means. Any help? (Bernie?)
Bernie, my editor-in-chief, has come up with the goods again. It says 'study, study, study!'
Right: I think this was the Town Hall.
Left: The town gaol in the basement of the police station. There was not much crime in Pripyat (mainly professional occupants) but plenty of 'drink related' bad behaviour (boredom?) which resulted in offenders sobering up in these cells, sometimes for several days, apparently.
Right: The 'top of the range' swimming pool in the sports hall. A clock at the far end was set at 01.26, the time of the explosion on April 26th 1986. This being one of the many 'props' set up by photo-journalists.
Left: The remains of what was a large and intricate stained-glass window in a riverside café. There was a (once) delightful terrace ouside with a jetty to catch the river ferries. These were fast and the favoured form of transport down river to join the Dneiper and on to Kiev.
Right: The town was litterd with the corpses of abandoned civil and military vehicles.
Left: A classroom in one of the bigger schools. All the rooms were carpeted with discarded books and pamphlets. Was someone seaching for the school porno collection?
Right: .....and a couple of gas masks artistically posed, with hundreds more piled on the floor behind. The schools (and presumably other establishments) were all issued with supplies of gas masks. These were as a precaution against possible chemical attack in the cold-war period. They were nothing to do with the fact that a large nuclear power plant was just a couple of miles away. It was decreed, as previously mentioned, '100% safe'.
Left: Bombs were banned! or is this just another journalistic 'plant'?
Right: A room in one of the deserted tower blocks.
We were allowed free movement around these buildings. I'm certain that this would be strictly forbidden in UK/EU due to 'Elf 'n Safety' regulations. It was stressed that we did this at our own risk and to be careful of the piles of broken glass etc. littering the place. Nobody came to any harm as far as I am aware.
Left: This road (old photo) leads from the nuclear site to Pripyat. It shows the trees on the left (west side) coloured a reddish hue where the initial nuclear cloud passed overhead. This is called the 'Red Forest' and, although no longer 'red', still does contain a much higher level of radiation. When driving through it our driver was obliged to speed up!
Right: Several of these 'radiation warning signs' bordered the roads. I suspect they were more for theatrical effect than genuine warnings. They kept us tourists amused. What's the point of going to Chernobyl without being offered the frisson of radiation danger. As mentioned, if there was any real risk our amusing guide, Nicholai (who has a family in Kiev), would not have been conducting tours for eight years.
More to come from this interesting region.
After two days they were told they were going to be 'temporarily' evacuated for a few days so to "leave everything, including pets, behind. Just take overnight kit". 1000 buses were assembled to carry out this task. They never returned.
Left: A view over deserted Pripyat towards the nuclear site from the roof of a long-abandoned 16 floor block of luxury apartments. Good exercise getting up there. The lifts didn't seem to be working!
Shown below are copies of some old photos of the town in its heyday.Right: The main thoroughfare.
Right: I think this is the sports hall, including the swimming pool.
Right: The iconic 'big wheel' at the amusement park.
Left: The sports arena and football pitch.
....AND NOW.....
Right: Walking across what was the football pitch towards the grandstand.
Left: The grandstand.
Right: What was an 'executive' apartment block at the entry to the town.
Left: The major shopping centre.
Right: Inside the supermarket. As with all these deserted buildings, anything of any salvage value has, long ago, been removed or looted.We were under strict instructions not to remove anything....as if it was tempting!
Left: What was a 'posh' restaurant.
Right: The big wheel. Still there but rusted up.
Left: The dodgems what dodge no more..
Right: In the 'props' room behind what was a very lavish theatre. They had been preparing for May Day parades and celebrations.
Left: A poster in the props room displaying one of Comrade Lenin's learned slogans. Forgotten what it means. Any help? (Bernie?)Bernie, my editor-in-chief, has come up with the goods again. It says 'study, study, study!'
Right: I think this was the Town Hall.
Left: The town gaol in the basement of the police station. There was not much crime in Pripyat (mainly professional occupants) but plenty of 'drink related' bad behaviour (boredom?) which resulted in offenders sobering up in these cells, sometimes for several days, apparently.
Right: The 'top of the range' swimming pool in the sports hall. A clock at the far end was set at 01.26, the time of the explosion on April 26th 1986. This being one of the many 'props' set up by photo-journalists.
Left: The remains of what was a large and intricate stained-glass window in a riverside café. There was a (once) delightful terrace ouside with a jetty to catch the river ferries. These were fast and the favoured form of transport down river to join the Dneiper and on to Kiev.
Right: The town was litterd with the corpses of abandoned civil and military vehicles.
Left: A classroom in one of the bigger schools. All the rooms were carpeted with discarded books and pamphlets. Was someone seaching for the school porno collection?
Right: .....and a couple of gas masks artistically posed, with hundreds more piled on the floor behind. The schools (and presumably other establishments) were all issued with supplies of gas masks. These were as a precaution against possible chemical attack in the cold-war period. They were nothing to do with the fact that a large nuclear power plant was just a couple of miles away. It was decreed, as previously mentioned, '100% safe'.
Left: Bombs were banned! or is this just another journalistic 'plant'?
Right: A room in one of the deserted tower blocks.We were allowed free movement around these buildings. I'm certain that this would be strictly forbidden in UK/EU due to 'Elf 'n Safety' regulations. It was stressed that we did this at our own risk and to be careful of the piles of broken glass etc. littering the place. Nobody came to any harm as far as I am aware.
Left: This road (old photo) leads from the nuclear site to Pripyat. It shows the trees on the left (west side) coloured a reddish hue where the initial nuclear cloud passed overhead. This is called the 'Red Forest' and, although no longer 'red', still does contain a much higher level of radiation. When driving through it our driver was obliged to speed up!
Right: Several of these 'radiation warning signs' bordered the roads. I suspect they were more for theatrical effect than genuine warnings. They kept us tourists amused. What's the point of going to Chernobyl without being offered the frisson of radiation danger. As mentioned, if there was any real risk our amusing guide, Nicholai (who has a family in Kiev), would not have been conducting tours for eight years.More to come from this interesting region.
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